Thousand Hills Hotel – A women project

In August 2014, the Ibaba Rwanda workshop delivered a special order of 112 bed throws and 224 pillows, prepared for the Hôtel des Mille Collines in Kigali. All the patterns were exclusively designed for the Hotel des Mille Collines, and hand-embroidered in the workshop. For the creation of this collection, the artistic director of the workshop, Veronique Gamard, got her inspiration from traditional Rwandese patterns and added a modern touch using unique color combinations that are the Ibaba Rwanda trademark. Mrs Rwayitare, the owner of the Hôtel des Mille Collines, had been seduced by the project of reopening the workshop, which …

2014 Ibaba Program of Development with the French Embassy

Short retrospective in pictures: End of December 2013: Ibaba Rwanda won a call for project launched by the French Cooperation in Rwanda (Social Fund for Development) in order to increase the development of the CORUM cooperative through training of new embroiderers and expansion of the workshop building. February 2014: Ibaba Rwanda inaugurates and launches its plan of training and development of the cooperative, with the visit of members of the French Embassy. Follow us on Facebook for new events in 2014!

The Ibaba Team wish you all the best for 2014

2014 is a very symbolic year in Rwanda and the occasion for us to promote the innovative and dynamic projects carried on by the women of Rwanda. In 2014, Ibaba Rwanda will train 38 new embroiderers to join the actual team of the cooperative, expand the workshop with the construction of a new building, open the online shop… Come and discover our new products and many other surprises!! Follow us on Facebook  

Drawing contest

In March 2013, Ibaba’s team decided to organize a small drawings competition with one of the the classes of Rutongo village. We then get to Daphrose’s classroom; she teaches ten-year-old children; she tries to explain in the ambient excitement the subject of the competion. We gave them a choice of three subjects: a fantasy animal, the peace bird or one of the members of their family. Their first reaction was to try and copy out of their class book. They took that competition as an exam and wanted to be close to what their books taught them. Well! That’s not …

The beginning

You’ve read about our story, its beginning, so here are some pictures of the first days of the workshop. You will see one of the rooms we had to refurbish and the first days working with the five first embroiderers who came to see us to get a job. Premises were generously provided by the Ubalijoro family in the Rutongo village. So, we emptied and cleaned up old storage sheds, which were in the garden of the family property, before transforming them into an embroidery room, a cutting room, a storage room and a lunchroom where the embroiderers take their …