The Rwanda Basket Company is a unique for-profit company that is working to change the lives of impoverished weavers in Rwanda. All profits from the Rwanda Basket Company go to support the work of Rwanda Partners – a nonprofit working to restore and heal the people of Rwanda.
The vision for The Rwanda Basket Company was formed in 2004 when Greg and Tracy Stone (co-founders of the Rwanda Basket Company and Rwanda Partners) led a mission trip to this impoverished East African nation and encountered a poverty such as they had never seen before. As a result, the Stones committed to serving the people of Rwanda – forming a nonprofit organization called Rwanda Partners that works alongside the Rwandan people in the areas of poverty reduction and reconciliation. Between 2004 -2007, Rwanda Partners has raised over $1 million for direct support to ministries and poverty reduction programs in Rwanda.
A New Vision is Born
During one of their first trips to Rwanda, the Stones were introduced to the beautiful handmade baskets that play an integral role in everyday life in Rwanda. These exquisite works of art quickly made an impact on not only the Stones but on everyone who saw them back in the States. For two years Rwanda Partners has been selling these baskets almost as quickly as they receive them from Rwanda. The demand for them has far exceeded the supply that Rwanda Partners has been able to keep in stock. It soon became apparent that what was needed was a new organization that could commit itself fully to the training of the weavers and the promotion of these beautiful works of art in the west. Thus the Rwanda Basket Company was born.
Changing Lives One Basket at a Time
The vision of the Rwanda Basket Company is to empower the impoverished women of Rwanda to rise above their subsistence level existence by providing them with the training, tools and support needed to sell their baskets in the west. The Rwanda Basket Company accomplishes this in several ways:
Providing “Master Weavers” to work with these impoverished women to help them improve and expand their weaving skills
Paying the weavers directly a premium wage for each of their baskets
Supplying high quality sisal, dye and other materials needed to ensure a quality product
Making available to the weavers (many of them genocide widows or wives of imprisoned perpetrators) such life skills training as healing and reconciliation workshops, trauma counseling, and basic medical assistance
Opening up multiple markets in the west for the weavers’ baskets, thereby ensuring them a much better wage for their products than they could ever hope to receive in Rwanda
