In a country left devastated after the 1994 Genocide that claimed the lives of more than a million in just three months, Emelienne and Therese were forced to ponder the direction of their futures.
Emelienne, separated from her family, struggled to live, avoiding getting captured or killed by genocidaires. She later discovered that her brothers, her father and two of her sisters' husbands had all been massacred. After getting married, starting a family and working a string of odd jobs in the capital of Kigali, Emelienne decided to learn to sew.
But she didn't stop there with her newfound skills.
"Me and my fellow women who shared the same problem of poverty decided to start a cooperative," she said in a video interview.
With a band of women, Emelienne started Cooperative de Couture de Kicukiro, also known as Cocoki. Therese later joined and is now the Vice President of Cocoki. Emelienne is the group's treasurer. Both women, at 36-years-old, are now master seamstresses.
The birth and expansion of the Cocoki cooperative transformed the lives of the women, including Emelienne who had been making about 25 cents a day back when she used to carry bails of water for sale.
Fast forward four years, Cocoki is now a groundbreaking sewing cooperative of more than 40 Rwandan women, supplying fashion accessories and home décor crafts for American iconic fashion designer, Nicole Miller, and high-end retail stores such as Anthropologie and DANNIJO. Cocoki has been featured in the Washington Post, the Huffington Post, ELLE, and InStyle.
In partnership with Indego Africa, a New York-based nonprofit enterprise, Cocoki's bracelets and accessories will soon be sold at J.Crew next year.
"The success of Emelienne and Therese is an example of how Indego Africa's artisan partners are reclaiming control over their futures," Indego Africa's President and CEO, Benjamin Stone said.
"With access to otherwise unattainable export markets and education, each participating woman is translating her experiences of financial security and increased productivity into a lasting sense of self-worth and pride."
"All members of Cocoki have a dream," Emelienne said. "Their dream is to become rich from their hands."
It's a dream that seems more possible now than ever before as Cocoki's productivity and financial revenue continues to grow. From 2008 and 2010, the group's annual gross revenues jumped from $1,166 in 2008 to $7,000 in 2009 to $17,333 in 2010. Emelienne is able to financially support her five children, widowed mother, two sisters and their children
"Now we are able to pay school fees for our kids," Therese, mother of three, said.
Emelienne, once a shy young woman who was searching for her place in the aftermath of one of the worst genocides in history, is now a confident young woman.
She's been quoted and profiled in the Washington Post, the Huffington Post, the Deseret News, AOL News, and was the subject of a Harvard Business School case study. She's also a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Entrepreneurship Certificate Program at Rwanda's School of Finance & Banking
The six-month programme exposed Emelienne to courses in marketing, public relations, human resources, organizational management, bookkeeping, accounting and others.
And Therese is not far behind. She's also been accepted into the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Entrepreneurship Certificate Program and will graduate this year.
The programme is a five-year investment to provide underserved female entrepreneurs around the world with business and management education. Research shows that investing in women is one of the most effective ways to reduce inequality and facilitate national economic growth.
"Ninety percent of all revenues that women gain in their enterprises are reinvested into society, into educating their children, into health care programs," said Dina Powell, managing director of the Goldman Sachs Foundation.
Emelienne and Therese's recent trip to the U.S brought them to the Rwandan embassy in Washington, D.C., a meeting with retailers, lots of press and their first ride on an underground subway.
"My children now look up to me and are proud of my success," Emelienne said while speaking on a panel during her first trip to the U.S.
Emelienne and Therese-- survivors, entrepreneurs, scholars and visionaries -- now understand their own impact, and also that of women who band together for a greater good.
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