Marie Claire Uwimana
Premium memorialLovingly known as “Mama Marie”
14 June 1955 — 29 November 2022 · aged 67
Teacher who wove peace baskets and a cooperative of widows into Kigali's quiet strength
Kigali, Rwanda Born in Huye, Southern Province Resting at Kigali, family plotAbout Marie Claire
The first agaseke Marie Claire Uwimana wove after 1994 was a small, lopsided basket of sorghum straw and sisal, and she gave it away to the first woman who stopped at her door. She did not speak often of what the months of that year had taken from her, her husband and two of her brothers among them, but she wove, and she asked the women around her to weave with her, and that is how a whole cooperative began.
She was born in 1955 in Huye, then Butare, the second of six children of a primary-school headmaster. She trained as a teacher, married Innocent Nkurunziza in 1978, and taught Kinyarwanda and arithmetic for sixteen years. In 1995 she moved to Kigali with her three children, took a room in Gikondo and, in 1996, gathered fourteen women in a borrowed church hall to weave. They called themselves Twiyubake, 'let us rebuild ourselves'. By 2022 the cooperative had a hundred and forty members, a workshop of its own and orders from as far as Nairobi and London, and every weaver, Marie Claire insisted, learned to read, count and sign her own contracts.
She was patient, precise and funny, and could tell the quality of a basket by the sound it made when she tapped it. She ran the cooperative's books at her kitchen table, cooked beans and sweet potatoes for every visitor, and sang in the choir at Sainte-Famille Church for twenty-six years. She taught that sorrow shared over work becomes lighter, and she never missed a Saturday meeting.
Marie Claire died in Kigali in November 2022, aged sixty-seven, after a short illness. She leaves three children, six grandchildren and a hundred and forty weavers who keep her baskets alive.
“A basket is just a small peace that you weave with your own hands.”
- Faith
- Christian
- Place of birth
- Huye, Southern Province
- Resting place
- Kigali, family plot
- Passed away
- 29 November 2022, Kigali
Requiem Mass
Monday, 5 December 2022 at 07:00 UTC
Add to calendarMemorial fund
Twiyubake weavers' fund
Support the cooperative Marie Claire founded: raw materials, literacy classes and a safety fund for the weavers' families.
$2,104.25 raised of $5,000
42%20 recent contributions
- GR
Gabriela Ruiz gave $190 · 3y ago
- JW
Jan Wiegersma gave $190 · 3y ago
“From your old classmates.”
- EM
Eric Mugisha gave $95 · 3y ago
“In honour of a wonderful woman.”
- KC
Kevin Cheruiyot gave $28.50 · 3y ago
“For the children's school fees.”
- AN
Anonymous gave $9.50 · 3y ago
“From your old classmates.”
Life journey
Teacher training certificate
Ecole Normale Primaire1972 – 1976 · Huye
Qualified as a primary school teacher.
Married Innocent Nkurunziza
1978 – 1994 · Huye
Sixteen years of marriage and three children.
Primary school teacher
Primary schools in Huye1977 – 1993 · Huye
Taught Kinyarwanda and arithmetic to generations of children.
Rebuilt her life in Kigali
1995 · Kigali
Raised her three children alone and began weaving again.
Founder and President
Twiyubake Weavers' Cooperative1996 – 2022 · Kigali
Grew from fourteen weavers to a hundred and forty.
Women's Cooperative Leader Award
Rwanda Cooperative Agency2012 · Kigali
For building a model women's cooperative.
Tap an organisation to find others who studied or worked there.
Family & connections
Marie Claire is survived by
- Aline Uwase· Daughter
- Eric Mugisha· Son
- Josiane Ingabire· Daughter
- 6 grandchildren· Grandchildren
Tributes & memories
6 people have shared a memory of Marie Claire.
Knew Marie Claire? Share a memory with the family and everyone who loved them.
Sign in to write a tribute- GM
Fair-trade buyer, London
I first ordered from Twiyubake in 2008. Marie Claire sent samples in recycled newspaper, each tied with a handwritten note about the weaver who made it. I have never worked with a more honest supplier, nor with one who made me feel so seen.
- PN
Former pupil in Huye
Madame Uwimana taught me to read in Primary Two. When she discovered I could not afford a notebook she gave me hers and said, 'Fill it with your good ideas.' It took me three years. I am now a headmaster, and I give a notebook to every child.
- SU
Weaver's daughter, now in Montreal
My mother wove beside Mama Marie for twenty years. When I left for university, Mama gave me a small basket for my notebooks. It sits on my desk in Montreal. Inside it, a note: 'Come back and teach.' I intend to.
- EM
Son
Mama tapped every basket with one knuckle before she approved it. When she tapped me on the shoulder, I knew I was ready. She tapped me on the day I graduated, and again at my wedding. I will feel that tap for the rest of my life.
- JH
Parish priest, Sainte-Famille
Marie Claire never missed a rehearsal. She sang the alto line with a certainty that kept the whole choir honest. On the anniversary week of each April she quietly arranged meals for every weaver and said nothing of it. Her faith was always in the doing.
- BM
Weaver in the Twiyubake cooperative
In 1996 I came to the church hall only to watch. Mama Marie put a bundle of straw in my hands and said, 'Your hands remember before you do.' I wove for six hours and did not cry once. I have not stopped weaving since. Murakoze, Mama.
