Michel, a young man born and raised in a rural area of Rwanda, was luckier than most. During the genocide he was outside the country, studying at Kenya University. He was unable to return home until after the war. Upon his return, he discovered a country in utter chaos. Although his mother survived, his father and sister were not so lucky. They were slaughtered along with many other close family members and friends.

Armed with an engineering degree and a winning lottery ticket, Michel received a green card and an airline ticket to the US. He got a job as an engineer in Los Angeles and began to settle down. But his life felt incomplete. In the days after 9/11, Michel joined the military to fight for freedom against the terrorists who had attacked the United States. Even though the U.S. had done nothing to help his country during the genocide that killed his family, Michel served in the US navy. Afterwards, he moved to Seattle to work as an engineer for GE.

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Enter Rwanda Partners

Meanwhile, in 2004 a non-profit organization known as Rwanda Partners (RP) emerged. RP, a fair trade organization committed to fighting poverty in East Africa, was working to help restore hope to the poor and marginalized. Through both education and job creation projects, RP had a further goal in mind. They wanted to bring together once bitter enemies among the Rwandan people in an effort to help heal the wounds of this ghastly war. They initiated several  income-generating projects such as basket weaving, beading and sewing cooperatives, and through these initiative succeeded in establishing working relationships between many former enemies.

At some point Greg Stone, Executive Director of Rwanda Partners, asked Michel if he would be willing to go back to Rwanda to serve as country director of the Rwanda Partners project. Although Michel thought he had left that part of his life behind, Greg’s offer ignited a second calling in him. Michel has impacted deeply on the lives of many of these basket weavers.  Once you read his gift of compassion inspiring story, you are likely to agree. While Michel was helping many Rwandanese to find their way back, he was also “Kubona Inzira”, *Finding the way after being lost.