Dominated by mountains, savannahs and lakes, landlocked country in eastern Africa is often referred to as le pays des mille collines (“land of a thousand hills”). After suffering through a civil war and genocide between the majority Hutu and minority Tutsi ethnic groups in the mid 1990s,  the country has since been focused on reconstruction and ethnic reconciliation. Traditional Rwandan arts and crafts often originated as functional items, rather than simply decoration. Woven baskets or bowls are especially common, crafted from natural sisal fibres or banana leaves and stalks. Here at Village Goods you may also find environmentally sustainable cards or other items created with paper handmade from local Rwandan office waste.