RWEEI Construction Project
Donation protected
In 2019, Mama IMAHKÜS of One Africa and Rich Hearts, a young group of genocide survivors came together after visiting the reconciliation village of Rweru in Rwanda, East Africa where victims and perpetrators of the genocide were living side by side. After consulting with the women and the community, learning of their challenges and desires One Africa/Rich Hearts decided to pool their resources and created The Rweru Women’s Social, Economic Empowerment and Human Values Initiative.
The genocide not only took human lives, but it also destroyed the livelihoods of many thousands of families. Many women who survived were widowed, and many children left homeless after losing both of their parents and relatives. Food crops and houses were systematically burned and destroyed. Victims couldn’t return to their villages. Perpetrators who were released from prison didn’t have a place to go; consequently the government created six (6) Reconciliation Villages including Rweru where 110 families are currently living (perpetrators and victims), as neighbors. Eighty percent (80%) of the families are headed by women.
The resilience of these women and the horrific hardships they went through, but most importantly, how they rose above hate and chose love and forgiveness, “We cannot go forward without forgiveness” said one of the women. Forward to something that is bigger than themselves and resonates with what the project is striving to achieve.
The initiative was designed to train and economically empower women to self-sufficiency while providing them with the skills and tools necessary to reconstruct their lives after surviving the horrific 1994 Tutsi genocide.
In December 2021, the first class of ten (10) women successfully completed the Sewing/Seamstress Technology program; receiving their certification they are now preparing to form a collective to start their own businesses. However, with the launch of the first graduating class, RWEEI is facing a devastating setback as their training site is no longer available and other women are awaiting admission. This obstacle has caused us to re-think the expansion of the program by building a facility of our own.
The goal of the fundraising project is to build a permanent Training Center for the Rweru Women's Economic Empowerment Initiative (RWEEI). The facility will provide on-going training, provide jobs and the community with a Business and Childcare Center to support the project's long-term sustainability.
The genocide not only took human lives, but it also destroyed the livelihoods of many thousands of families. Many women who survived were widowed, and many children left homeless after losing both of their parents and relatives. Food crops and houses were systematically burned and destroyed. Victims couldn’t return to their villages. Perpetrators who were released from prison didn’t have a place to go; consequently the government created six (6) Reconciliation Villages including Rweru where 110 families are currently living (perpetrators and victims), as neighbors. Eighty percent (80%) of the families are headed by women.
The resilience of these women and the horrific hardships they went through, but most importantly, how they rose above hate and chose love and forgiveness, “We cannot go forward without forgiveness” said one of the women. Forward to something that is bigger than themselves and resonates with what the project is striving to achieve.
The initiative was designed to train and economically empower women to self-sufficiency while providing them with the skills and tools necessary to reconstruct their lives after surviving the horrific 1994 Tutsi genocide.
In December 2021, the first class of ten (10) women successfully completed the Sewing/Seamstress Technology program; receiving their certification they are now preparing to form a collective to start their own businesses. However, with the launch of the first graduating class, RWEEI is facing a devastating setback as their training site is no longer available and other women are awaiting admission. This obstacle has caused us to re-think the expansion of the program by building a facility of our own.
The goal of the fundraising project is to build a permanent Training Center for the Rweru Women's Economic Empowerment Initiative (RWEEI). The facility will provide on-going training, provide jobs and the community with a Business and Childcare Center to support the project's long-term sustainability.
For additional information on the project see our web site www.rweruwomencenter.com.
Organizer
IMAHKÜS Nzingah (One Africa) Okofu
Organizer
Pompano Beach, FL
