Incubator Fund Inspiration: Ejo Hazaza

About the Incubator Fund

There are 529 artisan cooperatives in Rwanda, and Indego Africa partners with 11 of them. Our goal is to reach more women by partnering with new cooperatives! The Incubator Fund covers start-up costs incurred by Indego Africa in building successful partnerships with new artisan groups. Indego Africa has identified several high-potential artisan groups to partner with, but we will not be able to support these early-stage women entrepreneurs without your help.

Success Story: Ejo Hazaza

The story of beading cooperative Ejo Hazaza illustrates the importance of the Incubator Fund and the impact your donation can have on the lives of women entrepreneurs.

Indego Africa Production Associate Grace Tsuni (L) with the women of Ejo Hazaza.

Ejo Hazaza is a beading cooperative located 10 km. outside of Kigali. Formed in 2005, the cooperative now includes 29 women, all of whom came from refugee camps and are HIV+."Ejo Hazaza" translates to "Beads of Tomorrow," and alludes to the artisan's hope for a better future.

Indego Africa first met Ejo Hazaza in the spring of 2012. Prior to working with Indego Africa, the women of Ejo Hazaza made less than $1 per day and received only occasional orders for their beautiful hand-beaded products.

The Role of the Incubator Fund

The groundwork Indego Africa laid prior to partnering with Ejo Hazaza is characteristic of every new partnership Indego Africa embarks on.

Raw Materials

Many artisan cooperatives in Rwanda have difficulty buying raw materials needed for their craft. For Ejo Hazaza, Indego Africa provided beads and bead looms for the cooperative to perform their craft.

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Design Samples

Indego Africa, and in this case, Jill Golden, creates original designs and works with new cooperatives like Ejo Hazaza to produce samples. In addition to supplying raw materials, Indego Africa pays every cooperative a fair wage for producing samples.

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Staff Visits

In the early stages of the partnership, Indego Africa staff made daily visits to Ejo Hazaza’s work space and spent hours training the artisans.

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Ejo Hazaza Today

For Ejo Hazaza’s first large-scale order, Indego Africa connected the cooperative with New York based jewelry designer Jill Golden. The resulting ISARO jewelry collection by Jill Golden received international recognition and was even featured in the August 2012 issue of InStyle Magazine!

 

Help Us Reach More Cooperatives!

Donate to the Incubator Fund and help Indego Africa reach, train, and support more women and more cooperatives like Ejo Hazaza!

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Help Indego Africa Reach More Women Entrepreneurs!

Indego Africa is proud to introduce you to our

2012 Incubator Fund!

The Incubator Fund

What it is: The Incubator Fund covers start-up costs incurred by Indego Africa in building successful market access partnerships with new artisan groups.

Why it matters: Indego Africa has identified several high-potential artisan groups to partner with, but we will not be able to support these early-stage women entrepreneurs without your help.

Be an Investor in the Future of Rwandan Women Entrepreneurs

$10 - general support

$25 - raw materials

$50 - one set of design samples

$100 - business registration for one cooperative

$250 - annual workplace rent subsidy for one cooperative

$500 - sponsor bookkeeping and accounting workshops for two cooperatives

$1,000 - sponsor a professional designer to provide technical assistance in Rwanda

$5,000 - angel investor

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Twiyubake Takes on Business Management and Entrepreneurship Training

Watch the Women of Twiyubake in Action

With the help of your generous donations, the talented artisans of Twiyubake banana leaf weaving cooperative enrolled in Indego Africa's Business Management and Entrepreneurship Training program. Twiyubake expressed their desire to join the trainings in order to improve their business knowledge and learn how to run their cooperative efficiently. Indego Africa trainers equip Twiyubake members with the tools to run their business more effectively and provide income for their families.

Jacqueline, Vice President of Twiyubake 

“Before Business Management trainings, we were selling our products for too little because we didn’t know any better. Now we can sell our products for better prices by seeing how similar products sell in the market. We can now better understand how to price our products.”  Jacqueline, Vice President of Twiyubake.

The women of Twiyubake praise their Generation Rwanda trainers highly, saying, “They are such good trainers who explain everything to us no matter how many times we ask them to repeat themselves. They are always patient with us.”

Twiyubake's Business Management and Entrepreneurship trainer, Christian, is also a business student in Rwanda. He says of his experience in the training programs: 

"Working with entrepreneurs is a great experience for me as they have practical experience and I have theoretical experience. It helps me a lot and I can say that I made friends with them. There are so many concepts I came to understand especially those related to marketing and sales. It is a great opportunity for me as a student who needs practical examples and experience."

Please donate to Indego Africa's Incubator Fund 

to help more women like the artisans of Twiyubake!

shop.indegoafrica.org/incubatorfund