This company and product can be found at the special show area called AFRICA CHIC.

Who We are

After the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, Rwanda was faced with a gender imbalance, with many women left as widows, single mothers, wives with husbands facing long jail terms, and teenage orphaned girls.

Thus, our artisans are less privileged rural Rwandans, majority women whose relatives and husbands were either killed during the genocide, fled the country or are in prison charged with genocide related cases.

Gahaya Links was founded to train rural women after the devastating 1994 Rwanda Genocide that left over 1 million dead. In 1996 sisters Joy Ndunguste and Janet Nkubana offered the women a small shop to sell their baskets and earn an income to meet their basic necessities.  

The sisters later offered to meet the women in their villages and learn how they could use an old Rwanda traditional skill to better their lifestyles. From a humble beginning under a tree in a remote village called Gitarama, the sisters organized about twenty women and taught them how to weave, how to enhance their weaving skills with new design techniques and how to work together by looking beyond their ethnic differences.

Today Gahaya Links is a growing network of over 4,000 weavers across the country organized in 52 savings cooperatives.

Gahaya Links became the first Rwandan handcraft export company to benefit from the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) by exporting to the United States.

Gahaya Links is now the leading of Rwanda’s one-of-a- kind baskets commonly known as "Peace Baskets".

Gahaya Links weavers take responsibilty for calling them the peace baskets, for they put their differences aside in order to work together and build their communities and a country once so devastated.


Gahaya Links History

Gahaya Links was founded by two sisters; Joy Ndunguste and Janet Nkubana. The company was incorporated as the first handicrafts export company ten years after the 1994 Tutsi Genocide. From a humble beginning under a tree in a remote village called Gitarama,  the sisters organised about twenty  women and taught them how to weave or how to enhance their weaving skills with new design techniques. Today the company manages a network of over 4,000 weavers across the country organised in 52  savings cooperatives.

After the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, Rwanda was faced with a gender imbalance, with many women left as widows, single mothers, wives with husbands facing long jail terms, and teenage orphaned girls. Thus, our artisans are less privileged rural Rwandans, majority women whose relatives and husbands were either killed during the genocide, fled the country or are in prison charged with genocide related cases.

Gahaya Links became the first Rwandan handcraft export company to benefit from the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) which enabled the company to penetrate the US market. With Fairwinds Trading, Inc and Macy’s, Inc partnerships, the company is now the leading exporter of Rwanda’s one-of-a- kind baskets through its Path to Peace program. The Macy’s relationship is the cornerstone of Gahaya Links’ success.


The beautiful Rwandan handcrafted baskets have been a part of the Rwanda culture for centuries. Woven from natural fibers and grasses, Rwanda’s women learned to weave these beautiful baskets at the hand of their mothers and grandmothers, carrying on a tradition that had been passed down from generation to generation.  

Much like the quilting tradition of America’s pioneer days, Rwanda’s baskets symbolized a coming together of Rwanda’s women to provide for the needs of their families while also instilling a love and respect in their children for their country and their culture.

The beautiful Rwandan handcrafted baskets have been a part of the Rwanda culture for centuries. Woven from natural fibers and grasses, Rwanda’s women learned to weave these beautiful baskets at the hand of their mothers and grandmothers, carrying on a tradition that had been passed down from generation to generation.  
Much like the quilting tradition of America’s pioneer days, Rwanda’s baskets symbolized a coming together of Rwanda’s women to provide for the needs of their families while also instilling a love and respect in their children for their country and their culture.