Marceline Budza

“Building women’s hope is building the hope of the nation” – Marceline Budza

From a family of coffee growers, Marceline grew up in Bukavu where she had the chance to graduate as Agronomist. In 2015, she founded Rebuild Women’s Hope (RWH), an association that empowers women coffee farmers in the island of Idjwi.

The mission of the cooperative is to promote women’s social and economic development whilst enabling its members to produce high value coffee for export.

RWH provides training, interest-free loans, and coffee processing facilities to enable farmers to produce coffee of the highest quality. Today, RWH has expanded to over 1,800 members growing specialty coffee for international markets. Together, RWH and its members are realizing their dream of rebuilding hope and dignity among women coffee farmers in Democratic Republic of Congo .

SOCIAL PROGRAMS:
– Maternity and pediatric clinic, opened in December ‘20
– Women’s center, built with support from French government, opened in September 2020, for training in literacy, business skills and income-generating activities, including sewing and baking.

AWARDS:
2017 Robert Burns Humanitarian Award
2019 French Republic Human Rights Prize
2020 University of Oslo Human Rights Award