Last year, I was invited to participate in the first ever AYA Summit for digital influencers at Google’s DC headquarters. The Summit focused on issues facing girls and women in the developing world and was organized by ONE Girls & Women (a program of the global ONE campaign co-founded by Bono).

AYA was a profound experience. It opened my eyes and my heart to some of the most remarkable and inspirational people on the planet. One of those people is Sydney Price, Senior VP for Social Responsibility at Kate Spade & Company and a self-described intrapreneur, who founded a program called On Purpose that is changing the lives of women (many of whom are moms) in Rwanda.

Through On Purpose, Kate Spade & Co. works with 150 women artisans who are suppliers for several brands of the company. And unlike most other corporate trade models, this program isn’t charitable, and instead is designed to develop local, independently viable, women-led businesses that bring enormous benefits to entire communities.

On a recent visit to Rwanda, representatives of Kate Spade & Co. interviewed some of the moms in the program on behalf of Mamalode. With just this tiny window into their personal and professional lives, we hope you will take a moment to get to know them and this program, and to acknowledge how we are all at once different and the same.

~Dori Gilels, Publisher

Meet Vestine Mukantagwera, 44, mother of two boys ages 19 and 11.

What is one thing that you would want mothers in the United States to know about being a mother in Rwanda?                

Here, mom’s live different lives. The big problems are poverty and lack of education. They don’t have knowledge about how they can make their lives and what they can do with them. I’m thankful that I have this opportunity to have a good job. I’m different from others. I’m able to pay for things and provide for my family. So I am very fortunate.

What is your job at Abahizi Dushyigikirane Ltd. (Kate Spade & Co.’s registered supplier)?

I use the machines to make handkerchiefs and scarves.

One year later, how has your life changed from before having this job until having it now?

One year ago, I was only tending to my home. But now that I have this job, I’m smarter and I am able to come to the other women and have conversations about our work. I’m also able to take care of my family better.

Do you feel like you’ve made friends here since having this job?

Yes, they’ve become my friends. We meet together all over the community.

Now that you have your salary, what are you able to do now that you couldn’t before?

I have an account at the bank where I’m saving money. I’m able to give my kids whatever they need and pay for things that our family needs.

What were you most excited about being able to buy with your salary?

Earrings and necklaces and clothes and shoes

What is your biggest hope for the future?

The hope I have is that I’ll be able to continue helping my children to live well and go to good schools.

What gives you courage?

The job gives me courage. I wake up every day knowing what I have to do.

Vestine from Mamalode on Vimeo.

Meet Marie Fransoise Nituragire, 50, mother of three, oldest is 21 and youngest is 7

 What is an average day like for you?            

I wake up every day at 5:30AM. It takes me one hour and thirty minutes to walk to work. I work all day and return home in the evening. The kids prepare dinner while I’m walking back. We have dinner together. We talk and have prayers and then go to sleep.

What is one thing that you would want mothers in the United States to know about being a mother in Rwanda?        

I can say that I, myself, am happy. I’m providing for my kids and able to support my family. I’m happy for this. I can also say that the Rwandan woman works more than their husbands. They work during the day and then they go home and have to do all of the home chores. The cleaning, the cooking. They’re working very hard. Harder than their husbands.

Images provided courtesy of Kate Spade & Company, credit Jeremy Stanley.

Want to learn more about these incredible women? Check out Part 1 and Part 2 of the series here!

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About the Author

Dori

Dori Gilels is Mamalode's Publisher and COO. She once told her husband there isn't a single thing she started that she didn't finish. Need we say more?