Kisoro widow earns big money from bead-making project

Kisoro

Ms Eunice Rwerekane's day starts at 6 a.m. She prepares breakfast for her orphaned grand-children then she starts on her bead-making project to raise money for their school fees.

Ms Rwerekane, aged 71, is a retired primary school teacher and a resident of Kamonyi village in Kisoro District. She lost her husband in 1988 and later her four children leaving six grand children.

She says that the bead making project has helped her raise school fees for her children and her daily life necessities.

“I am happy with the bead making project because I use less energy and earn big. In one day", I can make seven beads with different designs and I sell each bead between Shs7, 000 and Shs10, 000 depending on the design. On average I make Shs59, 500 per day which makes a total of Shs1.8 million per month, Ms Rwerekane said.

She attributes the success of her business to the fact that Kisoro town is located at the border of both Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. She makes beads for the waist, neck, arms and ears.

Ms Rwerekane says other unique beads she makes are those that traditional dancers use as attire especially for the head, legs and chest. “I also sell them to the local people in Kisoro District especially Mothers Union members and cultural dancers in Kigezi region", she says.

Ms Rwerekane said some of the tourists who flock Kisoro District for mountain gorilla tracking are good customers for her handcrafts and pay a relatively good price for them.

Her eldest grander child, a girl, is in senior four, two boys have joined senior one, two girls are in primary four and one boy in primary seven.

Despite her out-cry for expensive raw materials which she buys from Kampala, Ms Rwerekane is looking at going international especially to Asia and Europe where she says she can get better prices for her products.

“I buy one packet of beads at Shs3,000 and it requires me to use at least two packets to complete one bead". I am planning to start using used papers such as out dated calendars, magazines and news papers to make paper beads because they are cheaper but where to get them from is another, she said.

“Because I produce good pieces of beads", I was chosen to represent Kigezi region during the Chogm exhibition in Kampala. Our district woman Member of Parliament Eudia Kwezira helped me attain this status, she said.

She has already started mushroom growing and poultry keeping with the help on National Agricultural Advisory Services so as to diversify her projects to avoid the challenges resulting from producing one product.

The Chairman of Kisoro District Business Community Expedito Byansi said that his district is strategically located for lucrative business especially handicrafts because of the numerous tourists who flock the district as they go for gorilla tracking in the Mgahinga and Bwindi National Parks.