This project will allow us to provide ongoing and advanced training to Rwandan women to create beautiful hand-dyed scarves, as well as how to market them to tourists in a new boutique in Musanze. The women will be taught to manage everything from inventory to sales and basic bookkeeping, providing them with a living wage, economic freedom, a sense of self worth and belonging to something greater than themselves.
Most Rwandan women over 35 have no vocational skills - an indirect result of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. As a result, their employment opportunities are extremely limited, most live in poverty, and their children remain uneducated.
By providing unskilled women with an array of vocational skills including dyeing, sewing, and retail sales from inventory to marketing and bookkeeping, this project empowers the women to earn a living wage. In addition to providing economic freedom, they are also provided with a sense of self-worth and pride.
At least six families will now have a reliable source of income to feed and care for their own. This creates a ripple effect in their communities, providing inspiration to their children and other families. Their children will see firsthand the benefits of having vocational skills and working. We plan to grow this number as the store becomes successful.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
