Rwanda-one4one

Sustainable peace in Rwanda can only be achieved by rebuilding its social and familial structure along with its economic and physical infrastructure. Women like Mariya and Victoire play a critical role in this process. Investment in women and children helps break the crushing cycle of poverty, improving the lives of families and strengthening the social fabric of the community. The commitment of Rwanda-one4one is to help transition families from joblessness and poverty to meaningful work that provides fair wages. Creating entrepreneurial opportunities has a positive impact on the individuals, the local economy and thus the wider community.

We provide Rwandan women an income-earning craft of naturally dyeing fabric to make beautiful wraps and scarves and we fund education for their children. Income in the hands of women, coupled with education for children, is the most effective means of lifting families and communities from poverty. The World Bank estimates that 90% of women's earnings are invested in their families. Education increases a child's chance of living a healthy life, increases income opportunities and promotes peace. Rwanda-one4one strives to open up entrepreneurial opportunities to all members of the families we work with, coupled with providing education for the children in the families.

Our founder, Nancy Zeller, is a textile artist with expertise in natural dyes and dyeing and a passion for Rwanda and its victimized population. After a visit to Rwanda in 2014 when she met Mariya and her family, Nancy was so moved by their plight that she vowed to help make a difference in their lives. She taught Mariya and her daughter Victoire to make dyes from native Rwandan plants and to use those dyes to make beautiful silk and wool wraps and scarves to sell through Nancy's connections. With this new skill they are able to earn real income on a sustainable basis. We also help fund primary and secondary education for her school age grandchildren.

Since then Nancy has established Rwanda-one4one as a 501(c)(3) organization and recruited a volunteer board to help advise her efforts. Our mission is to work with Rwandan families, helping them create a path to a better life through income opportunities and education, offering not a handout, but a hand up.

Since our inception, Rwanda-one4one has listened to the community we work with, and in that way we can give the energy and resources needed. We don't decide what is best for the families, but rather we support what makes the best sense given their culture and abilities.
In 2014, we began by assisting 4 Rwandan children, grades K-12 with school fees. In 2019, we are assisting 16 children with annual school fees, uniforms and books.

Umva, the natural dye project, started in 2015, and provides work for local women, who we’ve trained to gather indigenous plants from the Rwandan hillsides for naturally dyeing textiles. Umva dyers take immense pride in the craft of natural dyeing and applying it to cloth by hand. Umva is a blossoming opportunity for the families for which they are nurturing its success. The finished pieces (gorgeous scarves and wraps) are one-of-a-kind and speak to the determination of the women to earn an income, so they can feed and care for their families.

In 2017, we implemented the taxi project to provide employment for one family and to fill the need for a car-for-hire by locals and tourists. It is running successfully, the business owner is learning how to earn income and also save income for necessary business expenses.

We want to continue to reach a greater sales market for the Umva products, both to retail and wholesale markets. We strive to continue to pay school fees for the children in our families, increasing the expense as we can, and to continue to listen, act and learn with our Rwandan families.