Nishimwe Ignacienne has made progress thanks to her business in creating items used in childcare.
She makes products including dolls, small beds for babies that mothers can use, breastfeeding pillows, children’s blankets, baby carriers for the chest, and more.
Nishimwe shared that the idea unusually came to her because she grew up loving dolls herself, then thought she could make them into a daily job that sustained her, especially since she had no other employment.
She said, “I loved them, but I didn’t have the money. I started learning on my own at home. I said since it has fur, it could turn into a nice doll because they also have fur, but it turned out more like a mouse.”
Because Nishimwe loved it so much, she kept pushing, and she and her husband decided to learn from YouTube. They watched how others did it, then went to buy fabric, followed what they saw in pictures, and made a real doll that was loved.
After making her first doll, a customer who received it asked her to make 10 more like it, but it took a long time because she was hand sewing. Later, she joined others who had sewing machines, and the work went smoothly.
From that one, it grew; Nishimwe hired up to six workers, and now she can make 50 dolls a day, each selling for 5,000 RWF or 30,000 RWF, depending on its size.
She said, “Besides that, I can make up to 10 covered children’s beds a day. I can make 100 breastfeeding pillows, and we can make 80 or more pillows for pregnant mothers to lie on.”
Nishimwe shows that now the challenge continues to be capital, stating that today they have a sufficient market but cannot satisfy it, and the day they get enough capital, they will increase their production.
