NARRATOR: After the genocide, the economy was in shambles. 90 percent of the population works in agriculture. In order for the country to develop, the farmers would have to produce cash crops, like coffee. Women were used to growing enough food to feed their own families, but were not used to running businesses.
EPIPHANIE MUKASHYAKA, OWNER, BUFCAFE: How come these people don't have trays? Isn't it hard to come all the way over here?
NARRATOR: Having lost her husband, one child and an entire hillside of extended family, Epiphanie Mukashyaka found that the first thing she had to overcome was her own grief.
EPIPHANIE: I was depressed for a long time. I wasn't working at all. Everything is on your shoulders... and you find that everything is harder than it would've been. Since there's nobody to rely on, you find your own way to take care of your family.
NARRATOR: Determined to find a way to feed her seven children, Mukashyaka decided to rebuild the coffee business she and her husband had once shared.
Ignoring tradition that said women couldn't run businesses, or even open a bank account, without their husban''s permission, Mukashyaka took the bold step of establishing her own business. It was harder than she anticipated.
EPIPHANIE: Women don't have the same support systems that men do. After work, men are used to going to bars and exchanging ideas with each other. But women don't go to bars. So if you're a woman alone, it's a lot harder.