Social Enterprise is Personal

Meet Honoline (pink) and Jenny (yellow), two of Indego Africa’s resident fashionists. Honoline and Jenny love their stylish sunglasses almost as much as helping out at their mom’s tailoring cooperative, Cocoki. They are excellent teaching assistants—they enjoy drawing on the chalkboard during trainings and practicing their English skills. They also provide necessary feedback on product design and tailoring—the last dress their moms’ made for me to wear to Indego Africa’s Dec. 2 Ibirori celebration in NYC was definitely "nibyiza" (pretty) in their opinion. Working with women’s cooperatives means we naturally work with their children as well, and that can be one of the best parts of the job.

At Indego Africa we spend a lot of time focusing on the serious aspects of business and development in Rwanda. One thing we don’t talk about much is the deep personal connection we have with our partners. And that connection forms the heart of our programming. Our partners feel comfortable sharing their needs and questions with us because we take the time to listen and engage with them at every level. Both Jadot (my Rwandan colleague) and I can get our cooperative’s laughing—whether by clowning around with their kids or by doing light-hearted impressions of the ever intimidating ‘international clietele’ they are trying to imagine. So when its time to take on more serious topics, like unit pricing and cooperative management, we get the pleasure of no-holds barred participation from every woman—and her kids.

- Amity