The lady who runs the project gave us a warm welcome. She is a Rwandan, lived for a while in the USA and came up with a good plan. As a mother she noticed how hard it can be raising kids and making ends meet. Instead of sitting in a corner crying she decided to do something, not just for her, but for the women in Rwanda. Three years ago she created Gahaya Links. What she does is brilliant. Apart from the export products Tea and Coffee Rwanda is rightly proud of their traditional baskets. There are many people making baskets and also a reasonable amount trying to sell them. She decided to bring this to the next level. She combined supply and demand and made sure they meet. She set up training for women to make baskets and at the same time made some good deals with some USA based stores. She delivers to a.o. Macy’s and Starbucks who uses some big displays to sell their Rwandan coffee.
She makes contact with village elders and communities to make sure she selects the right women to train. She is looking for women who need help and are ready and willing to invest in their self and their community. These women (up to 60 at a time) come to Kigali where they spend three weeks training, by professionals. They get a meals and a bed, not much more, but come away skilled. They then return to the village to teach others. They then make baskets and can supply Gahaya Links, earning a reasonable living; so much that even some men became interested!
Because Madame Joy is not just a business lady but also an idealist, she trains the women also on not unimportant issues as hygiene, HIV and finance.
In order not to flood the market with just baskets she is also always thinking of new products, next year she will be providing bead bracelets and tablecloths and matching napkins etc.
She asked us if we knew ways to promote her products in The Netherlands. I was slightly surprised “is the US not big enough” she explained that it is not just the product she is selling, she wants to show the world what Rwanda is about, not just the genocide.
The raw materials are grass from Rwanda, raffia from Uganda and beads from Kenya and Japan. She does try to get good deals, she really is a businesswoman. Before the products go out they are thoroughly checked, a basket in the USA costs 50 USD, so they do expect consistent quality. Products are ready labelled, even with a barcode, so all they need to do is take it out of the box. To minimize costs they are sent by sea-container.
I was genuinely impressed by what this lady managed to set up. Even her business card is well thought out. Simple, yet says it all:
Gahaya Links
Export, Promotion & Marketing rural woman handcraft
Joy NDUNGUTSE
Founder/designer
1 comment:
Awesome story!
Post a Comment