Rwanda’s baskets are providing impoverished weavers with a chance at a new
life for themselves and their families. By paying each weaver directly for
their baskets The Rwanda Basket Company is enabling impoverished women to provide their families with never before dreamed of items and services such as extra food, educational fees, health care and additional clothing.
The baskets of Rwanda are providing hope not only for the individual weavers but for the nation as well - serving as a tool for reconciliation between women. As Hutu and Tutsi women come together to weave and talk about their challenges, they find that their lives are not so different from one another…both are struggling to provide for their families and put their painful pasts behind them.
If these baskets could speak they would each tell a unique and remarkable story – a story of courage and of hope, a story of courageous women overcoming overwhelming odds to provide for themselves and their children the most basic necessities. Instead of giving up in despair, Rwanda’s women are weaving with the hope of changing their futures…one basket at a time.
A Few Stories of Changed Lives
Theodette
I am 35 years old and a widow. I have many children that I am caring for on my own. Today I am a farmer, a cattle keeper and now a weaver. When my husband was still alive, I just took care of the family farm and the cattle. But after my husband was killed, I learned to weave baskets. These baskets help me to provide for my family and also help to fight my great loneliness by working closely with other women. I’ve learned to be a good weaver and the money I get from selling my baskets now allows me to help solve many of my family’s financial problems.
Epiphania
Epiphania is 39 years old. Her husband threw her out of the house with their four children whom she now cares for on her own. In addition to the care of her children, Epiphania cares for a 90 year old neighbor who can no longer care for himself. “The only means I have to provide for myself and my family is through farming my small plot and through selling my baskets. Through the baskets I sell I am able to pay school fees for my children, to buy them their uniforms, to pay for health insurance for myself and my children and to take care of our household needs and the needs of my neighbor. Thanks to my baskets I am now able to get away from the great loneliness I felt and do something positive for myself and my family!”
Marie
I am 51 years old. My husband and I have 9 children. I started weaving in the hopes of finding a way out of the terrible poverty that my family was experiencing. Now, thanks to the baskets I sell, I no longer have to beg for anything. I can send my children to school, I can buy soap to wash their clothes, I can even buy them their school uniforms and the other items they need. I am so grateful to each person who buys one of my baskets.
