Kosovo Country Director Hamide Latifi's Trip to Rwanda
December 2006

It is December and in Kosovo it is the middle of winter.  I am writing this letter from Rwanda, however, and here it feels more like late spring or early summer—fresh and comfortable.

Looking outside, the lush landscape gives the impression that everything in Rwanda is flourishing, from the bushes and trees to the women in our program.  Once I scratch beneath the surface and speak with some of our participants, I realize that the all of the blooming flowers are, in many cases, decorating the harsh Rwandan reality, where women are struggling to overcome impossible poverty and injustice. Still, women and men alike are fiercely determined to rebuild their country into something they can be proud of.

I visited our rights awareness and job skills training classes.  How badly these women want to be there!  I wish you could see it for yourself. Some of the women walk for hours to attend class, often carrying their babies on their backs since they cannot afford childcare. One baby was only five days old!  The women sit together, making baskets with the kids still sleeping on their backs.  The women look after each other and each other’s children with so much care and love, never complaining, determined to use this opportunity as their way out of poverty, isolation and marginalization.

I spoke with several of the women as they made their baskets—used for everything from carrying products to and from the local market to storing food—for the first of three days that week. One of these women was Vestine.  My brief encounter with this young woman has expanded my small world and reminded me of the incredible power of determination.

Click here to read complete text of Hamide's letter from Rwanda.


God Sleeps in Rwanda, a documentary film by Kimberlee Acquaro and Stacy Sherman

The 1994 Rwandan Genocide left the country nearly 70% female, handing Rwanda's women an extraordinary burden and an unprecendented opportunity. An inspiring story of loss and redemption God Sleeps in Rwanda captures the spirit of five courageous women - including Delfine Umutesi, a Women for Women International graduate - as they rebuild their lives, redefinding women's roles in Rwandan society and bringing hope to a wounded nation.

HBO Documentary Films premiered God Sleeps in Rwanda as part of their award-winning Cinemax Reel Life series on Cinemax on Thursday, August 10 at 7pm ET.


"Peace Baskets" Filled with Hope, OutReach, Spring 2006

Rwandan women are returning to a traditional handicraft dating back a thousand years as they reclaim and rebuild their lives 12 years after the Rwandan genocide. Side by side, these women are making “peace baskets” woven from sisal fibers using traditional techniques and designs. Customarily, women design the baskets to celebrate communal harmony or tell stories of celebration, such as weddings or births. The baskets serve many functions in Rwandese culture... Today, these peace baskets provide a source of income for hundreds of women across Rwanda and have become symbols of reconciliation.


"Women Taking A Lead : Progress Toward Empowerment and Gender Equity in Rwanda," Women for Women International Briefing Paper, September 2004.