We are excited to introduce you to our latest addition to the Hope Artisan Collective: The Hello Hope tote! This simple and sweet bag just screams summer - with its’ fresh canvas body and just a hint of leather to add interest and warm things up a bit.
There are so many things to love about this bag. Beyond the fresh, minimalistic style, we LOVE that it gives our supporters an opportunity to share the message behind Handspun Hope and the work God is doing in Rwanda.
We guarantee, people will stop and ask you about this bag, and those who ask are always amazed when they learn:
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we are a faith-based nonprofit organization that has been in Rwanda for thirteen years (even we have a hard believing that!)
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what began with the employment of ten women has grown to become the number one employer of women in the Musanze district of Rwanda, with 123 women currently employed.
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every employee receives an above-fair-wage salary, health benefits for themselves and their families, contributions toward educational fees and daily access to group and individual trauma counseling.
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not only do we employ two full-time trauma counselors, but those counselors offer lay trauma counselor training to leaders from surrounding communities ~ doctors, pastors, teachers ~ and provide them with the tools and knowledge to offer trauma counseling in their own villages. To date, it is estimated over 2,000 people in Rwanda have received much-needed counseling services because of this free program.
To make the story behind this bag even more lovely, we have to share a bit about the organization that makes them. We are excited to introduce you to Imani Collective.
Based in a village outside of Mombasa, Kenya, Imani Collective believes the key to breaking the poverty cycle lies within dignified employment. So much of their story is similar to our own: their mission began by employing sixteen artisans and has grown to employ over eighty Kenyan women.
Such amazing things happen when organizations offer artisans fair wages, ethical employment … and a little hope.
When you receive your bag and peek inside, you will find the sweet signature of the artisan who made it, providing one more powerful connection to those whose lives your are impacting when you choose where to shop. Because your dollars are going where they are so needed - into the hands of the artisans working for Imani Collective and the ladies working for Handspun Hope.
WHAT A POWERFUL FORCE YOU ARE WHEN YOU CHOOSE TO SHOP FOR GOOD.
Hop over to the Hope Artisan Collective and pick up one of the sweet totes. Use it to share the good news: about the artisans working for Imani in Kenya, the women working for Handspun Hope in Rwanda … and the amazing ways God is transforming lives across Africa.
