Source: Parade 
In 1994, from April to July, Rwanda was devastated by a brutal genocide. Hundreds of thousands of Rwandans were murdered and many more were forced to flee their homes and become refugees. During this time, every day, for each minute that passed, six men, women and children were massacred. Hundreds of thousands of women were raped.

Because of extreme poverty, more than half of Rwanda's children couldn't continue their schooling.

This war-ravaged nation was left with 70 percent women who had to rebuild the country. In an attempt to rehabilitate, the government encouraged women, especially artisans, to form cooperatives and be entrepreneurial. But the women needed education and tools. How could they learn how to form and manage their businesses and find good venues where they might sell their products? The nonprofit organization Indego Africa was formed in 2007 to partner with these cooperatives and help empower Rwandan women to lift themselves out of poverty. Today they engage with 22 different artisan groups across Rwanda.

Working closely with the cooperatives, Indego Africa offers talented craftswomen opportunities to earn sustainable income and receive education. Most of them have never embarked on entrepreneurial pursuits before. But like the old adage goes, "Teach someone to fish and they eat for a lifetime." The women gain many invaluable life skills. They have received training in design, business management, and technology so they can grow their own businesses. And through Indego Africa's e-commerce website and with collaborations with boutiques and brands around the globe, the women's handcrafted products are available worldwide and online.

At the Twiyubake cooperative in a village in Rwanda's Kayonza District, 30 artisans skillfully weave items from banana leaves. (Twiyubake means "to rebuild ourselves," in Kinyarwanda.) Genocide survivors and widows work side-by-side with the wives of imprisoned génocidaires. In fact, many of the women initially connected through the Prison Fellowship, a non-profit organization that helps foster reconciliation among people affected by genocide.

 
Maria Josee Numukobwa

Belancilla Kangondo is a craftswoman at the Twiyubake cooperative. She explains that before she connected with Indego Africa, she was working as a farmer earning the equivalent of 43 cents a day. Kangondo was struggling to support her family while her husband was in prison because of genocide-related activity. If she had never acquired these skills? "My life would be terrible," she says. "I'd have no house... I would not afford to pay the people who now work in my farm. All I have, I have achieved because of Indego Africa... When someone provides you with knowledge, they give you something very essential."

The Twiyubake cooperative encourages unity and reconciliation as the women make beautiful items like stacking boxes, hats and beach bags. In addition to the Indego Africa website, some of the items have been sold on TOMS Marketplace. And Grace Hightower De Niro (who is married to Robert De Niro), sold the boxes on Saks.com as gift boxes for her Rwandan Fair Trade coffee, Grace Hightower & Coffees of Rwanda.

April 7th is Rwanda's Genocide Remembrance Day which is followed by a week of remembrance and mourning. To honor this day, Belancilla Kangondo, Jacqueline Musabyimana, Marie Josee Numukobwa, three of the artisans in the Twiyubake cooperative, shared their stories with me.

 
Belancilla Kangondo (left) with her friend Jennifer

What was your life like before you got involved with Twiyubake cooperative?

Belancilla Kangondo: I struggled. My husband was in prison, so I was forced to support the family by myself. I was a farmer and at the time I made about 300 Rwf [about 43 cents] a day, which was barely enough money to provide for my basic needs and support my husband's needs. My daughter had to quit school. As you can imagine, my life was really bad.

When I joined the Prison Fellowship program, I was among genocide survivors and widows. It was very uncomfortable for me to be in the same room with them. To actually sit down and talk to each other was very difficult because we would not know what to say knowing that my husband was in prison for genocide and they had lost people because of it.

Marie Josee Numukobwa: When I got married, I did not work. I stayed at home raising my children. I used to fear that people were going to come and kill us. Probably an after effect of the genocide. When my father died, it was really hard on me. He loved me so much and it saddened me because he was not able to see his grandchildren.

Jacqueline Musabyimana: I stayed at home by myself. My husband was the breadwinner so he would provide for us. I used to ask him for everything that I might have wanted or needed. I used to be afraid to be around other people and engage in conversations with them for the fear that I was not on the same level with them intellectually. My dad had been killed during the genocide and when my mum passed away a few years later [when I was around 12], I was sent to live with family friends who mistreated me. They made me do all the housework even though I was just a child.

 
Valeria Mukawakwandi, a craftswoman at the Twiyubake cooperative

What tools has Indego Africa given you and how did the organization help you transform?

Belancilla Kangondo: Indego Africa taught us design. They gave us training from business management to English. They also brought in professionals to talk about our health. The organization gives us orders and with the money from the orders, I buy food and the other basic necessities that I had trouble getting before. I have been able to renovate my house and get electricity, while before I was using kerosene lamps. I built another house that I now lease to others and get additional income. I can buy clothes when I want and we eat regularly too. From the trainings, I learned to save money so every now and then I keep some at the bank and use it for different projects. My life has changed completely. I owe all of this to Indego Africa. They brought me from a very difficult place.

Marie Josee Numukobwa: We have been able to do things that we were not able to. In the business management trainings for example, I learned how to save money, unlike before when I used to spend it all. I learned how to work. I did not have to keep asking my husband for money. Now when I want something, I buy it myself.

Jacqueline Musabyimana: My thinking changed. I matured. I became hopeful. Before I used to ask my husband for everything: clothes, shoes, soap. Sometimes I would be embarrassed to ask for some things. But now, I contribute more to the household expenses. I pay most of my children's school fees and health insurance too.

I also learned to make products through different designs. Today, I am among the people in charge of coming up with new designs in the cooperative. Indego Africa has been like a parent to me. What I didn't learn from my own parents, I learned from Indego Africa. In the future, I plan to start my own business, so all the trainings I am receiving now will help me when that time comes. It is important because it has educated me on a number of things not just about business but also health. I feel that I can also pay it forward by educating others about what I have learned.

What brings you joy these days?

Belancilla Kangondo: The fact that I am kind of a single mother and I have achieved so much. I am not embarrassed about anything. I am in a good place.

Jacqueline Musabyimana: Seeing my children going to school. My eldest will be starting high school soon.

Marie Josee Numukobwa: The fact that my family is peaceful. We are healthy and we don't lack anything. And my children are able to go to school.

• Rwanda