Rwanda
Partnered with True Vineyard Ministries
The KidKnits story starts with Rwanda. Since the beginning of KidKnits, we have enjoyed a deep partnership with True Vineyard Ministries (TVM), founded by Diana Wiley. The Handspun Hope program had been developed by TVM in 2010 as a means to provide sustainable wages for 10 widows in Rwanda. Each of the women learned to clean, spin, and dye merino wool into high quality, handmade yarn. With support from demand created by the KidKnits project, TVM has been able to grow, currently employing 35 widows in the town of Ruhengiri, Rwanda. TVM owns and leases land in Rwanda, and they are steadily growing their own flock of merino sheep. All of the women employed by TVM receive health insurance and assistance in paying for the education of any school age children. In addition, TVM further supports the local economy by purchasing supplemental wool from other farmers in Rwanda.