Movers and Shakers

Mother Theresa, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. Do these names ring a bell? We need movers and shakers in our world to shape the direction of society towards justice, goodness, and peace. Do you ever wonder where you fit in to everything that's happening in our world today? How can you be a force for good?

Just talk to Ellie. She's a ten-year-old American girl who started learning about the country of Rwanda and the Rwandan people. She started thinking about Rwandans, and how they are just like you and me. But then she learned that some kids in Rwanda get up in the morning to go to work instead of going to school. Sometimes they don't even have food to eat. What's a ten-year-old to do when she learns something like that?

Well, for starters, Ellie knows how to knit. She also learned that in Rwanda there are merino sheep that produce high quality wool. Then she and her parents learned about True Vineyard Ministries and that a small group of widows were spinning wool into yarn to earn a living to feed their children and send them to school. Ellie then started talking to her parents about finding a way to sell the yarn in the States so that the widows could have a steady source of income for the beautiful yarn they were creating.

Ellie and her family turned an idea into reality through the creation of a social business called KidKnits. KidKnits sells knitting craft kits so that kids in the States can learn how to knit and at the same time help other kids in Rwanda go to school because their moms have jobs.

Since KidKnits began, the number of widows hired by True Vineyard Ministries has grown from 10 widows to 21 in just a number of months! Each widow has multiple children living under her roof, and because of their jobs with True Vineyard Ministries, 134 Rwandans are directly impacted by their salary.

Ellie is a modern-day mover and shaker. You can be one too. Find your passion, run with it, and figure out a way to use your talents and abilities for good. Shake things up in your town, city, school, and place of work. Start telling stories, educate people, and do something that makes you feel alive. Be part of a movement of change in Rwanda.

Check out Handspun Hope and KidKnits to learn more about this incredible partnership. You can start by purchasing a KidKnit for yourself or somebody else and change a life while you're at it.