Thursday, May 21, 2009

Puts my puny efforts in perspective


There are lots of people who knit for charity. Cari Clement took it to a whole new level.

Rwanda Knits

Through a USAID grant to our sister Rwanda-based NGO, Rwandans Allied for Peace and Progress, Rwanda Knits has enabled over 1,200 women to earn a living through making and selling their knitted goods. The organization has provided over 600 knitting machines and training to women in 17 associations throughout the country. The project has been described as one of USAID Rwanda's most successful income-producing projects. Today these associations have formed 29 knitting cooperatives who are registering as primary cooperatives, soon to be forming the country's first Secondary (umbrella-type) Artisan Cooperative.

That? Is awesome. And they're not just selling their products abroad. They also knit sweaters for the local kids' school uniforms.

2 comments:

  1. Lemme guess - you're reading "Knitting for Peace"? If not, you should! It mentions that and a bunch of other knitting/fiber-making-the-world-a-better-place stories! I should sit down and finish reading it myself. The trouble is, I can't read it very fast, because I have to keep getting out the computer to look up and bookmark the websites for all these fabulous organizations!

    Anyway, your efforts aren't so puny - you got a bunch of Mensans to make blankets for charity!

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  2. I do have a copy of Knitting for Peace, but either I skipped that part, or forgot about it. I just saw something about this on t.v.

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