Mission Statement

Our mission is to improve the quality of life for orphaned youth in Rwanda. We provide them with employment handcrafting greeting cards that truly embody better lives. Our staff receive fair wages and valuable life skills while our customers are delivered excellence.

What we do...

CfA is proud to offer quality, handmade greeting cards for all occasions as well as custom orders. Our cards, featuring unique designs and authentic recycled paper, are made by the hands of an aspiring yet disadvantaged group of young men and women. Orphaned as a result of the genocide, AIDS or other sickness, our staff serves as the heads of their households. Our main goal is to consistently provide them with employment, inspire them with creativity, and teach them valuable skills to one day start their own business.

Who we are...

CfA is a business that practices fair-trade principles. We are members of the International Fair Trade Association (IFAT) and the Fair Trade Federation (FTF). Located on the outskirts of Kigali, Rwanda the workshop is a bustling atmosphere of skilled paper crafters and creative card makers. At the end of the afternoon, our employees bring home an income that is 3 to 5 times higher than the average Rwandan's $1 per day. They use this money to feed and clothe their younger brothers and sisters as well as purchase medicine and provide school tuition when needed.

Our path...

Cards from Africa was conceived in 2004 by its British founder, Chris Page, in association with 'Business as Mission'. His idea was encouraged by a Kenyan doctor who had started a similar endeavor to generate income for women in a Nairobian slum. Chris soon teamed up with Rwandan artist Gabriel Dusabe and together they learned how to make paper and create simple card prototypes. Their first employee was a young orphaned woman named Ariette. After one month's time they asked her to bring another friend to train but she brought two! Shortly after, twenty more orphaned youth were trained and the business was born. We are now a registered Limited Liability Company in Rwanda. Our profits are continually reinvested into company operations as well as the lives of our staff. It is our three year objective to consistently employ 300 orphans while selling 500,000 cards annually.

Our values...

CfA was founded on Christian values and our staff warmly embraces our intentions. We believe that God has a heart for the poor and marginalized in society and that the best way to show this is by taking a truly holistic approach. We spend 30 minutes at the beginning of each day with our staff discussing practical, spiritual, and emotional issues affecting their lives. The life skills acquired from these discussions have proven to be invaluable to their growth.

'Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.' James 2 vs 15-17

Our vision...

CfA believes in partnerships. Through providing our staff with quality employment we foster a sense of self-worth and capability. However, our vision is to also invest in our employees' future by establishing a program that teaches them practical business skills as well as inspires them with a sense of entrepreneurship. A newfound confidence, coupled with practical skills, gives our staff both reason and justification to save their money. In partnering with Rwandan youth, we provide the key to opportunity, but ultimately expect them to unlock the oppression of poverty themselves.

Why we do this...

Sustainable business development is a key ingredient to lifting Rwanda, the most densely populated African nation, out of poverty. Today, over 90% of the country is dependent on subsistence farming and pressure on the land is extreme. The vast majority of the population struggles to scratch out a meager existence and is often not able to afford the education necessary to improve their situation. Rwanda's dependence on foreign aid, an amount higher than its business earnings, is equally unsustainable. A country's inability to choose its own path of development is neither dignifying nor just.

Cards from Africa is amongst a new generation of African businesses setting a trend in our divided world. We make high quality products, made in one of the poorest countries, available to the international market at competitive prices. In return, we offer well-paid employment to those who need it the most. Furthermore, our business model is to act as a stepping-stone, so that our staff may easily transition to another career or start their own business someday. We are currently developing a program to effectively teach entrepreneurial, management, and practical business skills to our staff. By unleashing creativity, teaching valuable skills, and fostering self-worth, we are confident that someday they will be able to access the international market themselves and contribute to a thriving economy and better quality of life for all Rwandans...

Ultimately, we do this because we love God wholeheartedly, and our neighbor as ourselves.

Your role...

By supporting a business like Cards from Africa - buying our cards, helping us to sell our cards in your local community, or designing cards for us - you are playing a small but significant part in helping this African community stand on its own two feet!