Two weeks ago, I shared how my eight-year-old son Keith demonstrated his entrepreneurial spirit while selling beans on our recent trip to Rwanda together. (Check it out here – Keith and the Kigali Beans.)
Entrepreneurship wasn’t just embodied that week by my son, but also by an 80-year-old woman named Anastasie.
The day after Keith sold his beans in the market, we traveled to a village church. One group in the savings and credit association programs was holding their weekly meeting.
Using a walking stick as her eyes, a woman arrived a few minutes late. She guided herself to the door, and walked in, tapping her cane along the dirt floor to find a bench to sit down on.
This was my introduction to Anastasie. Not only is she 80 years old, but she is also blind.
As the songs began, she clapped and swayed. Her joy was not only obvious, but contagious. As the meeting progressed, we asked about the impact of the savings and credit association program in their Rwandan community. Anastasie stepped up first to speak.
“I may be old. I may be blind,” she said. “But I have built my house and now rent out rooms. I will not beg. I will provide for my family.”
Anastasie used her small business loan to add rooms onto her house to rent out and provide an income, as well as having someone to be “her eyes” at home. She went on to tell the story about how she always repaid her loans. And how she was continuing to plan her next investment.
Her children call her blessed. Indeed she is – and she also is a savvy entrepreneur dreaming big dreams about the future.
As I walked out with Anastasie holding my hand, I was acutely aware I was in the presence of a remarkable woman. She reminded me to never underestimate the capacity of all people created in the image of God—and the joy it is to walk together.
I can’t help but realize that my 8-year-old son Keith and 80-year-old Anastasie both exemplified key qualities of entrepreneurship. Keith was able to take 3 small bags of beans and develop them into 3,500 francs. Anastasie was able to provide a job, a place to stay, and even goats to families that needed them.
The contrast of an 8-year-American child and an 80-year-old Rwandan widow left me with one unmistakable lesson: Entrepreneurship can be for everyone.
If they can step out and create, perhaps you can to.
