stories of the land 2015: A window into traditional rural life, by Michael

Michael weaving with his teacher

Today was one of the most engaging days so far here in Rwanda. In the morning, we all dressed up to meet the Rwandan Minister of Gender, Oda Gasinzigwa. Unfortunately, she was called away on a meeting, so instead we met with some of her associates and assistants. Together we discussed the empowerment of women in Rwanda and the progress made so far, as well as the measures being taken for the future. Recently, Rwanda was ranked 7^th worldwide and 1^st in Africa for closing the gender gap. After the visits to the Akilah Women’s College and Women for Women International, we knew that a lot of women have been creating and administrating their own businesses, so I asked exactly how that had been affecting the Rwandan economy. It turns out that the majority of the businesses act as micro-economies and are largely extra sources of income for Rwandan families. After that, we immediately piled onto the bus and drove off for the Shyogwe region of Rwanda to go to Azizi (Excellent) Life--about two hours south of Kigali.

Azizi Life is a company that partners with women living in a traditional village to sell their products and also offer visits to the village. We took one of these trips to the village and worked with several women there to help with day-to-day activities. The village was about 30 minutes away from the Azizi Life offices and the drive was quite an adventure. The village was located on the outskirts of the town, with no paved roads and no other motor vehicles. The road was bumpy and dusty, and we traveled slowly. Also, many of the children were just leaving school as we arrived, and many of the younger ones chased the bus, laughing and smiling at us Muzungu (white person). We were clearly not a common sight in the village. As we stopped outside some of the houses to disembark, the schoolchildren formed a crowd outside our door. They were eager to take pictures with us and waved. Then we were put to work. We split into three groups to assist with the daily activities. First, we had to peel sweet potatoes and cassava and boiled them for lunch. I was personally complimented on my potato peeling (thanks, Mom). The women had also prepared beans and avocados for the meal. Despite its simplicity, it was delicious and we devoured it. After that, the girls were dressed up in some traditional skirts and headscarves before beginning the real work. The women of the cooperative sent us behind the house to prepare a strip of land for bean planting, and we hoed the land vigorously. Then we had to clear some grass around the area and made large piles of it to feed to the cows. The piles were wrapped with bark and the we attempted to carry them on our heads, but nobody in our group managed to balance it for the entire 20-yard trek back to the house, where the cows were kept. After the cows were satisfied, we helped the women fetch water from the local river. I made the huge mistake of trying to carry one of the large water containers. Going downhill with the empty jug was fine, but lugging the now-much-heavier jug all the way back up the hill was, let’s just say, a challenge. After spending about 15 minutes for a much-needed rest, we learned to weave with traditional grasses and made our own bracelets! Of course, most of us needed quite a bit of assistance from our teachers in the village. After spending an entire day with the women, it was hard to say goodbye, and of course we couldn’t leave without them singing and dancing a traditional song! After finally extricating ourselves from the dance circle, a lot of the children came back to say goodbye as well. One of the toddlers who had been following us around even tried to get on the bus with us, and was bawling as one of his sisters pulled him away. When we got back to Azizi Life, everyone bought some of the products made by the women, and a lot of us chose bracelets and earrings (not me) made by our friends in the village. Overall, it was a day of fun and friendship, and a great window into traditional rural life in Rwanda.