At Work With No.41

We are so excited to welcome Alison from No.41 to the blog today to share a little bit about their business and how they are impacting lives! "No.41 literally means FOR ONE. We started in March 2012 with 16 girls from the local orphanage in Gisenyi, Rwanda with the intention of teaching them the culturally relevant trade of sewing and empowering them to give back to their local community. For each bag sewn, a young woman earns a sustainable income and a child receives a hot, healthy lunch every day at school for the entire year. Currently, No.41 employs 32 young women and 6 men feeding 870 students and 36 teachers, every day." "An average workday doesn't really pertain to us! At the beginning, we had more structure, 8am-4pm Monday-Friday. And let's just say sewing, laughing and Justin Bieber dance parties were on the schedule. Now, that still goes on, but the girls work solely on commission and are able to come and go whenever they want, because that's what worked best for everyone. We rent both houses inside our little compound. The front house we share with some of the girls, and the back house is No.41 workspace. So we are able to work from the comfort of the living room while still being available for the girls and any needs that may come up throughout the day. Every day is a new adventure." "One of our favorite things about the space is our photo wall. Literally being able to see the whole journey through photos has been a reminder of how far we've all come in a little over a year." "We love the display wall, which is actually in the living room of our house. Just as we were ready to open up shop, or landlord was knocking down the house in the back of ours to build what is now the No.41 house. As old dusty, dirty, fabulously charming doors and windows were piling up to head to the dumpster, we snatched them up to display our products on. We have visitors who come through often, so we like to change it up and make it feel fresh. We love the "store front" feel it gives to our little part of the world."Thank you so much for sharing, Alison! If you'd like to learn more about No.41, you can check out their website and their online store! xo.