The cards are made from dried banana leaves, scraped with a razor blade until they are as thin as paper. The trainees themselves create the designs before drawing them on the cards with a pencil. The leaves may have a variety of colours depending on the type of banana tree they come from. The leaves are cut and then glued on to the paper with traditional glue made from cassava flour. This year, for the first time, the trainees also made bookmarks for Frères des Hommes.

The first years of training and work enable trainees to save money and make a start in their adult lives. Later, card making can provide them with occasional seasonal employment. One such trainee is Théophile Bizimana who arrived at the Intiganda centre in 1994 after his mother’s death. He was trained in card making and, thanks to this economic activity, he was able to buy a small plot of land and pay for his children’s school fees and health care. Today he is one of three instructors, all former street urchins. As he puts it: "That job changed my life. I never thought I would get this far in life and raise a family. Those cards represent much more than what they seem. They helped construct my future".