Beatrice Karigirwa is presented as a coffee plantation worker in Kigali whose husband and most relatives were killed in the 1994 genocide. Through work alongside other women, she gradually began to heal and regain hope. Her account emphasizes how shared labor, conversation, and contact with people from different parts of Rwanda could challenge isolation and help communities live together peacefully.
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The Story
Beatrice Karigirwa worked with Aimee Umuhoza at a coffee plantation in Kigali, where the workers picked and cleaned coffee beans. Her husband and most of her relatives had been killed in the genocide, leaving her with only one surviving brother, who served in the army. The losses shaped her initial reluctance to live with other people after the war.
Over time, the plantation became a place of recovery. Beatrice said that living and working with other women enabled her healing to begin, especially as she heard the stories of fellow workers who had also lost their families. Employment gave her hope for a better future and allowed her to live peacefully with people whose experiences differed from her own.
“Coffee has played a big role in the progress of this country.”
Beatrice connected the coffee industry to a broader social transformation. Working with Rwandans from different areas taught her that contact and shared activity could weaken the ethnic and regional divisions that had previously isolated communities.
Beatrice Karigirwa is presented as a coffee plantation worker in Kigali whose husband and most relatives were killed in the 1994 genocide. Through work alongside other women, she gradually began to heal and regain hope. Her account emphasizes how shared labor, conversation, and contact with people from different parts of Rwanda could challenge isolation and help communities live together peacefully.
Continue exploring
The Story
Beatrice Karigirwa worked with Aimee Umuhoza at a coffee plantation in Kigali, where the workers picked and cleaned coffee beans. Her husband and most of her relatives had been killed in the genocide, leaving her with only one surviving brother, who served in the army. The losses shaped her initial reluctance to live with other people after the war.
Over time, the plantation became a place of recovery. Beatrice said that living and working with other women enabled her healing to begin, especially as she heard the stories of fellow workers who had also lost their families. Employment gave her hope for a better future and allowed her to live peacefully with people whose experiences differed from her own.
“Coffee has played a big role in the progress of this country.”
Beatrice connected the coffee industry to a broader social transformation. Working with Rwandans from different areas taught her that contact and shared activity could weaken the ethnic and regional divisions that had previously isolated communities.
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