Losing a loved one can change you forever, but grief doesn’t have to be the end of your life and Life can still go on even when you lose all of them!
Grief is a unique kind of feeling that leaves a permanent scar and a void in our lives. In many cases, it can also trigger new beginnings in life, including different, yet enduring decisions to start afresh a new kind of life. But truly, in many ways, we are never the same after being touched by grief. Yes, grief transforms! Because it pushes us to adapt and change, grief also has a transformational dimension. Our future selves can be extremely inspired and propelled by our loss and grief.
Ten years after the genocide, the two sisters Francine Nyiramana and Immaculée Mukamana decided to go back home to Nyamurinda Hill where the rest of their family perished during the genocide against the Tutsi in 1994. As the story reads in the beginning, grief can trigger new beginnings in life. They decided to come back home to do something tangible like other Rwandans had done in the rebuilding of the once-broken state.
“We decided to come back home to spring value to our 10 hectares family land” and “continue the legacy of our father”, a coffee merchant. The decision of the two sisters enthused what is today known as Nyamurinda Coffee Growers Ltd.
About Nyamurinda Coffee Growers Ltd
Nyamurinda Coffee is a 100% women-owned business that aims to empower women through coffee business. The company owns the FT and RFA-certified Karora Washing Station in Karora village of Mubuga region of Karongi district where it adds value to processing specialty coffee from its plantation and smallholder coffee farmers organized in Karora Cooperative in Western Rwanda. Nyamurinda coffee is then roasted, sold locally, and exported internationally. It is also a household name for some roasters in Europe.
Quality coffee
Nyamurinda Coffee Growers Ltd grows coffee in the region nearest to the Nyungwe natural forest, getting close to the hills that form the Nile-Congo Watershed. The coffee is grown in Karora coffee farmers’ plantations that are surrounded by such an ecosystem that makes the coffee have that unique taste.
The beans are known for their great flavors resulting from the favorable soil of the southwestern region of Rwanda. The location is mountainous with high-altitude varying from 1800m – 2000m asl. The soil is deep sandy loam and well-draining which makes it suitable for growing high-quality coffee.
Nyamurinda Coffee offers fully washed coffee, honey coffee, and natural coffee from two locations under one brand. Locations include:
- Karora Mountain Coffee Location
In Karongi District (West Rwanda), Arabica Bourbon variety, a Specialty grade grown on an altitude of 1.800m – 2.000 m. Process: Fully washed, Honey and Natural Cupping scoring at 85+ Certification: FT and RFA and a capacity of 6 containers.
- Nyamurinda Estate Coffee Location
In Nyamagabe District (South West Rwanda), Arabica Bourbon variety, a Specialty grown on altitude: 1.800m – 2.000m asl Process: Fully washed, Honey and Natural Cupping scoring 85+ Volume: 19,200 kg.
Agents of change for gender equality
On top of being owned by women and employing women, Nyamurinda Coffee Growers Ltd is motivated by a passion for supporting the family’s welfare through women and coffee. “We strongly believe that when a woman is economically empowered, the entire family prospers”. Women involvement at Nyamurinda coffee growers stands at 100% owned by women 86% of women employed 77% of its coffee farmers are women.
According to Immaculée Mukamana, one of the founders of the company, the support given to a woman is very important. “Women are important in family building and once a woman Is empowered even the state develops,” she said in an interview with the Rwanda Women magazine.
In addition, gender equality and women empowerment are the most effective ways to fight extreme poverty. women reinvest up to 90 percent of their incomes back into their families, compared to just 30-40 percent by men.
Nyamurinda Coffee Growers Ltd supports women in many different ways. Women are advised and supported to establish saving schemes and train them on how to manage finances and start new business activities. They are given seedlings to grow crops in their fields and earn a living from their harvest as an added income. They are provided with agronomists who help them in knowing agriculture’s best practices. “At Nyamurinda Coffee, we ensure that there are equal employment opportunities for all women and men. This helps to make sure that women also get a chance of getting employed.
“As a means of motivating our female staff, we give best performing female workers awards every year during International Women’s Day,” Mukamana said. Providing powerful awards can assist in the gender equality that is needed and increase female representation.
Award winners
Recently on 10th May 
The future of Nyamurinda Coffee Growers on gender equality and women empowerment
Among the company plans, the coffee firm plans to establish a well-facilitated Creche with a breastfeeding room for staff mothers and set up means for them to be permanently employed through re-investing their income from monthly salaries and from their plantations.
