Putting the record straight

Editor, The article “Agaseke weavers eye big Japanese market” publishet July 29, was composed of many errors which compelled us to write this letter. The writer of the above mentioned article quoted Yuri Mito the Japapanese local Coordinator for a Japanese Agaseke business as saying that she is advising weavers to always use brighter colors in summer, dark colours in winter and softer colours in autumn. Yuri, did not at any time say this, her emphasis was that in Japan there four different seasons, and different colours are preferred in different seasons. It is because of this that she indicated that respecting time for delivery of products is a very important factor to them. This is because when products are ordered they are planned to be sold in a certain season and when products do not reach the Japanese market in that season the business may lose profits. The writer also quotes me as saying that weaving is one of the best income generating activities. While this is true, I however did not say what was quoted in the article. The writer also wrongly writes that the beneficiaries of the project are former sex workers and HIV positive. This is not true, and our beneficiaries found this insulting. Agaseke project targets the most vulnerable people in Kigali especially women with an aim of fighting urban poverty and eliminating street-vendoring. When we say vulnerability we are concerned with people’s low income levels, or no income at all which is in most cases caused by unemployment due to lack of skills. Agaseke project came into existence to support such people to give them skills which can help them to create their own employment. Dinah MusindarwezoProject Manager, Agaseke Promotion ProjectCity of KigaliP.O Box 3527Kigali, Rwanda

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Putting the record straight