Handspun Hope

Handspun Hope envisions entire communities freed from poverty.

We pursue this by reaching out to the most vulnerable people in Rwanda and creating environments where they are empowered to live out their full potential at work, home and in their spiritual lives.

As you learn more about us, you will see how God uses those who step out in faith to grow His Kingdom beyond our wildest expectations. Lives are being changed forever, our territory continues to expand and the number of Rwandans experiencing the limitless love of Christ is growing. Join us as we answer God's call to care for the widow and orphan.

We believe solutions to poverty should restore dignity to impoverished individuals and move them into economic self-sufficiency so they may become leaders of change within their families and surrounding communities. We have a simple approach...

THE MOST VULNERABLE

We respond to the call of Jesus to love the poor and care for the most vulnerable in society. We believe everyone, even the most broken, can be transformed into healed individuals who can care for themselves and their families.

FEMALE FOCUSED

Research reveals that investing in women in developing countries is essential to achieving broader development goals. Women who are provided jobs, education and encouragement will be more likely to instill those values in future generations. We believe that investing in women will reap lasting rewards for future generations.

COMMUNITY BASED

We emphasize community-based solutions to poverty by working with local people, local resources and local talents. Currently, through the raising of sheep for Handspun Hope, specialized training has been offered to our local shepherd and other community members who now care for the animals.

TRANSFORMED LIVES

Through a holistic and relational work environment, Handspun Hope works to transform lives. Many of the women served by our organization suffer from traumatic loss, HIV/AIDS and marginalization in their own communities. We believe true transformation can only come through relationship with Jesus Christ. Handspun Hope provides the tools, support and community to help our women live a lifestyle of the Gospel.

LASTING IMPACT

We aim to empower adults so that, through health awareness, financial stability and educational values, the people we work with will become better parents and parent-figures in the lives of vulnerable children in Rwanda. Investing in the lives of Rwandan women shapes future generations.

The Whole Person

Handspun Hope cares for the whole person. Every woman in our employ suffers from some level of trauma and loss. Many are survivors from the 1994 Rwandan Genocide against the Tutsi. Others are living with HIV/AIDS. All have struggled to provide for multiple children under their care and have endured varying degrees of hunger, homelessness and other stresses of poverty.

This is why we hired Olive Muhawenimana, the Lead Counselor of Handspun Hope's counseling program. Olive earned her Bachelor's Degree in Clinical Psychology from the National University of Rwanda and joined our staff in 2014. Olive, with the help of her assistant Marie Claire Umurewa, provides care for each of the 122 women hired. Handspun Hope has been providing group and individual counseling for each woman since 2012.

The Whole Community

2014 marked the twentieth anniversary of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. During this time, it became clear that many Rwandans were reliving the traumatic episodes they endured during that 100-day period. We realized we were equipped to provide a broader spectrum of emotional care to the entire Musanze District through the counseling program we had been using with our own ladies, and wanted to spread the healing that comes from counseling beyond our walls and into Rwanda.

In the spring of 2013, Handspun Hope hosted a Lay Counselor Training Program for Rwandan community leaders who were interested in committing to a ten-week course. During this time, these leaders learned how to offer trauma counseling to members of their own community. Community leaders from nearby villages were invited to take part in this comprehensive and free training to equip lay counselors to care for their community members.

The commitment and response of the attendees spoke to the need of trauma counseling throughout the country. Two nuns attended the training in order to provide support to the local parish communities. Leaders from other non-profit organizations attended to strengthen their services and a headmistress from a local secondary school as well as multiple pastors opted to take advantage of the training.

Additionally, Kate Spade & Company/ADC, who works in the neighboring village of Masoro, identified two community members to take part in the training program so that they could then provide trauma counseling for their own employees in Masoro. We are proud to be partnering with Kate Spade & Company 's cooperative in an advisory role to develop their Life Skills program which focuses heavily on group counseling.

Handspun Hope is thrilled to provide this level of widespread care to the entire Musanze District and to other communities in Rwanda. To date, we have provided trauma counseling training to over 200 community leaders and has plans to continue hosting lay counselor trainings annually to serve the community's needs. Caring for the acute psychological needs of the community is directly in line with Handspun Hope's belief that the whole person needs to be liberated from poverty which includes spiritual, physical and emotional poverty in order to experience long lasting transformation.

There are no products listed under this category.