The Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women.

Joy works in the world of promotion at her business, Promoters Creations.

Her company specializes in promotional items, as well as corporate wear and apparel, which includes T-shirts, ball caps, school uniforms and more.

Joy is looking forward to gaining knowledge in the promotional field in order to grow her sales and improve product quality.

She is also eager to learn about promotional sales in the United States and how she can apply that knowledge to her business.

After working as the Dean of Students for the Kigali Institute of Science, Technology and Management, Joan Twagari decided to “turn the page” and take her life in a slightly different direction.

At the beginning of 2000, Joan discovered a gap between the suppliers of required academic books and the end users. She says the only available bookshops were the outdated bookshops and a high-priced book stores owned by foreigners.

That’s when Joan decided to take manors into her own hands.

With the help of the Oxford University Press, Joan now owns a bookstore called Kigali Bookstore-Book Distributors. Her core business includes searching for authors to write books for academic needs and schools, as well as selling English books to the general public.

Joan, a fighter for the 30% tax exemption for students, considers herself a champion of Rwandan society and feels that running a business is one of the most empowering things that can by a woman.

Despite being a confident businesswoman, Joan admittedly has trouble separating her personal life from her business life. This is what Joan wants to primarily focus on during her stay her in the United States.

“My major obstacle is lack of separation between my two lives. Hopefully, my mentor will [shed] some light on how to do this efficiently.”

Francoise carries on her family business called African Wood Enterprises. The company creates furniture for the home, the office, floor parquets, partitions and ceilings.

Francoise is eager to increase her sales and marketing knowledge. She would also like to learn about opening a bed and breakfast to showcase her company’s products.

She says that the training she has already received through PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS has been invaluable; it helped her discover her role in entrepreneurship.

Francoise is excited to meet American women business owners and learn from their experiences.

Cathy is an organic farmer. Her goals are to learn how to process and export locally grown fruits and vegetables and to get her company’s products into the organic market. She is always wanting to help her community by starting an urban and mini livestock farming.

Cathy has dabbled in all sorts of careers, including ground hostess at Kigali International Airport, a receptionist at the American Embassy in Rwanda, a receptionist at the Hotel des Diplômates, which later turned into two scholarships for programs in Austria. She has also worked in the field of marketing and communications, as well as realty.

Cathy is most looking forward to meeting American professionals and taking back new ideas to her country. She is also eager to meet people in the fields of organic farming and urban agriculture.

“After hearing last year’s graduates’ testimonies and the way the trip impacted their way of doing business, I heavily believe that I will gain experience which will help me improve my way of doing business,” Cathy said.

Annette owns and operate ABK International-Africa Heritage, which is a bed and breakfast facility. Her goal is to make her business a one-stop shop tourism center.

Annette also runs a holistic fitness center, very similar to the U.S. business “Curves.” The second part of her business. She says that there are only two “decent” places in Kigali City where people can go exercise. So she decided to create a “ladies only” fitness center that offers an atmosphere of serenity that the existing work out facilities do not offer.

When her business grows, she plans to set up a complete executive spa, where women can receive steam baths and massages. Her clients will also benefit from a range of good books and other reading materials that focus on issues such as marriage, parenting, building relationships, healthy eating, and more.

In addition to learning about the tourism and beauty industries, Annette also hopes to learn about the causes behind failed businesses.

“I love doing business, but I have never had any training in business planning and management, so I hope to learn this during the training,” Annette said.

Josephine runs a boutique called Prime Investment international, Ltd. The business sells cosmetics, general merchandise, as well as garments for both men and women. Her future plans include starting to supply promotional materials to private and government organizations.

Josephine is eager to learn sales and management techniques, as well as improve her bookkeeping skills.

Jane is in the tea business, Tech Consult, where she distributes tea to government organizations. Her future plans include packaging her own tea, as well as becoming involved in agricultural processing, specially the creation of tomato sauce. She currently focuses on organic soups and cakes made from beans.

Jane is eager to learn the marketing side of business and she is also excited to share her knowledge with fellow Rwandan businesswomen.

Jane was born in a refugee camp in Uganda, where her father worked as a tailor. Jane can remember helping out at her father’s shop as a child. She is very grateful for her father’s hard work, as it allowed her and her seven brothers and sisters to complete their education through the university level. What most inspiring, Jane says, is that her father never had the opportunity to attend school himself.

Since the Rwandan government is facilitating agriculture transformation, Jane is now very busy with the new company called Rwanda Agro Processors, operating as a Managing Director.

Jane is looking forward to seeing such a developed country like United States, and she hopes it will inspire her to think big and expand her business in a modern way.

Parween is a reseller of craft products such as clothes, including silk garments, small rugs, jewelry and tools for crafts people. She opened her business in 2007 and has one employee, and she operates with one partner.

Farzana Wali owns Almas Beauty Parlor at Baraki Gulzad Market, in Kabul. Frazana’s business is entirely focused on women and ways to help them with their personal appearance while managing other issues of their lives. She also trains girls who are interested in this field. She imports equipment and materials from Pakistan, where she lived and trained during the Taliban rule.

During her time in Pakistan, she became a tailor to support herself and her family while studying beauty parlor management. In 2000, Farzana opened her own beauty parlor in Peshawar and later moved it to Afghanistan. Almas Beauty Parlor now has 10 employees!

Fatimia Kazimi operates the Bamyan Women’s Business Association in Bamyan, Afghanistan, established in 2006. Her business organizes business owners, represents and distributes their products. Her primary focus is the packaging of dry fruits and carpet producers.

BWBA has more than 380 members in the Bamyan and its districts. Fatima’s hope is to learn more about international trade so that she can market to a wider customer base.