Ikirezi Natural Products

Loyalty with a reason

Ikirezi Natural Products in Rwanda produce essential oil from geranium plants. That’s the start! The people who farm the plants are all widows and orphans from the Rwandan genocide of 1994. These people work in a cooperative and come from both sides of the ethnic divide that led to the slaughter of one million men, women and children in 1994. Meeting the people on the hills of Rwanda in 2006 was an extraordinary emotional experience! The name Ikirezi is Rwandan for a precious pearl and is symbolic of the people and their products. The product is “essential oil” and has been adopted to express “the experience of being valued”. Then there is the aroma! When someone is recognised as a precious pearl and receives the experience of being valued, life changes. Where you encounter a community of people receiving and giving the experience of being valued you recognise a culture, a climate and engagement that is very special, an aroma of love! I carry a bottle of Ikirezi geranium oil with me. I use it to tell the remarkable story of people recovering from unbelievable trauma. People who are experiencing a new hope and purpose in life and the story is in the bottle. Ikirezi is a high value product and therefore creates great economic possibilities for these people. To me Ikirezi is a Lovemark that has given me loyalty with a reason that transcends beyond imagination!

Gavin, United Kingdom - 09 May 2008