Burton + Burton Continues to ‘Weave Hope’ in Rwanda. See How Its Supporting Education.

For years, the local artisans from the small Rwandan village of Gitarama have been weaving beautiful handmade baskets not just for their livelihood, but for the hope of a better future for their children, and the feat is paying off. The production of the baskets is all part of a charitable program founded by Burton + Burton in 2018 with the mission of providing better education to the children of Rwanda and “weaving hope for their future.”

A second school has now been successfully built in Rwanda thanks to Burton + Burton and the funding provided by its Weaving Hope program. The idea behind Weaving Hope is simple: Fund new schools for Rwandan children with sales of beautiful handcrafted baskets made by local artisans in the small village of Gitarama.

“All of the proceeds go directly to building schools that will nourish the minds and bodies of children – weaving hope for their future,” the company said in a release.

Burton + Burton and Beacon Technologies, Inc., have partnered on this charitable mission for four years, from conception to fulfillment to the sale of 1,500 baskets that ultimately led to the construction of the two schools.

“We are so incredibly pleased to have completed not just one, but two schools in Rwanda through the Weaving Hope charity,” Maxine Burton, founder and president of Burton + Burton, said. “The time and dedication of both companies have more than paid off, and we could not be happier with the results. As a former teacher, providing a learning opportunity for children who might not have had access to any education means a lot to me. Now, with the second preschool offering an environment for teachers to come and train, it’s more than anyone could have asked for. The entire Weaving Hope charity has been remarkable, and to now dedicate the second preschool in part to Bob and I’s late parents is incredibly uplifting.”

The Weaving Hope Story

In 2018, Burton + Burton partnered with Beacon Technologies to start the Weaving Hope program after learning that only about 13 percent of Rwandan children attend preschool and 50 percent have stunted growth due to malnutrition. Their mission was to fund the building of new schools with the sales of beautiful handcrafted baskets made by local artisans in the small Rwandan village of Gitarama. One-hundred percent of the proceeds from these sales go directly to building schools for Rwandan children, and so far two schools have been completed.

“This mission not only helped the children, but also offered opportunities for Rwandan women to earn a steady living and escape gender-based violence, inequality and discrimination,” the company’s website explains. “These authentic, handmade African baskets arrived directly from a women’s cooperative in the village of Gitarama. Proceeds created meaningful jobs that provided for their families, moving them from crisis and poverty to stability and economic self-sufficiency.”

The two schools that were funded include a preschool, which opened in 2019 and has been a centerpiece for the families in the Nkuzuzu community, and the recently completed Center for Early Childhood Educational Excellence that serves both as a preschool and a training center for the East African Christian College (EACC). The center allows college students to work in a student-teaching and training environment that produces effective preschool teachers upon graduation.

“There is an increased need for qualified teachers to support the growth of preschool facilities in the Rwanda area, and we are so pleased that this center can both serve the children and foster educational growth in the village of Kabuga,” Burton + Burton said in a release.

Reverend Ethan Carlson, director of the Rwanda Ministry Partners, said, “We estimate that over the next five years, the center will produce over 400 teachers and serve as a preschool for over 500 children. However, it’s bigger than that. These 400+ teachers will go out into Rwanda’s preschools to impact the lives of thousands of children every year.”

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