ANNOUNCING THE PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS PODCAST!

We are excited to announce that Trailblazers Impact Podcast has recently teamed up with the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women (IEEW) to debut the first-ever Peace Through Business® Podcast series to highlight the incredible achievements of women entrepreneurs in Afghanistan and Rwanda. While they may call themselves ordinary women, we think they are the true definition of extraordinary.

The podcast episodes will be released bi-weekly on our website, with the first 7 episodes now up for listening!

The partnership between IEEW and Trailblazers Impact provides a platform to bring inspiring and sometimes harrowing stories from 20 global women entrepreneurs out to the world. This podcast aims to brings new awareness to the state of these countries and their tumultuous histories. Most importantly, the series provides inspiration from incredibly strong, trailblazing women determined to be successful in their businesses despite all the daily obstacles they faced, which sometimes included violence, war and extreme hardship.

It is widely acknowledged that economically stable societies have a much greater capacity for peace. Small business has always been the backbone of economic stability, and the IEEW believes that diversity is the key to the development and stability of business in emerging economies around the globe.

We are thrilled to be able to share this amazing new podcast with you and hope you take the time to give it a listen! We have highlighted a few of the episodes below to give you an idea of how powerful these stories are. Thanks for following Trailblazers Impact Podcast and please check our website weekly for new episodes of the Peace Through Business podcast along with new episodes from our regular podcast series!


Ep. 3-Judith Mutamba: Medals for Hand-to-Hand Combat
Judith Mutamba recalls at a very early age losing her father and four siblings due to the uprising in Rwanda. She wanted to be in Rwanda and wanted Rwanda to be free, so at a young age she was one of the first to to join the fighting. She heard that if you got training, the instructor would make you his wife. They thought she had served in the military in Uganda, but instead she trained herself and “added some age” to her 14 years so she would be accepted. It was guerilla fighting with hand-to-hand combat. Eventually, she became company commander and then captain. After leaving the military, she started a church in Rwanda with now more than 100 people. Through the church, Judith trains women to empower themselves. Judith also owns a tour company called Amazing Eco-Africa. Today, she knows “we are all Rwandans.”

Ep.4-Hasina Aimaq: Growing Up in Her Brave Mother's Burqa
Hasina Aimaq’s father died in Afghanistan, leaving his wife and a daughter. Girls were not allowed to go to school or study under the Taliban. Her mother took her to a house who taught children and always hid Hasina under her burqa since both would have been killed if discovered. She talks about how men feared educating women because “they might not listen to us anymore.” Finally, when the Taliban left, she was able to go to school. her mother sat outside the school gate all day for 12 years, waiting for Hasina. At one point, she raised her burqa to see and “they beat her with wooden things.” Hasina says her mother is her role model. Hasina now has a food business, specializing in selling desserts her mother makes.

Ep. 6-Jeannette Gakwandi: We Develop Courage by Surviving Difficult Times
The start to young Jeannette Gakwandi’s life was beyond tragic - her parents and siblings were killed in the Rwanda genocide. It was the remainder of her fractured family who sustained her and nourished her to find a path forward.

While much of her story is painful, Gakwandi’s inner strength is palpable in this interview. One way to overcome her experience was a vow one day build a house of her own. Her ambition then grew to make this skill a livelihood, slowly and meticulously learning the trade of construction and building her own business. Her company now has several employees and contractors working to advance housing in Rwanda.

Being a woman in housing construction has come with many challenges — some men have refused to work with her, and she must continually assert herself to keep the business moving forward. It took a lot of scrambling for resources and learning skills on the fly, but today she has a steady business with an eye towards further expansion. Her message to young girls is to not be afraid to tackle industries that have traditionally been closed to them.

Ep.5-Chantal Munanayire: From Genocide Survivor to Woman of Courage
Chantal Munanayire lost her mother, sisters, and other members of her family in the Rwanda genocide. Yet she was determined to build a life and overcome the tragedy, doing so in a society where women have to work extremely hard to enter into business and entrepreneurship.

In this episode she describes how a typical happenstance, the need to fix her car, became the catalyst she needed to move forward with building a business. Chantal became a female repair garage owner — extremely rare in Rwanda at the time. This was the start of a remarkable turning point in her life, as she went on to build a successful business and was elected as the first woman president of the Rwanda Garage Association.

Chantal was also honored by the American Embassy as a Woman of Courage for her entrepreneurial contributions and leadership. She remains committed to being a model to low-income women and girls, who can look up to a powerful and strong example of leadership and courage.