Sharon Gale of Unique Batik in Raleigh (left) with Monica Umwari, owner of Angaza, a Rwandan handbag company that uses recycled
A Rwanda woman says she has gained invaluable life and business experiences while participating in a Peace Through Business program in Raleigh.
The 8-year-old program, administered by Oklahoma City-based Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women, brings women from Rwanda and Afghanistan to the United States each year. The organization spends $20,000 per woman in accommodations, including flights and room and board so they can study business management, leadership and public policy. Its concept is that conflict-riddled countries could shift toward peace if women are empowered economically.
Monica Umwari, of Kigali, Rwanda, graduated from a business boot-camp and was among 15 women selected for mentoring in the United States. She's been learning new skills she can use to enhance her business.
Umwari's business, called Angaza, uses recycled and natural materials to make handbags, totes, clutches and other women’s accessories.
“In Rwanda, people don’t know much about recycling,” she says, adding she learned during the program that women in Guatemala – a country she previously didn’t know existed – were doing the same thing she was. “I’m excited to learn that other people in the world are doing this.”
During her stay in Raleigh, she spent time with Sharon Gale, principal of Unique Batik, a Raleigh-based company focused on fair-trade and socially responsible products. CEOMonica Smiley of Cary-based Enterprising Women Magazine and Diane Chen, president of Raleigh-based Consumer Education Services, Inc, also hosted Umwari.
Umwari says that by visiting shops here that offer fair-trade products made with recycled materials, she can see new avenues to market her goods.
Her products use banners from expired billboards and African fabrics to create handbags, designed by her business partner and created by hand by women who have survived the genocide and are living with AIDS. While she likes the way business is going, this week she learned new ways to enhance it.
“I need to improve on my social media. If I want to expand internationally, I need to use the Internet. I used word-of-mouth advertising so far but I saw using nice photographs and adding content to my Facebook page can help me. I’ve learned to network more. Knowledge is something you can’t buy but when you network, you meet people and learn more. I’ve got to manage my finances and put my own salary aside. Sometimes I spend my own money on the company, but I also need to be happy that I’m running the company.”
Umwari’s father is a geologist for the government, and her mother is a serial-entrepreneur, she says. She has four siblings.
- Dawn Kurry
- Staff Writer-Triangle Business Journal
Reporter Dawn Kurry covers small business, personalities and Triangle trends.
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