Newton August 2025

“For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever” (Psalm 9:18).

I know there are a lot of Rwandan baskets—a twenty-foot-long shipping container full—at Home Office now, ready for sale. I thought I would use this newsletter to share more testimonies from the ladies who weave many of them.

Mariette is sixty-six years of age now. She was widowed at the age of thirty. She found a place in the church to help her in her widowhood. Mariette testified that she is thankful for the cooperative with Rafiki for help in her poverty situation. When she became a widow, she had to go to someone’s farm to find food, meaning she had to cultivate someone’s land for them. But when she started in this project through the church, she was able to earn money and it helps her fulfill her needs. Mariette now has someone help her in her own field. It’s not necessary for her to farm. She weaves and hires someone to work in her field, and is able to help her family. She has goats, chickens, and fertilizer. She resourcefully sells them all. She has shoes to wear. Prior to the Rafiki cooperative, she had no shoes of her own.

Mariette has three children and none of them had to go be a domestic helper. Teens who cannot continue their education because of failing national exams or no money for tuition, typically look for a job as a house helper who cleans, cooks, and provides childcare. However, Mariette was able to send her children for vocational training for metal working, construction, and tailoring. She was able to pay school fees for all. She now has grandchildren.

Cruseria is fifty-six years of age now. She was widowed when she was twenty-seven years of age with one child.

She has four other children through “society issues,” as it was phrased to me. When Cruseria became a widow, she was treated badly by her husband’s family. The different men in the family came as “protector.” Each time after reporting to the protector she was pregnant by him, he disappeared. She was eventually pushed away. Now she has five children to provide for. She had to farm in others’ fields for food.

Cruseria learned to weave another style of basket as a child. However, at the church she learned better weaving. When she was able to join the group, life greatly improved. Her children finished school through grade level nine, which is junior high here. She was not able to pay tuition to send to high school, but she was able to send them to vocational training. Two daughters are tailors and one weaves. Cruseria was able to purchase sewing machines for her daughters. Three of her children are now married and the two youngest are still at home.

She testified that she is thankful for the church and Rafiki and especially thankful for Rafiki thinking of widows. She was not mentally okay because of family pushing her away and being impregnated by men; she was depressed. Again, that all changed when she was able to join the group. She is paying school fees for her two youngest children without problems, and they have health insurance. She prays the Rafiki partnership remains because it’s a solution to problems.

You can shop for the Rwandan widows’ baskets at https://store.RafikiFoundation.org/collections/baskets-1, or scan the QR code below.

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