Community

Handspun Hope:  There is not question in today's world that too many people live in abject poverty, lacking basic life essentials such as food, shelter, clean water, healthcare and education.  Sub-Saharan Africa is home to one third of the world's poverty. 

In 2002 Handspun Hope's Executive Director and Founder heard a presentation in her church from an African hospital worker who shared a glimpse of the poverty situation. She made the decision to go and make a difference.

She began working with US teams to better equip a hospital in Mozambique. She believed she could find a way to use her gifts and skills to help those suffering to overcome the trappings of poverty.

Five years later she learned of the tragic history of Rwanda and the horrific violence that occurred to Rwandan women during the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi.  The country suffered a total loss of infrastructure which prevented many Rwandans from being able to work.  She felt it was time to move the work of Handspun Hope to Rwanda. 

In most African cultures, women have immense influence in family and community life.  If a woman is educated and empowered, she will most likely commit her time, money and skills to educating her children and her community members.  Women are an important piece of the development puzzle. It is for that reason that their current focus reaches out to the most vulnerable women in Rwandan communities. This community works hand-in-hand with local churches, organizations and leadership to create sustainable enterprise for the most vulnerable women in Northern Rwanda. They use social business models to provide work-based solutions to poverty.