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Two years ago they were 50. Today their number has swelled to more than 600. Once despairing victims of Rwanda's infamous genocide, today they are entrepreneurs who have woven a success story with a centuries-old skill and a refusal to be cowed by tragedy.
They are the women of Gitarama province -- widows, mothers who have lost their children, women who have survived unspeakable acts of brutality. You may have seen their handcrafted baskets in Macy's or at ABC Carpet, in the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., or in the National Museum of African Art, also in the United States' capital. You may even have seen them on the "Gifts and Samplers" page of the Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Web site at www.greenmountaincoffee.com, or in any one of hundreds of boutiques across the country.
Ten years ago, who would have thought this possible?
"Entrepreneurship is part of the answer. I don't care who you are, where you are from, what happened, all I need is business," Janet Nkubana said in a September interview Economist Intelligence Unit. "Among these weavers, I have survivors, I have widows, I have women whose husbands are sitting in prison, but to see them sitting under one roof weaving and doing business together, it is great." Nkubana and her sister, Joy Ndungutse, own Gahaya Links, a Rwandan company that promotes and markets high-quality handicrafts made by rural women.
You can't miss the baskets made by the women of Gitarama. Brightly colored and shaped like pagodas, they are unique to Rwanda; one is included on the national seal. They are made from sisal, papyrus and banana leaf and, in the old days, were given as wedding gifts. Their distinct zigzag design tells an ancient story of two friends walking together along the path of life, visiting neighboring villages along the way. Today, they are marketed as "peace baskets," signifying the long and zigzagging road to healing and peace after the infamy of genocide more than 10 years ago.
The baskets come in all...