The Supporting Strong Women campaign

In late 2023, we launched ‘Supporting Strong Women,’ a campaign that celebrated and promoted the incredible work of the Rambagirakawa women’s group in Rwanda, and generated support for its members and their communities. Through the fundraiser and its events, we collectively raised over $34,000 AUD for the construction of a childcare centre in Rwanda’s Northern Province.

The Supporting Strong Women campaign was inspired by the riveting words of Odette Murakatete, who asserted during our 2023 sourcing trip, “When I have coffee, I have a voice!” As the founding member and leader of Rambagirakawa, a women’s association within the Dukunde Kawa cooperative in Rwanda’s Northern Province, Odette and the all-women group she leads have advocated tirelessly for greater autonomy, support and resources for the co-op’s female landowners and coffee farmers. The result is an empowered and ambitious alliance of women, whose ever-expanding activities focus on creating opportunity and success for the women and children in their community.

The initial goal of Supporting Strong Women was to raise $15,000 AUD by June 2024, for the construction of a daycare centre at Dukunde Kawa’s HQ that would service the women of Rambagirakawa and the wider coffee producing community. Besides farming and processing coffee and their weaving and embroidery work, many of the women of Rambagirakawa act as the primary caregivers to the children in their extended families who are too young to attend school. Establishing a day care centre had been a long-held dream for the cooperative, as it would allow its members to focus on their work and leadership positions, without attending to the babies and toddlers.

From the moment we launched the campaign, our roasting partners and extended coffee community were eager to take up the challenge of raising the funds we’d committed to. Through donations, retail sales, raffles, and a series of very fun events, we smashed through our target by collecting over $34,000 AUD, which covered nearly 90% of the cost of constructing the childcare centre. Importantly, the campaign successfully raised awareness of the invaluable work done by Rambagirakawa, and of Dukunde Kawa’s forward-thinking vision in producing and promoting women’s coffees.

After visiting the site in June 2024, the centre opened its doors early the following year as preparations for the harvest began to ramp up. The Musasa Early Childhood Development Centre has had a direct impact on the Rambagirakawa women’s productivity and prosperity, while also ensuring the children are cared for in a safe, happy and nurturing environment, surrounded by their community and with their mums, aunties and grandmothers close by. The women’s alliance has been deeply involved in the daycare’s operations, from the designing and sewing of the little ones’ uniforms to spending time in the classroom during the service’s early days, as the babies and toddlers got accustomed to being away from their mothers.

The campaign culminated in June 2025, when we visited Rwanda and officially inaugurated the centre at a ribbon cutting ceremony. Emotions ran high on the day, as excited children welcomed us into their classroom and we assisted Rambagirakawa members in distributing the toddlers’ lunch. The day concluded with a celebration — including singing and dancing from Rambagirakawa — and a speech from Odette, where she had us in tears as she told us, “You are a special partner to us. You have really supported us tangibly and with a huge impact. The joy we feel is always expressed by our feelings. You can’t see them, you can’t touch them, but as you can see, we are smiling, we are very happy. Every time we receive you, we feel that joy of having trusted friends and partners like you.” We deeply treasure our relationship with Rambagirakawa and Dukunde Kawa, and are so grateful to our roasting community for joining us in supporting these strong women!

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

This campaign’s name and spirit was inspired by the strength and resilience of the women of Rambagirakawa and the beautiful photo book ‘Strong Women Behind a Strong Coffee’ by Denyse Uwera. Through her book, Denyse gives readers a glimpse into the lives of the alliance’s members, by using stunning black and white portraits accompanied by the women’s stories – told in their own words and describing their journeys, their joys, their challenges and their perseverance. You can read more about the book here.