Baskets

I have become fascinated with the baskets of Rwanda, and with the industrious women who make them. This is not a “cottage industry” that exists in Malawi, so it is all new to me. It is a staple of Rwandan culture and has been for centuries. But it has become a serious business for the women of Rwanda in the last decades.

The baskets are as varied as people. Some are made of delicate grasses and some of sturdy reeds. Some grasses are dyed to give color and style to the baskets. Some are for household use and some for decoration. Some are even whimsical, fitting inside of one another like Polish Nesting Dolls. The designs vary as well. Some are conical, some round, some oblong. Most have lids, and those add style to each of the designs, varying in shape as much as the baskets themselves. All are made of materials that are readily available for the gathering, at no expense, except for the time and energy and the talent that it takes.



Women's group at work

Of greater interest to me than the baskets are the creators of the baskets. These are the women of Rwanda. Many of them are poor women, some widowed, some struggling to support their families. Each week, at least twice a week, one or more women come to my gate to offer me their creations. I find it hard to turn them away (which, of course, is why there are so many who come – word spreads). When they stand among their creations, which they have carefully displayed for my viewing, looking both hungry and hopeful, I’m reluctant to decline. I now have a growing collection of baskets and the enterprising ladies are coming with different designed each visit. Some churches are cultivation these talents by forming associations of the women and finding markets for their baskets beyond the neighborhood. They have moved in to markets and shops in the cities and, in a few instances, have begun coops with some international partners. This saves the women traveling from gate to gate, looking for customers. The women in the associations work together, teaching each other new weaving techniques and sharing the profits of the group’s sales. In one church, each woman in the association now has had the resources to purchase mattresses for their beds, a great achievement in the villages, because of the combined effort of the basket making. In another, the women have formed a savings and loan operation with their profits and are helping each other finance school tuitions, goat purchases for beginning another small business, or for other enterprises. They have determined that there is strength in numbers. All of this is a testimony to the energy and the ingenuity of the women of Rwanda, putting ot use the common grasses and reeds of the region.