A Voice Elevated

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Earlier this year we reviewed a book written by our neighbor Prince Kayigire, based on his life during and after the terror of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. The book is Prince: Beauty for Ashes. Prince tells us now of a breakthrough in making his story widely available. If you haven’t read it yet, you can now, through a special Colorado program promoting works of special significance. The book is first of all a story of survival and healing, but even more than that the story has a place in bringing purpose and meaning to the community – our community. 

By Prince Kayigire

It is a pride we all share in our local community when voices from among us reach broader platforms. I’m pleased to share that my memoir, Prince: Beauty for Ashes, has been selected for inclusion in Indie Colorado—a digital library collection that features works by independent authors from across the state.

Our Local Community Voice Elevated

Prince: Beauty for Ashes is now available statewide through Indie Colorado.

This means the book is now digitally accessible at no cost to readers across Colorado through the BiblioBoard Library platform. Whether you’re in a city or a rural area, anyone in the state can access the book with one click—no library card needed.

Prince: Beauty for Ashes tells a true story rooted in resilience, history, and the human capacity to rebuild. Its availability through Indie Colorado offers an opportunity for readers, educators, and public libraries to connect with local stories that reflect both personal and collective journeys.

You can read the book here: Read Prince on BiblioBoard.

Lately, writing has been both a passion and a source of healing—serving as a bridge to reconcile with and reconnect to my younger self’s passions and drives, ones that had been altered and shattered during my teen years.

As I neared the end of my memoir, I also began thinking about work from a different perspective—the kind of work I truly wanted. Work that brought me joy, gave me a sense of fulfillment, and could also be my job—something that provided an income while allowing me to build lasting and valuable relationships.

More than that, I wanted my work to serve a purpose beyond myself—to be a way of contributing to the community in a meaningful way. Not work in the sense of opening a cigarette shop like I did at nine years old—now that I understand the downside of that—but something both engaging and fulfilling, where I could think independently and work on something I believed to be valuable. Not just for myself, but for the community I live in— while also cultivating purposeful and meaningful.

I knew this would come with a price, but as the vision became clearer, I committed to making it happen. Part of it was the desire to contribute to my community by finding solutions to pressing issues while staying open to unlearning, relearning, and learning. And so, Cultivar was born.

What began in 2022 as a delicacies bar—focused on food that was both delicious and nourishing, offering peace of mind to those enjoying it—eventually took shape through market research, leading to the official opening of a café in late 2024.

But this was never just about food; it was about creating a place where people could gather, connect, and share ideas—whether sipping on fresh, single-sourced coffee, freshly infused tea, or pressed juice, serving themselves at the delicacies bar, or grabbing something to take on a hike, given our proximity to Red Rocks and the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

I believed food wasn’t meant to be treated like a prescription—something taken out of necessity, often without joy—but rather as something to be savored: an experience that nourishes both the body and the soul. At the same time, it should be whole and nourishing, providing the body with natural, full nutrients that help the mind feel good.

With that, Cultivar became live.

Prince Kayigire
Cultivar.cafe
7595 W. Yale Avenue, Denver, Colorado

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