Support
Small Businesses
in the Boneza Community
Supporting one another
to create a sustainable opportunity in Boneza.
$200 is enough to start a small business in Boneza, Rwanda. However, living on well below $1 per day, it takes tremendous work and patience for individuals to save enough money to pursue such an opportunity. But when community members join together, each contributing to one bucket of funds, it becomes possible for individuals to start businesses and create income for themselves.
Micro-finance groups began meeting in 2012 to learn about how money savings and micro-loans could change their life. Years later, these groups still meet weekly and have benefitted from group savings, enabling individuals to start small businesses throughout Boneza. The average weekly contribution from individuals is 500 Rwandan Francs (about $0.50). Group members share their business ideas and use the group funds as a loan. As the individual’s business grows, they pay the group back what they borrowed which allows for another business to be started. The cycle continues from there. Over a thousand small businesses have been created by group members and the repayment rate for micro-loans remains 100%.
Alongside the educational benefit of micro-finance meetings, these groups also enjoy the social aspect. Meetings feel like a community coming together to support one another. Members chat and pray, read scripture, share ideas and inspire each other, and sometimes they even break out in traditional song and dance. Thousands of these groups exist throughout the Boneza community. The creation of each micro-finance group has fostered economic growth, alongside pride and hope for families.
Make an Impact
Your impact multiplies
AS SMALL BUSINESSES GROW IN BONEZA.
You can help fund a small business in Boneza. A $200 donation is enough to fund a small business through our micro-loan/finance program. Your contribution will be gifted to an entrepreneur within a local savings group.
Small Businesses
Resulting From Our Savings Groups
“If you empower a woman through helping her start a business, you are transforming her family with a sustainable model.”
Valentine
Small Business Loan Recipient
Ubuntu
Ubuntu is a women’s sewing cooperative group started in 2017 in Boneza, Rwanda. The group founder recevied a micro-loan through one of our savings groups in order to launch the cooperative. This small business has created jobs for many women in Boneza.
Each woman in the group learned the craft of sewing for the first time after joining this initiative. All Ubuntu products are made from local, traditional Rwandan fabric.
The name “Ubuntu” comes from the Kinya-Rwandan word for “Grace”.
Women of Ubuntu modeling some of their products.
The women of Ubuntu gather to learn, grow, and share community. Many women in this group were living on $1 a day, but now they find success in selling their beautiful handmade products.
This local opportunity is changing lives and providing hope to families in the community.
Storefronts &
Produce Stands
Many entrepreneurs within our savings groups have opened storefronts and fresh produce stands. From bakeries to carpentry services, these businesses provide essentials throughout the villages of Boneza.
Fishing
Boneza is located along beautiful Lake Kivu, so selling fish is naturally a popular business.
Agriculture
Boneza’s village residents are primarily agrarian tending their personal gardens for their family food as well as larger plots of tea, coffee, bananas, potatoes and other produce for trade. The region’s rich volcanic soil accounts for outstanding production, including award-winning coffee beans with global recognition.
There are over 3 million coffee trees in this area and almost the entire population is connected to bean growth. Locals contribute by either growing it, picking it, or working at a washing station.
Kivu Hills Coffee
Kivu Hills Coffee is a Specialty Grade Arabica roasted in Michigan by Schuil Coffee Company. The beans are grown in rich volcanic soil in western Rwanda. This region produces award-winning beans with global recognition. For each bag sold, Schuil Coffee Company will donate $3 to Arise Rwanda.
Our Programs
Explore our other programs to understand how each is making a difference in Boneza, and learn how you can get involved.
