contraceptive interview

While in Rwanda I got the chance to interview one of my friends who is my age, 23, about the social norms, religious beliefs, and political actions surrounding contraceptives. The woman I interviewed is in university as a biology major. She has a different insight on this subject that other Rwandan citizens may not. Also she comes from a small rural village so I think she give a great holistic understanding to the subject. There is a bit of language barrier through out the interview but I am sure everything is understandable.

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Grace: What does Rwandan society think of a women that takes birth control before marriage?

Interviewee: Rwandan society thinks that those person or young girls who take contraceptives, who use contraceptive methods or take those pills before marriage, they think that they are prostitutes. So it is somehow complicated for some girls to go to the health center or any health facility for those medicines or to ask for those family planning methods due to they are ashamed that the society or even their parents are going to say that, you are not good girl, you are not a good example in the society because you are a prostitute. They are somehow shamed even though there are some who use them but they some how feel shame and hide that they use those contraceptive methods.

Grace: Are there girls that have sex before marriage and do use contraceptives and it is not a problem?

Interviewee: For those girls that have sex, to use those contraceptive methods, normally in Rwandan society they like to use condoms, for the girls who do not have marriage, due to that the other methods like pills, like using injections they are ashamed to take them. But due to those condoms, they are going to take to shop, they think they are going to bring to their parents, they are not ashamed to use them, normally the young girls like to use the condom. They are not aware about all the other methods.

Grace: Are people comfortable using contraceptives when they are married?

Interviewee: When they are married? For some people. The elders are not comfortable due to the different issues or the different factors or challenges. Some of their challenges are their religious beliefs and the others are challenged by their cultures, and others fear from the effects of using contraceptive methods.

Grace: Do you think these opinions are more from religious or societal beliefs?

Interviewee: For someone coming from religious beliefs or societal beliefs or even culture, but, there is other contributing factors like financial issues or level of education, for those who are low educated, they do not like to use contraceptive methods. So I can say that those opinions are not come from religious or societal beliefs only, there are other factors.

Grace: Are contraceptives expensive?

Interviewee: So for the first time in Rwanda it was expensive, for the starting, I think that they did not give you those according to the medical insurance. But now, it is some how not expensive due to the use of community medical insurance for getting contraceptive methods. But also there are some financial means or some financial issues which restrict some people from using contraceptive methods. For some families they could get money instead of using them for shopping. But the elders due to the income, level of in household, they are not able to access contraceptives.

Grace: Even if it is inexpensive, it is still an added cost. What do you think of how society perceives contraceptives?

Interviewee: They see contraceptives in different ways, according to the group of the people. For example in rural society they see contraceptives as something which is forbidden and which is not allowed by those Christians. Also for the urban areas, they more appreciate the contraceptives. So for Rwandan society, if you try to see, some accept them, others do not accept them. So Rwandan society, for those who accept, they prefer that this who have been married re the only ones who may use contraceptive methods. I told you for the young girls or for the young boys that use the contraceptive methods, they are calling them the prostitutes. So they are some how ashamed. They only prefer that for those who did not get married, you must use abstinence only, as your contraceptive. It’s how Rwandan society is. So according to the religious beliefs in Rwandan society, we have some churches like the Catholics, they told their Christians, their fellows, do not do this, it is forbidden. You remember the first scripture, with Abraham, God told him that you give birth your children are going to be like the son’s of him. So they like to use that, but the other they use. According to the survey I tried to read, nowadays in Rwanda, 52% of the women use contraceptive methods. 

Grace: But most of them are married.

Interviewee: Yes most of them are married.

Grace: I wonder percent aren’t married 

Interviewee: For the last time I asked our lecturer what about the young girls or boys who use the contraceptives, are there any studies which should how they use contraceptives? So he answered me that there is no other’s which I can show you how young girls and young boys use contraceptive methods due to that they hide that they use them. They are more ashamed.

Grace: Do you think that contraceptives should be more accessible and accepted by society?  

Interviewee: I think that, and I hope that could be accepted in the society. Through the different interventions of many peoples. For example those who are in the area of the health, they can encourage society. And by overcoming those challenges which restrict some families from using contraceptive methods. The contraceptives can be accepted and used in the society. To be well accepted only effort must be in educating the society. Some people are not more educated in the using of contraceptives methods, they fear only the side effects although the side effects are not many or much regarding or compiling to the cost of effect fusing contraceptive methods. So we have the contraceptive methods that can be acceptable and accessible in the society, according to the interventions of many different programs educating, publishing, or encouraging the community members to use. For the accessibility issue in Rwanda, nowadays in Rwanda, due to they give you contraceptives methods according to the insurance it is somehow accessibility increasing. For the first time it was difficult and the people did not access it due to financial issues. But according to the community insurance accessibility is good, although it is not one to clap for it or to celebrate more but it is increasing. 

Grace: You have talked about this a bit, but why do you think people think negatively of contraceptives.

Interviewee: People think negatively on contraceptives there are some differences I can tell you. For some, if you used to converse with any woman, ask her what about contraceptive methods, how do you take it. Some will tell you that there are side effects, this who take them, they like to be growing due to hormones, they are bigger and always sickened and always disturbed. So they fear those side effects. Other which restrict them from using or cause them to think on it negatively is that religious issue. For some religion it is forbidden, I told you about, it is forbidden. You follow the words of god, you follow what gospel says to you, don’t use contraceptives. And there are some families that think that, for them to have many children, is the richest. Their children are going to work, and they are going to gain more. So they think that, ‘we are going to give birth for many children, some will be nurses, some will be teachers, others will be lecturers, and so our economic growth will be high’. But that is negative. That is the reason why they think contraceptive methods is not good for them. 

contraceptives

As most of you know, to some degree a countries development correlates with its fertility rate. A country that is less developed tends to have higher fertility rates compared to fertility rates that are barely above replacement in countries with the highest GDP's. I am fascinated by this phoneme and the simple affect things like education and contraceptives can have on the livelihoods of people struggling in poverty. 

G. Nargund talks about this in his article "Declining birth rate in Developed Countries: A radical policy re-think is required" on the National Center for Biotechnology Information's website. "In developing countries children are needed as a labour force and to provide care for their parents in old age. In these countries, fertility rates are higher due to the lack of access to contraceptives and generally lower levels of female education. The social structure, religious beliefs, economic prosperity and urbanisation within each country are likely to affect birth rates as well as abortion rates. Developed countries tend to have a lower fertility rate due to lifestyle choices associated with economic affluence where mortality rates are low, birth control is easily accessible and children often can become an economic drain caused by housing, education cost and other cost involved in bringing up children. Higher education and professional careers often mean that women have children late in life. This can result in a demographic economic paradox." (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4255510/)

In short industrialized and technologically advanced societies do not require huge populations and population growth to advance. Below I made two graphs that compare Fertility rates in some of the highest income countries compared to the fertility rates in some of the lowest income countries. I got all of this information from the CIA's website. (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2127.html) (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2004rank.html)

If you look to Brazil, you can see how a society can take control of it's fertility rate while simultaneously expanding it's economy and empowering it's women. Brazil has experienced extreme drops in it's fertility rates, and surprisingly, these drops have occurred all over the vast country. In 1960 the fertility rate in Brazil was 6.16 children per woman dropping dramatically to 1.9 in 2011. The Washington Post talks about this rapid drop in rates, "A frenzied migration to the cities, the expansion of the female workforce, better health care and the example of the small, affluent families portrayed on the region’s wildly popular soap operas have contributed to a demographic shift that happened so fast it caught social scientists by surprise.  it's high fertility rate and utilize their population and on a smaller scale, the size of families, to benefit the economic growth that country wants as a whole." You can read more about how their fertility rates dropping parallels their recent economic expansion in The Washington Post article:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/fertility-rate-plummets-in-brazil/2011/12/23/gIQAsOXWPP_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.cd5a33ff830e 

Now what does this have to do with Rwanda? I came into Rwanda curious if the country gave women the tools to have control over their fertility rates. These tools being, education, freedom to do with their bodies as they please, and access to contraceptives. I also wanted to understand what social taboos and religious beliefs were surrounding the subject. 

I want to introduce Rwanda's birth rates and contraceptive use by sharing an excerpt from a book I just finished, "A Thousand Hills, Rwanda's Rebirth and the Man Who Dreamed It" by Stephen Kinzer. He talks about the overarching issue of population size, economic growth, and contraception in Rwanda, "I love Rwandans, but I don't want too many of them. There are enough already. President Habyarimana might have been exaggerating when he said in the early 1990s that Rwanda was full, but not by much. It was and is one of the world's most densely populated countries. If its population continues to grow at current rates, it is doomed. For more than a decade after the genocide, few Rwandans wanted to admit this harsh fact. With so many dead, it seemed almost sacrilegious to suggest that overpopulation could ever again become a problem. Yet Rwanda has long had more people than its meager resources and small area can support. The first Rwandan census, taken in 1911, found that the country had about two million inhabitants. The population grew steadily over the next half-century. By 1969, it was 3.6 million, which may be the limit of what an agricultural country of this size can support with traditional farming techniques. Then the growth rate began rising more sharply. At the time of the 1994 genocide there were nearly seven million Rwandans. In the years that followed, those born far exceeded the number who had been killed. By the end of 2007 the population was approaching 10 million. The average Rwandan woman has six children, At this rate, there will be thirteen million Rwandans in 2020. That will make any substantial social or economic progress impossible. It will deeply destabilize Rwandan life. Some believe it could also lead to another outbreak of mass murder. "Rwandans in general view the genocide as related to overpopulation," De. Cassing Hammond, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Medical School, told me after returning from a research tour. "As we get population back to pregenocide levels- and Rwanda is once again the most densely populated country in Africa- if they don't control population, not only will there be a serious effect on infant and maternal mortality, but they may face another war. This was driven home to me time and time again." President Kagame was among the Rwandans who closed their eyes to this looming crisis. That allowed cabinet ministers and members of Parliament to do the same. Few of my experiences in Rwanda were as maddening as hearing senior officials blithely insist that Rwanda can hold a limitless number of people as long as they are educated, or that a large population is beneficial because it creates a market for local products. Those officials were reflecting social beliefs and conventions that are deeply rooted in Rwandan society. They make Jeannette Mukabalisa's job hard. She is a young health promoter who travels among villages in south-central Rwanda trying to persuade women to have fewer children. "They say we're not Christian," Jeannette lamented when I visited her base in the town of Mayange. (An excerpt from Mukabalisa) "The say, 'You're town people, we're traditional.' Children bring these families prestige. For them, children come from God. So it's difficult, very difficult... We have to show them precisely the bad side of having many children. The first example we use is land among many children, the parcels will be too small. Dividing in two, maybe, but if you have ten, what will you do? The second things we talk about is education: 'You're going to have to pay for the education of each child.' The same goes for medical care; everyone needs it. And there's food security; if there are many children, there won't be enough to eat. We're working on it. We have good policies and good planner, but not enough resources are being put into implementation. The role of government is to change traditional beliefs. This is something they have to change." It was changing even as we spoke. A handful of outspoken women- of whom there is no shortage in Rwanda- were demanding that the government make population control a priority. One of the most dynamic among them, Senator Odette Nyiramilimo, went as fare as to introduce a bill in Parliament that would limit families to three children, with harsh punishments for violators. 'It was coercive,' she told me without hesitation when I visited her office soon after she introduced her bill. Diplomats and aid administrators quietly explained to Senator Odette that the outside world frowns on coercive population control. Nonetheless she had forced the issue onto the national agenda. When I asked President Kagame about it, I was surprised to find him not only eager to act, but apologetic about his failure to do so sooner. 'We realize we are late on this,' he admitted. In 2007 Rwanda launched a population-control program that will, if it is fully realized, be the most sweeping in African history. Under its provisions, everyone of childbearing age who visits a clinic and offered a choice of methods. Health workers give women Jadel, a small silicone pin that is inserted beneath the skin and is effective for up to five years. Sex education classes are being introduced in schools. President Kagame has begun promoting the program, which makes it effectively impossible for anyone to oppose it. Nor is the Catholic Church resisting; it was so shamefully compromised by its collaboration with the genocide that it no longer dares to enter public debates. What led to the government's change of heart? Part of the answer lies in a PowerPoint presentation that the ministry of health made at the government's annual retreat in early 2007. Slides made clear that if Rwanda could achieve "zero population growth," everyone would be more prosperous. Most persuasive was a slide that displayed data from Thailand. It showed between 1975 and 1990,, the fertility rate there dropped by half and average income more than doubled. The headline over this slide proclaimed, 'Thailand Emerged as a Middle-Income Country in a Single Generation!' For the visionaries who run Rwanda, that was unbearably tantalizing. Soon after that government retreat, messages exhorting patriotic Rwandans to limit size of their families began filling the airwaves... Responses to these calls was more positive than anyone had imagine. That created unexpected problems. Health clinics were overwhelmed, and demand for contraceptive devices, especially Jadel implants, far outstripped supply. Government officials realized that their financial resources did not come close to matching their newfound passion for poputlation control. They began quietly casting about for an "angel"from abroad who would agree to underwrite the entire effort." (P. 248 - 251)

I think that gives you a good overview of the reproduction/population situation in Rwanda but also gives you an understanding of how this growth, and on a smaller scale, family size can be intertwined with the economics of a country and the prosperity of people. The difference with Rwanda is that in 2000, Rwanda's President Paul Kagame adopted Vision 2020 which was a government development programs with it's main objective to accomplish different goals in reducing poverty, improving health, and unity by 2020. Kagame's desire to rapidly grow his country through this program made it easy for him to pair with "Family Planning 2020" which according to it's website is a, "global movement that supports the rights of women and girls to decide- freely and for themselves- whether, when, and how many children they want to have". Family Planning 2020 partners with "governments, civil society, multilateral organizations, donors, the private sector, and the research and development community to enable 120 million more women and girls to use contraceptives by 2020." (http://www.familyplanning2020.org/microsite/about-us). You can see Rwanda's commitment to this goal of providing women with contraceptives by 2020 in partnership with Family Planning 2020 below.

All of the information below is lifted from The Family Planning 2020 website. The acronym "mCPR" stands for, modern contraceptive prevalence. "MW" stands for married women and "AW" stands for all women.

According to this information, approximately 30% of all women are using "modern contraceptives". This is all data the government is giving to the third party group, Family Planning 2020, so I looked to the newspapers and see if they were saying something else.

The East African newspaper, in 2016 talked about how, "more Rwandan women opt for birth control" with 1.2% of women choosing to get permanent birth control (tubal ligation). While according to Rwanda Demographic Health Survey (DHS), "growing trends in use of contraceptives indicating an increase in uptake of modern methods from 10 per cent in 2005 to 48 per cent in 2014/5". This article can be found at:

http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/rwanda/News/More-Rwandan-women-opt-for-birth-control-/1433218-3254362-7uy9mnz/index.html

The New Times, Rwanda's leading Daily newspaper had a different view of the status of contraceptives. One of their articles from 2016 titled, "Family Planning: Why are women shunning contraceptives" talks about the trials women face in regards to contraception. The different issues they highlight are, misconceptions about contraceptives, fear of side effects, fear of becoming barren, lack of education on the subject, friends or families sharing false information with women, or pressure from husbands or families to have a child. Dr. Rachna Pande, a specialist in internal medicine at Butaro Hospital talks about the issue, “It is a social problem. Pressure by the husband or the family to have a child early or other children makes it hard for a woman to accept contraception. Other women may be ignorant about contraception and hesitate to come forward and discuss it with a health care provider….. Then there is a fear of adverse effects or worse still infertility caused by contraceptives. She may have used some contraceptive for a short time, then given it up because of some side effects,” (http://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/read/203854)

There is another article in The New Times from 2012 that highlights some issues that are still relevant. The article has information from the UNFPA Resident Representative, Victoria Akyeampong, the article writes, “She also pointed out lack of decision-making power of women about the use of Family Planning and insufficient support and involvement of their male partners is another barrier. Another challenge she highlighted is that of insufficient human resource for health, especially Midwives, gynecologists and neonatologists.”

While the article talked to Pastor Banard Buchana, of Christian Life Association that spoke about the socio-cultural and religious beliefs that women were facing when thinking about using contraceptives. The pastor “observed that religious leaders are not against Family Planning but instead they are against abortion.” He is quoted saying, “We are only against killing which is through abortion. Family planning is birth control and doesn’t stop the progress of a pregnancy. The religious leaders who are against family planning speak for themselves and not on behalf of all clerics."

One of the views that is most interesting to me came from a pharmacist, Lambert Ingabrice, who said that “the challenge is mostly with unmarried girls and women who are faced with societal stigma therefore making it hard for them to access contraceptives and family planning methods.” He went on to say, “Some of these women are shy, afraid and go as far as sending kids to help them buy the contraceptives yet in most cases we need the user so we can advise them on how to use these contraceptives.”

I have been asking a few of my young girl friends here about this subject and their responses are equally interesting so I am going to interview a few of them on the subject.

zanzibar

Photo by me, Stone Town

Photo by me, Stone Town

I wanted to give you guys a VERY BRIEF historical timeline of Zanzibar that formed it into what it is today because I was so fascinated by it's historical/political events. Zanzibar played a massive part in history due to its easy access to traders traveling down the east coast of Africa from Arabia. By the 11th century Islam was established in this region.

Photo by me, Stone Town

16th - 17th century and The Portuguese

In the 16th century a new type of visitor arrived in Zanzibar, the Portuguese. By establishing friendly relations they had established a trading post and mission there by the end of the century. The colony of Zanzibar also joined the Portuguese Empire during this time By the late 17th century this Christian presence is ended thanks to a campaign by the Muslims of Oman.

Photo by me, Stone Town

1698-1856: Oman and Zanzibar

In the 1960's Saif bin Sultan, the imam of Oman, was forcing his way down the east African coast. After years of battle on the mainland, the Portuguese's rule fell to Saif in 1698. The Omani's then easily ejected Portuguese from Zanzibar.

Zanzibar was a valuable property to say the least because it was main slave market of the east African coast. The island become more and more important to the Omani empire, displayed by the greatest 19th-century sultan of Oman, Sa'id ibn Sultan, who moved there in 1837 to make it his main residence. This Sultan worked to improve the island's economy by introducing cloves, sugar, and indigo. Although he did take a financial loss when cooperating with British attempts to end Zanzibar's slave trade.

Zanzibar's relationship with Oman is broken at the death of the Sultan in 1856. Tension between his sons was resolved by harsh British diplomacy. 

Photo by me, The Sultan's bath house, Stone Town

1856-1885: British Involvement

Once Majid took his place on the throne of Zanzibar the British were very involved in the island. Majid was succeeded by his brother in 1870, by that time the British had a consul in Zanzibar. This consuls job was to end Zanzibar’s centuries old and massive slave trade. This is goal is achieved in 1873 by a treaty with Zanzibar’s new ruler Barghash.

This is the same year that David Livingstone (Africa’s notorious anti-slavery explorer) died and his embalmed corpse was transported to Zanzibar. The consul, John Kirk, that received Livingstone’s body had been Livingstone’s good friend that accompanied him on expeditions from 1858 to 1863. Kirk had also witnesses the brutal Arab place trade in the interior of Africa.  

Kirk, recognizing that Zanzibar needed to replace the revenue of slaves with legitimate economic activity, he prompted Barghash to export rubber and ivory from the continent. By the middle of he 1880’s the sultan was earning a fortune via these exports.

Then in 1884 there are reports of Germans snooping around the trade routes to the Great Lakes. In March of 1885, Germany claimed a protectorate on this region! 

These intricately designed doors found in Stone Town were a symbol of the home owners wealth in regards to trading, predominately in the slave trade. As you can see on this door frame there are chains symbolizing this trade. Photo by me, Stone Town

1885 - 1886: The German Demand

August 7th, 1885 German warships arrived in Zanzibar with their guns pointed at the sultan's palace, demanding the sultan give his mainland territory to the Germans or face their wrath. The British were notified promptly and in an attempt to keep peace with Germany they proposed an agreement. The agreement was that the two nations would share the territory stretching inland to the Great Lakes. The British consul in Zanzibar was then forced to persuade the sultan to give up the majority of his mainland territory, he was left with a strip of land ten miles along the coast. 

This door style was brought from Indian's on the island. The pointed knobs were a meant to stop elephants from knocking down doors, elephants that were prevelant in India but nowhere in Zanzibar. Photo by me, Stone Town

1890 - 1963: British Protectorate

Britain was the only colonial power well established in Zanzibar and the island was declared a British protectorate in 1890. The Arab sultans rule came to an end in Zanzibar when the island gained independence in the 1960's with self government and complete indepedence being gained in 1963. The political that formed in this new nation were split along ethnic lines, Arabs and Africans (the slave traders and the slaves). The first government was formed by a coalition of Arab parties with a sultan as the head of state. Within a month of independence a revolution led by communists toppled this regime, replacing the sultan with a republic. This revolution was extremely brutal, where many thousands of Arabs and Indians were murdered or forced to flee. The first step by the new president was a union with neighboring Tanganyika. The two nations are merged in April 1964, becoming the United Republic of Tanzania. Ever since Zanzibar has functioned as a semi-autonomous region.

tubehotwese's story

The other day my boss in Santa Barbara realized that something different is happening at our Tubehotwese co-op. In the past year Tubehotwese has gained 75 new members, where normally a co-op would gain around 5 new members a year. My boss asked me to investigate this growth by making a chronology of Tubehotwese's creation and evolution. Also looking into what about them might set them apart. In an effort to figure out what makes Tubeho so exceptional I interviewed my boss in Rwanda. He reasoned that yes they are different in some regards but their development also follows the same path as most of our co-ops. I am uploading the chronology and story of Tubeho I wrote because I think it is a good window into what exactly it takes to create a community/cooperative, 

"The co-op:

Tubehotwese is an exceptional member of WD4H’s family of cooperatives. It is located in a remote area in the northern corner of Rwanda on the Ugandan border, in an area that has no previous history of cooperatives. The concept of this cooperative was first dreamt up by a Pastor Naome. Her family was from this area but she did not grow up there, she returned to her families area to build a church. In 2004 she established this church. The members of her church were extremely poor and could not contribute to the church’s survival and growth. 

Because of this Naome sought the assistance of Justin. She had heard about Justin from another community working with him far away. She desperately wanted to build her church and it’s people up, but she needed support. These church members were in desperate conditions. She knew that by raising the living standards of her church members that her church would inherently benefit. 

Justin reasoned with her that she was a pastor that worked on spiritual development and he focuses on economic development. Perhaps they could harmonize these spiritual and economic assets to develop this community. 

Justin worked with Naome to teach her the economic development aspects they needed to focus on. They couldn’t start this concept of growth until the people in Naome’s church were working. If they weren't working he could not ensure their sustainable development. Naome was concerned that the people were unwilling to work. She hadn’t grown up in this area so was not sure if these peoples lack of development was due to their laziness? Their family background? Or their history?

Justin and Naome realized they first needed to know these people’s background. They ran different trainings with the community members to try and understand who they were.

First, they interviewed the initial members to understand their history. Naome and Justin first realization was that these people didn’t even understand themselves. The more trainings the members attended the more they came to understand who they were and what they were capable of. After understanding these peoples background Justin and Naome moved onto trainings that helped the members understand themselves, their skills, and what they were willing/able to do.

Through these trainings they found that the people they were working with were very individualistic. That would make this work difficult and unsuccessful. If they continued to think individually, their cycle would stay the same. They had to figure out a way to bring their opposing thoughts, talents, and differences together. All of them were different, if they brought those differences together successfully, they could be more productive. 

Justin, realizing that these people were struggling to identify themselves and their skills, worked with them individually. He helped members identify their skills so they could understand themselves. By doing this they would be inspired and motivated to pull themselves and their new community out of poverty. He had to understand these individuals and what they brought to the table before he could understand what potential the group held.

These trainings brought the people of Tubehotwese from being isolated and desolate to a functioning and hopeful community. To summarize the three steps:

First, WD4H had to understand the communities background so they could understand what these people were capable of and willing to do. Second, they helped the community members to understand who they were and what they were able to do. Third, once they understood what they could do as individuals they had to figure out what they could do together. 

They started this last step in small groups. These small groups discussed, decided, and presented what they thought they could do together to better themselves. Then, the larger group voted on the best three propositions and a second vote cut these three propositions into the last best option.

This is how the idea of working together was introduced, they didn’t come up with these concepts as individuals, it came from the group. 

Next was introducing the concept of a cooperative. Justin and Naome asked the community members if they preferred to work as individuals or as a group. As a reminder, all of these trainings and steps take a very long time, introducing these lessons in an effective way is a very slow process. 

They decided they wanted to work as a group. Now they needed to own their own change. They had to identify the challenges and benefits of working together. How could they reduce or harmonize those challenges of working together? To alleviate these challenges it is best to legalize everything by making it a government sanctioned cooperative. They were able to equalize work and benefits by establishing regulations. These rules give them responsibility. 

The first steps in their cooperative’s journey was to build on what they already had themselves, working together with their individual possessions. For example, if you have land and I have land how can we make them more productive together? That was the case in this cooperative, different members combined their smaller pieces of land to make it one, bigger, more successful plot of land. After they joined together, they worked on registering themselves as a cooperative with WD4H and the government. At that point and for some time, they were working together without any support or donations.

Meeting at Tubehotwese

Receiving their goats and cows was the next step, this is what gave them the hope and confidence they needed to see and work past their current situation. In the beginning they were still struggling, their hope was very low. Even though they were working towards a better future, they were still blind to this future. For them, having goats was like seeing the future. They were working on a small piece of land, but goats added value and production to this land. There were not only tangible impacts of the goats, the benefits were more intangible. Goats raised their hope and confidence while simultaneously opening their eyes to the future. These positive effects of the goats also caused people to work harder and more effectively toward the brighter future they saw. 

Tubehotwese’s isolation and rural location explains why it is different from other cooperatives. When you are working with a group like this, in an area like this, they see themselves in an inescapable circle. They are not capable of viewing themselves outside of that circle. When you see people coming from outside that circle, in this case World Dance for Humanity, you see an open door to the world. When they meet with people from World Dance from Humanity, they understand that there is something bigger and brighter outside of them, that they have access to. Just this knowledge benefits them, it is not only about the donations or even mostly about the donations, it is more knowing that somebody in the big wide world cares about them. They no longer see themselves as isolated, but connected to the world. The ambassador to their connection to the world is World Dance for Humanity. They are bridging this connection between this community and the world.

That is one reason why Tubehotwese has become so successful with rapid growth in membership. Another is, people in the area are seeing the benefits that their friends, families, and neighbors are reaping through the cooperative. These are not just material and financial benefits, these are emotional benefits. Among these emotional benefits are, being able to rely on the members of the community to care about you, help you, and being worthy to gain your trust. Tubehotwese is having exponential growth not only because people are seeing the fruits of the members labor but because of their location in general. Because they are in an extremely isolated area, their few job/business opportunities. There are also few opportunities to feel apart of the community in their region and country, but also the community of the world. We are social beings, people have an innate desire to be apart of a community, connected to each other, and able to trust each other. Tubehotwese is living proof of this. 

The school:

When you are working with a community, you need to understand their lives as much as possible. WD4H recognized that this community had a critical need of education. They did not have schools in their area. Students had to travel very far in order to get to school. This caused a lot of school drop outs in the area.

Students at Tubehotwese school

Then, the government introduced a new program that every student had to go to nursery school before primary. The government created this mandate and then forced parents to pay for this education from their own pockets. While in remote areas like where Tubehotwese is located, there were no schools available. Two main concepts were not looked at when creating this mandate, affordability and accessibility of schools. 

Tubehotwese’s school was initially created to be a business. WD4H wanted the people of this community to be able to gain a profit off of the school so they could pay for additions to the school, up keep, and supplies. Down the road WD4H and the community realized that this was not possible. The children’s parents could not contribute enough in school fees for the school to become “for profit”. The tuition, if placed at a higher rate, was causing students to drop out. But if the tuition was placed at a lower rate the school could barely sustain itself. 

Their were multiple steps in creating this school that lead to its current state of affairs. The first was mobilizing people and teaching them the need they had, how important it was to have available education in the area. They educated the community members on how it would be built, how it would be sustained, and what kind of school it would be in general. Then all of the community members pooled their funds to build the school building. Unfortunately their funds were not enough to finish the school building and over time it began to deteriorate. Then, in 2015, with the help of WD4H donations, they could revisit the project. With these funds, they renovated the building, bought furniture for the classrooms, and supplies for students.

At the beginning planning phases of this school the co-op members simply generalized that it would be a “for profit” entity. At that point they could not specify how much tuition would be. They were not sure on how many students would attend and how much their parents would be willing to spend. 

This made planning difficult, and a few months after they started their school they realized they needed to re-evaluate their plans to sustain the school. The school fee plan they began with was charging each student 5,000 francs (approx. $5.50) per term (3 months). At the end of that first term students started dropping out. The second term they decided to drop the tuition down to 3,000 francs. With 3,000 francs a term, they could not have a profitable school. They are currently still stuck at that amount for tuition and sustainability of the school is difficult. They can’t pay teachers, make repairs, feed the children during the day, or buy school supplies. Currently, four of the teachers are receiving a small salary, and 3 are volunteers. 

Although the school is struggling, they still have the essentials, a strong school building and strong spirits. They have many students that are attending school regularly and who’s parents feel strongly about their children’s education. The presence of this school in their community has worked to help these parents realize the importance of education. The school also has great teachers that are well trained and extremely passionate about their students. Speaking with the teachers and leaders of this school you can tell that they are still confident about the success of the school and are there working for little or no salary because they truly care. Watching these teachers dance and sing with their students you can tell that essentials needed for this schools success are there, a compassionate staff that is working tirelessly towards their students success."

Me and Judy with Tubehotwese student's

commemoration

The commemoration of the 1994 genocide started this past Saturday, April 7th, the genocide in 1994 began on April 8th. On our way home from work on the 6th my boss told me what the next day would consist of. 

He said that there would be a series of meetings in each community where people from that community would meet to voice their grief, memories, and current trials in their life. These meetings serve as a form of group therapy, remembrance, and reconciliation work. He said that it would be an all day event and every shop would be closed. 

He nonchalantly said that I should probably just stay home and sleep. I thought this was odd. I said that maybe I could go into our office so that I could finish some homework. He quickly snapped back something along the lines of, no, no, no, you definitely should’t be working during commemoration and probably shouldn’t show your face. There is a lot of discussion during commemoration about how white people’s actions or rather, or in some cases inactions, caused and continued the genocide. 

My boss, seeing that I was upset went on to say that it is very “bad” to generalize people into an entire race like that. Generalizations that me, a white person, had something to do with this countries past events. How could you not see a white person in a place like Rwanda, where we stick out like sore thumbs, and not associate us to the white people that affected your country so negatively?

It is hard not to hear that statement and think about how my ancestors and people of the western world did the same thing, make general sweeping assertions about whole races. Feeling guilty about either my ancestors or my races actions that lead me to feelings of shame, guilt, and embarrassment. When people give you glaring stares in Africa you can’t help but think of history. At least I can’t…

Anyways, Saturday came and went, I spent my day in the fortress that is our house, hidden away behind high walls like I was a leaper with my white skin and hair. Then on Sunday, the actual day of the genocide’s anniversary, everything seemed to go the same. Because it was a Sunday (church day) the meetings and commemoration seemed to come to a lull. My boss went to a few meetings during the evening, but I never heard a word about them. I nearly thought I would go through the whole 24th anniversary of the 1994 genocide with hearing a word. 

Then came Monday morning. We arrived at work and I though I would be at the office for the day. Until a few minutes later when my boss called me into his office and informed me that he had been invited to a commemoration event in the Kayonza district. He wanted to extent the invitation to me. He was concerned that I would feel uncomfortable going. After his previous statements about how Rwandans feel about white people during the commemoration, I was understandably nervous. He said that because the meeting was in a rural area this wouldn’t be as much of an issue. I’m not sure why it being in a rural area made it more socially acceptable for me to go but I trusted his opinion. I could tell he wanted me to experience this, so I agreed. He figured that the drive was far enough and we had enough stops to make at the different cooperatives in the region that we should spend the night. I said “FUN! SLUMBER PARTY” and we were off. 

The WD4H business coordinator joined us and we embarked on the 2 hour drive. I was really unworried about the event until we got there. Upon arrival there were hundreds of people joined around a mass grave in a field. I asked my boss again, this time a bit more pressingly, “You are SURE this is okay? Maybe I should wait in the car for a bit”. He insisted saying, “I won’t allow it”. So onward, we trekked through the field to the mass grave. The mass grave was rectangular area that was approximately 30 feet by 20 feet, enclosed by a gate and covered by a roof. The two later aspects were adding to the grave as means of giving a respectful burial to the deceased and give a place of grieving for people mourning. After placing flowers on the grave we all took a seat. 

From the moment I arrived I was getting the oddest looks. Most of them I could not identify. I didn’t want to make eye contact long enough to dissect these looks or offend or send some kind of message, I’m not sure what the message would be. Some were blatantly unhappy about my presence but then again it was a serious event in general and Rwandans are very serious people. Were they expressing the seriousness of the situation while making eye contact with me? I couldn’t be sure. Some gave me grins and shook my hand and two girls insisted on taking pictures with me while I was walking to the bathroom. It was all quite disorienting. 

The thing that made me the most comfortable was that throughout the event my boss was translating what was being said. If I had been just sitting there listening to Kinyarwanda, not understanding a word, then what would be the point of me being there. It felt like the people viewed me as an outsider observing them in something deeply personal they were experiencing. Which in fact I was. But with my boss translating the speeches, people saw that I was getting the messages being shared, and I was close enough with someone among them that was comfortable enough to share what was happening. 

The event went on for a while but I am just going to share two parts that intrigued me. They invited an older woman to come up and talk about her experience as a genocide survivor. She began speaking and instantly her voice was quivering. She was talking about how she was forced to watch the murders killed her husband with a “traditional weapon” or a machete. As she was talking about the killers, she explained how she usually works towards reconciliation and has forgiven them. But she went on to say that on this day she can call them as they are, dogs. She went on to rant about what horrible, savage dogs they were.

I thought this was interesting given the fact that with all of the reconciliation, forgiveness, and efforts to tear down divisions I wouldn’t expect to hear someone say these things. Of course she is still in pain and angry and grieving. But I think the most interesting part of the genocide is how strongly social structures can take control of peoples actions. In this case the government and propaganda made the killers believe the people they are killing is less than human. Before this commemoration event I thought that reconciliation efforts were more aimed at addressing how higher powers like the government or propaganda can influence people to commit horrible crimes. But this event showed me that is there is still a lot of blaming the individuals.

Then a member of parliament came to talk to the group. He went on to talk about how the previous woman was referring to the killers as dogs. He said that they shouldn’t get the title of dogs because at least dogs protect houses. These killers should get a title less than dogs. Then he went on to explain how the crime of genocide is far different/worse than any other crime. He wasn’t making specific claims but he was referring to the fact that the army that defeated the genocidaires, that is the still in power currently, is accused of committing serious crimes during the time of the genocide as well. This is a very touchy subject because some people believe that there should be justice served for these crimes as well. While the government reasons that there is a definitive difference between genocide and the crimes they committed, and they should not be compared in the same realm. That is what this government official was trying to make clear. 

After leaving this event we went to the house of one of our co-op members. My boss told me that during this time of commemoration the co-ops work to pool some money together to help one of the co-op members that is especially suffering, and especially suffering in regards to the genocide. The man that this co-op was assisting had recently been robbed and his mattress had been taken. The co-op members joined together to purchase him a new mattress. 

I'm not sure how to articulate this experience but I think was my first time seeing a community of people come together in such a selfless, thoughtful way in order to help one of their own. It was especially impressive to see people that are struggling so much financially be able to/desire to do this for one another. The most important part of this gesture was not the material action of giving a mattress, but this man feeling his community members caring about him and willing to help him. Also, this man was not the only benefiting, the people gifting were also benefiting from this sense of community. It is similar to that feeling you get when you give someone that you really care about a gift. It is in human nature to care about each other, and want to be generous and share. I said this to my boss and responded with a saying, the gifting hand is more blessed than the receiving hand. 

After spending some time with this community we went onto dinner at a local hotel that is nestled on a lake. Soon after arriving people started streaming through the hotel to hold a service next to the lake. During the genocide many people had been murdered next to this lake and their bodies had been thrown into the water. These people came to remember and grieve those they had lost in this lake. During the service one young girl had a horrible episode. She dropped to the ground and become hysterically crying and screaming for her mother that had died there. This was even more dramatic because as I said before, Rwandans are so serious. None of the other people attending were crying, but this girl was lying on the ground and could not be consoled for over a half hour. This outbreak shows how much is still simmering under the surface of this seemingly recovered and peaceful society. While looking at all these stern faced people and then at this young girl uncontrollably crying I felt lie I saw a glimpse into what these people that had to be calm and composed were actually feeling.

That night we stayed at my coworker's families house in the region where we spent the day. The commemoration activities continued there where we all sat down to watch the news. On this news channel they were broadcasting statistics on how much of the Rwandan population thought reconciliation was possible. They compared these stats over the period of years and the amount of people that thought reconciliation was possible grew quite a bit. Then the news program moved to showing people digging up graves that were created during the genocide and reburying these people properly with respect and love. To see this occurring 24 years after the genocide took place was eye opening to say the least.

The next day the commemoration activities continued as we visited a group of WD4H student sponsees that were working to rebuild one of their fellow student's mothers house. This mother is a widow from the genocide and has been struggling very much financially and obviously emotionally since the genocide. To see these students join together for the day to help this woman rebuild her home was beyond words. These young students were using this time and their effort as an extension of their appreciation of getting a sponsorship from WD4H. These student's have also been witnessing these acts of selflessness and community for a very long time. I think that one of the most beneficial parts of our cooperatives and the relationships they create is what they are instilling in these children and the adults they will make

ideas i like

I wanted to talk about a couple of other interesting non-profits/concepts I have learned about while in Rwanda.

Earth Enable, https://www.earthenable.org/

This concept and company was created by a couple of ingenious students at Stanford. They came to Rwanda in 2013 with a class called "Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability". While in Rwanda they were "tasked with their partner organization – The Mass Design Group - to design a product or a service that would make homes or communities healthier. They first sought to understand how sub-optimal homes affected physical and emotional health outcomes and were shocked to discover the significant health problems that dirt floors cause. Eliminating a dirt floor from the home results in dramatic reductions in childhood asthma, diarrhea, malnutrition, and parasitic infestations. They realized that they could change lives if they found a way to floor Rwanda." (https://www.earthenable.org/about-us/) Concrete floors are very financially unfeasible for poor people in rural areas, hence the dirt floors, but these floors from Earth Enable are completely different. They not only improve health conditions like concrete floors, but they are 75% cheaper than the concrete floors and, "cement makes up 5% of total global carbon emissions and is incredibly energy intensive to produce. Earthen floors have 90% less embedded energy and are structurally strong, waterproof, and abrasion resistant. There are significantly more environmentally sustainable building materials than cement, and part of our mission is to put the developing world on a more sustainable development path." (https://www.earthenable.org/)

Mass Design Group, https://massdesigngroup.org/

Mass is a huge international design and architecture company that has projects all over the world but they have a special focus in Rwanda as their first project, a hospital, was here. Here is a link to their projects in Rwanda, https://massdesigngroup.org/design?type=All&location=47&discipline=All. Mass's motive is to create architecture that creates a positive impact as they talk about here, "Architecture is not neutral; it either helps or hurts. Architecture is a mechanism that projects its values far beyond a building’s walls and into the lives of communities and people. To acknowledge that architecture has this agency and power is to acknowledge that buildings, and the industry that erects them, are as accountable for social injustices as they are critical levers to improve the communities they serve.The stakes are too high, and the accountability too low, not to insist that architects do something to address these challenges. This is why we started MASS Design Group." (https://massdesigngroup.org/about)

World Justice Project, https://worldjusticeproject.org/

This is a large non-governmental agency that you may have heard of. I have seen their trucks driving around Kigali and I am almost enchanted by their mission. They define "the rule of law" with the four universal principales, "1. Accountability, The government as well as private actors are accountable under the law. 2. Just Laws, The laws are clear, publicized, stable, and just; are applied evenly; and protect fundamental rights, including the security of persons and property and certain core human rights. 3. Open Government, The processes by which the laws are enacted, administered, and enforced are accessible, fair, and efficient. 4. Accessible & Impartial Dispute Resolution, Justice is delivered timely by competent, ethical, and independent representatives and neutrals who are accessible, have adequate resources, and reflect the makeup of the communities they serve." (https://worldjusticeproject.org/about-us/overview/what-rule-law) These principles are then developed into nine factors that comprise the annual WJP rule of law index. These nine factors include, constraints on government powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory enforcement, civil justice, criminal justice, and informal justice. How does all of this research and information come into practice? The WJP attempts to illustrate this through a chart,

Indego, https://indegoafrica.org/

Indego is a non-profit that works in Rwanda and Ghana, they partner with groups of women to sell make and sell products that are designed by their Creative Director in New York City and produced in Africa "combining traditional techniques, local materials, and genuine artisanal skill." (https://indegoafrica.org/about) They provide their women with consistent income and invest profits, grants and donations, into "education and vocational training programs for the artisans who handcraft our products and the youth in their communities." (https://indegoafrica.org/about)

More than Sparrows, http://www.thesparrowstudio.com/

More than Sparrows goal is "to create a marketplace for handmade jewelry, accessories, and home decor from a cooperative of women in Africa. The cooperative is composed of 27 women in Kigali, Rwanda.  Every single piece of jewelry is made by hand and the women are paid fair wages and get to use lots of recycled goods from their surrounding environment to craft these one of a kind pieces."

Mind Leaps, https://mindleaps.org/

Mind Leaps is a non-profit that attempts to help a fraction of the 7,000 street children in Rwanda. They talk about there work last year, "In 2017, MindLeaps’ Rwandan staff works with 65 children ages 9-18 daily in order to provide a “catch up” program for street youth and out-of-school youth who have never had the chance to go to school and become literate. The program consists of: Dance training to reform behavioral patterns and increase cognition. IT classes to introduce children to technology and the outside world. Academic Acceleration Program led by teachers from the local White Dove Girls’ School, which provides the students with English, Kinyarwanda, Math, Science, and Social Studies courses. HIV testing & treatment, sexual health and reproductive classes, and hygiene/sanitation services. A daily meal program to improve the learning capacity and deter the onset of life-threatening diseases. Boarding school sponsorship to fully re-integrate children back into civil society." (https://mindleaps.org/our-programs/rwanda/) 

Cycle Beads, https://www.cyclebeads.com/

This concept is not an non-project project but more just an ingenious idea. It is a cheap, effective, and lasting approach at contraceptive care. A 95% effective and proven way to either become pregnant or stop from getting pregnant just with a necklace.

I just think this is brilliant, especially in socieies/cultures where contraceptives like birth control or iud's are not socially acceptable. Millions of women are using this method because it is more than 95% Effective, side-effect free, easy to Use, inexpensive, educational, and empowering. 

Question Coffee, https://www.questioncoffee.com/

Question Coffee is a cafe located in Kigali but also much more than that. The people at Question source coffee from all over Rwanda, grown by women farmers. By working with these people directly in their country, they have great insight into their farming practices and livelihoods. They run a farm to cup facility, and believe in training their staff in all facets, which gives skills that would otherwise be unattainable. They briefly explain their process through this illustration:

The Women's Bakery, http://www.womensbakery.com/

The women's bakery is a kind of method that they replicate in different communities all over Rwanda. They work to open bakeries with groups of women in order to provide them with skills and opportunities that they wouldn't have with out. The 5 step method begins with,

1. Partner with local women

2. Identify local resources

3. Extensive Training

4. Bakery Launch

5. Support of Bakery Operations

Here are some different stats they offer regarding their work,

http://www.womensbakery.com/ourimpact/

Women for Women, 

Women for Women is a huge international non-profit that works in many different parts of the world. They have a large presence in Rwanda where they have opened a large training facility to do year long trainings with disenfranchised women in rural areas. Their trainings focus on the following areas, Agriculture, Basket-making, Beadwork, Bee-keeping, Bread-making, Coffee Agribusiness, Culinary Arts, Food Processing, Hairdressing, Manicure and Pedicure, Small Business, Tailoring, Tourism and Hospitality. They have seen significant benefits in these women's lives specifically in 4 key areas:

"1. Women earn and save money: Women report average personal earnings of $0.64 per day at graduation, compared to $0.22 at enrollment.
2. Women develop health and well-being: 83 percent of participants report practicing family planning at graduation, compared to 72 percent at enrollment.
3. Women influence decisions in the home and community: Nearly 98 percent of participants report participating in household financial decisions at graduation.
4. Women create and connect to networks for support and advocacy: More than 91 percent of participants report sharing information about their rights with other women at graduation, compared to 28 percent at enrollment." (https://www.womenforwomen.org/what-we-do/countries/rwanda)

You can read more about their "First-ever Women’s Opportunity Center in Rwanda" at https://www.womenforwomen.org/blog/first-ever-women%E2%80%99s-opportunity-center-rwanda

perma-what

The most amazing thing I have come to understand on my trip thus far is how simple solutions can create sustainable change in a community. Changes that seem surface level but reach deep down into the earth and affect people's existence from the inside out. In this case, through their food source. I have experienced this through a hands on approach, through building a permagarden. For three days last week the Cokawi co-op and the WD4H team hoed and shoveled tons of dirt in an effort to grow food that could sustain this community more effectively, not only physically but financially. In short, the goal of the training and these permagardens is to introduce low capital methods to increase household food production and income generation. It was an extremely humbling experience.

The permagarden method is the child of the practice of ‘Permaculture’, a combo of two words, ‘permanent’ and ‘agriculture’. This method focuses on designing the garden to include permanent, soil-based structures. According to the TOPS permagarden technical manual (http://www.fsnnetwork.org/sites/default/files/pg-technicalmanual-mono.pdf), "permaculture helps farmers to understand natural influences that affect the homestead, and results in a better garden location and design that optimizes the use of available resources. ‘Bio-intensive agriculture’ refers to the efficient system of planting, deep healthy soil structure, diet design, composting, and management of annual crops in beds that are found within protective and productive berms."

I want to go through the main motives behind this permagarden method, as stated in the TOPS permagarden technical manual:

"1. Ecological – enhance natural resources and ecosystem services through:

• Improving soil and water health
• Increasing biodiversity, and
• Reducing erosion

2. Economic – increase economic income by:

• Reducing input costs, and
• Diversifying and intensifying production.

3. Energy – increase energy efficiency through:

• Better garden design that works with natural influences to maximize the efficiencies of an integrated system and reduce time and energy expended tending crops and animals.

4. Nutritional – contribute to increased nutritional status by:

• Increasing access to a diverse diet, and
• Improving critical nutrient uptake 

5. Social – strengthen the skillset, capacity, and confidence of smallholder farmers by:

• Supporting local innovative farmers to become leaders enabling them to understand how to maximize local resources and
• Utilize influences improving their ability to adapt and test technologies."

Now that we understand the definition and basic benefits of a permagarden, let's understand how these things are implemented. I am going to go step by step on how we created our permagarden:

1. Community Walk

First, the co-op members did a tour of the community to recognize what resources were available to them for free. Three major ingredients to these permagarden's are charcoal, ash, and manure. These three things are the main soil amendments and fertilizers necessary in this region. They were easily collected for free within their communities. These permagardens are not only self sustaining, as the co-op members can get the ingredients for free in their local communities, but also organic! Other productive assets they recognized in their communities included, land, water, plants, animals, people and structures. The community then takes notice of how the rainwater moves, how can slopes can be altered, how can rainwater be slowed and allowed to spread, what is the quality and depth of the soil? The co-op began to look at their land in a different, new, inventive light. In a light that allowed them to imagine new and better yields, thanks to more effective farming practices.

2. Location Choice

Picking the area to do the permagarden is a whole different story. The TOPS manual talks a bit about picking an area,

"Key characteristics of an ideal permagarden site:

• Receives full sunlight at least 4 hours a day.
• Accessible to all family members.
• Protected from extreme winds, livestock, or other damaging elements.
• Contains soil that is relatively free of rocks. 
• The sun movement across the land or the slope of the land.
• In hot locations with a strong sun exposure, choose a site with shade or partial sun for part of the day.
• Place the garden downslope from a chicken coop or kraal (while still protecting the garden from animals) to allow gravity to bring manure and nutrients into the garden during a rain.
• Place the garden away from the trash pit or other hazardous materials."

3. Clearing and Design

Once we knew what piece of land we were going to use, we prepared and cleared it. Then it was time to decide the design of the garden. This required knowledge of how rainwater would flow on this land. Rwanda gets a lot of rain, and people generally assimilated all that rain with the flooding of their land. With that fear of flooding in mind, they directed the rainwater they were receiving off of their land. Causing them to have water shortages, when really they had all the rainwater they needed. Once educated by this manual, and the permagarden method, they realized that they could manage the rainwater they were receiving in a more effective way. Allowing the water to enter their land and be stored in the ground. The ground has much more capacity to store water for future use during non-rainy seasons than above ground storage. This required the help of an A-frame. As you will see pictured below. 

The control of water flow can be utilized to prevent erosion and fertility loss. The A frame you see above is a device to measure the contours of the land. This is an important measurement as it will show how rainwater will enter the land, how it will spread across it, and where swales and berms should be placed. To transition to the A-frame and swale activity, we introduced the swale and its ability to stop, slow, sink, and spread water. What is a swale you may ask? The textbook definition is, "a low or hollow place, especially a marshy depression between ridges". The TOPS manual describes this part of the process as, "The gardener can control water flow into and through the garden for maximum use. It is therefore important to determine where rainfall will enter the garden and how water will flow through the garden. As water flows down slope across the land, it carries nutrients from other areas, including manure and biomass. The aim of the garden design in dry regions is to encourage these nutrients to flow into the garden and to sink into the soil, especially for use in the dry season or during dry periods in the growing season. Likewise, good design can help mitigate flooding in wet regions by diverting excess water away from the garden, preventing crops from getting waterlogged. The flow of water is controlled through effective design and integration of technical practices, such as double digging, composting, close plant spacing, and mulching, combined with the appropriate use of swales, berms, holes, beds, pathways, and fencing. Using these techniques can significantly increase the amount of water infiltrated into and stored in the soil." And to finish off, the berm is the raised area above the swale, used to protect the garden from runoff water, to store water, and to plant perennials on top of. You can see these different aspects of the permagarden illustrated in the diagram below.

Once we knew where the swales and berms would be located we had to decide how to orient our garden beds within the larger structure of the garden. In the drawing below, the swales are the narrow collumns.

4. Digging The Swales And Creating The Garden Beds

First part of construction was to dig out the larger swales on the perimeter of the entire garden and then the smaller swales between each garden bed. 

Above, you can see one of the coop members posing in front of the rudimentary design of the garden. Now that everything is formed as it will be in the future, it is ready for the next most labor intensive part. 

5. Double Digging

This concept is described in the TOPS manual as, "Double digging allows for closer plant spacing, as the roots grow down rather than to the sides. Double-dug beds are permanent, which allows them to absorb and retain water more effectively. They can be amended with important nutrients and soil organic material that is sourced locally. Crops can then be rotated between beds or from one place in a bed to another place in the same bed from season to season to maximize pest control and achieve higher yields." This process, compared to other soil preparation practices, increases the air, water, and nutrient content in the topsoil and subsoil. Double digging is a very effective, free alternative to expensive fertilizers. Double digging can significantly improve yearlong food security, reduce weed growth and water loss by 80%, and decrease overall labor requirements in the long-term. 

I am going to attempt to describe the process of double digging

1. As you can see in the photo below, in small segments you first remove the top layer of the garden and move it to the side. You remove approximately the first 40 centimeters.

2. Then you dig down another approximately 30 centimeters, into the subsoil. You simply break up the soil with a hoe and loosen it, but don't remove the soil.

3. Then you add the soil amendments. In this case, ash, charcoal, and manure. Then you mix the soil amendments and the subsoil

4. Cover up the now amended subsoil with the top soil that you removed earlier. 

5. TAADAA! You can move on to the next section of the garden and repeat until you have 4 blisters per each hand!

Above you can see the ash, charcoal, and manure added to one of the sections of one of the garden beds.

The benefits of double digging are talked about by Stephanie Blennerhasset, who worked for a non-profit in Uganda creating these permagardens, "By breaking through the compacted subsoil layer and amending it, plant roots can grow down further, instead of growing out to the sides. When plant roots grow out to the sides, they compete with one another for the available nutrients in the topsoil layer. Consequently, plants are spaced farther apart. This compromises plant yields and increases the surface area of soil exposed to the sun (if beds are not mulched). When plant roots can grow down and deep into the subsoil layer, plants can be placed closer together, and yields can increase." (https://permaculturenews.org/2012/10/31/permagardens-in-practice-resilience-in-action-uganda-africa/)

Then after much labor all of the permagarden beds had been double dug and smoothed over!

6. Planting Seeds

The most important part of planting seeds in the permagarden method is the concept of triangular planting. Pictured below.

The TOPS manual describes the benefits of this method, "Bio-intensive planting uses a triangular approach when planting most crops in the garden, rather than the usual square or rectangular pattern. This allows a greater density of plants per square meter, which increases yields and creates a beneficial microclimate in the bed. Using a triangular spacing method, where the sides of the triangle are all the same length, means planting seeds or seedlings at their correct spacing at an angle from one another instead of in a straight row. Deep soil quality allows crops to be planted closer together. By using close, precise triangular spacing, plant density, plant health, and overall yield per square meter are maximized."

7. Mulching and Watering

As seen below, we covered all the beds with dry hay-ish mulch in order to protect the beds and the seeds from the sun and from rain erosion. When rain hits the ground it is moving very fast but this mulch slows it down so the soil can not be eroded. 

FINISHED

I wanted to finish by talking about how humbling this experience was. A lot of the time higher classes are very disassociated from their food source and the processes that go into producing it. It's almost like people think that they are "above" farming. One of the only things they need to continue their high class lives that are disassociated from the food system. It was interesting to see how these men and women commit their lives to extremely difficult labor in order to do one of the most sincere professions I think there is, assisting the earth to produce the food it was made to produce and nourishing the masses with it.  

menstrual pad presentation

Yesterday I went to a school in Rwanda's Eastern District call Nyamirama Secondary School. WD4H has been fostering a relationship between this school and San Marcos High school in Santa Barbara. We are currently in the beginning phases where students at San Marcos and Nyamirama are writing letters to each other. 

Yesterday while the WD4H team was at the school we decided that it would be a good idea to introduce the reusable menstrual pads that our co-ops are about to start producing. I created the powerpoint and gave the presentation (with a lot of translating from our business coordinator Judy). I am going to post the slides from the presentation to give you an idea of the issues these girls are facing and how we decided to address these issues with an auditorium of about 300 girls!

The girls loved the concept of these pads so much they were cheering throughout the presentation and by the end they had many questions about them. The questions included,

Q: Can the reusable pads be washed with the soap we use with normal clothes? We have been told that it is not good to use soap on private body parts.

          A: You don't need to worry about the affects of soap when washing these, after you rinse the soap out well, and put it in the sun to dry, all of the residual soap will be gone.

Q: Are these pads already on the market? Where can we find them? At what price?

          A: Unfortunately these pads are not yet on the market. But they will be soon.

Q: When a person has an overflow problem can it cause staining on the clothes?

          A: The pads can hold many extra absorbent tri-fold pads which prevent overflow and leaking. Also the pads have a plastic moisture barrier in the middle to prevent from liquid going through the pad, creating leaking and staining. 

Q: How many come in the package?

          A: We did not mention a specific number but said, The best part of these pads is that you can get as many pieces as you need which is different from disposable pads which you are obliged to buy the entire package of.

Q: Can you share it with your friends? 

          A: You can absolutely not share these pads. Very serious diseases are transmitted through blood and this is a dangerous way to potentially transmit diseases. You can not share underwear with each other, so similarly sharing these pads with each other is not okay either.

Q: Are they equal in size even though people are not equal in size?

          A: These pads are not being produced yet but we plan to make them in different sizes. Luckily we are making the pads so we can make them the size that works best for the women we are selling to.

Q: Could you give a few girls samples of the pads so they can they can try them and testify their quality? 

          A: Yes, that sounds like a good idea, we will talk about it further.

Q: Can you teach us how to make them?

          A: Potentially! 

Based on the last two questions, the WD4H team decided it would be good to have 3 girls that would serve as ambassadors at the school who could try the pads, discuss their goodness with the other girls, and be able to direct questions they have to WD4H. The girls picked the ambassadors in a type of election process. Different girls raised their hands and elected someone they thought would fill the role well. Then the nominated girls walked to the front. Once there were 5 girls at the front of the auditorium, they all turned their back to the crowd. The crowd then voted on who they thought would be best to be their elected ambassadors.

It was so cool to see how excited these girls were to be apart of this project! You could feel the energy in the room, they recognized how transformative this opportunity could be. They understood what a big step, potentially having access to menstrual care was. They all wanted to be involved! At the end of the presentation I asked the girls to raise their hand if they had ever had to miss school due to their periods. Many of them were nervous to raise their hand and had to be encouraged by us or their friends. I think this attests to the issue. In the end about 45% of the girls raised their hands. Showing that this is in fact an issue within this school, this community, and this society at large.

a co-op you say?

A cooperative can be a confusing concept especially because it is seen in many different forms. The definition from the International Co-op Federation is, "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise".

To put this into context I will define how exactly World Dance for Humanity’s co-ops are formed and function.

The 25 co-op’s that WD4H works with are located all over Rwanda. The individuals that came together at the very beginning to form each of these co-ops first had to decide that their current state of affaires as individuals was not sufficient, they saw a better, brighter future working as a group. They then traveled to our projector coordinator Justin, in the capital city, Kigali. They came to Justin to attest that they were worthy of gaining the financial, emotional, and educational support WD4H was offering to other communities of people like them. Justin then has the responsibility to decide if these communities are prepared for and will prosper from becoming a cooperative and gaining support from WD4H. 

Each of these co-ops was formed with different intentions and follows different paths of development. But each of them shares a similar beginning that is, each community member pays a small membership fee to be apart of the co-op, and by doing so gains equal benefits from the co-op. Once there is a legitimate community formed WD4H works to donate 1 goat per family to each of the member families of the co-op. 

Why Goats?

It is hard for people in the developed/privileged world to understand how something as simple as a goat can be of significant value to a community

1. Most of the communities we work with are predominately agricultural communities. Some are subsistence farmers that simply live off the land that they are farming. While others farm their land to not only feed themselves but also to sell for a profit, hence the donations of farmland WD4H donates to it’s communities.

2. The other interesting part of WD4H’s donations is that a majority of them do not stop giving back to the community, unlike shoes, soccer balls, etc. Goats are beneficial because they too give back. Not only do they reproduce, they produce milk, cheese, meat, and manure. Manure that is necessary for farming in this country. 

3. By donating 1 goat per family, WD4H is working to gain trust between them and the communities. This is a way of showing the co-op at the very beginning, that WD4H is with them and supports them.

3. Lastly, one of the most important parts of a donation like a goat is that it gives the family and the community a sense of worth. When you are a family that owns nothing of worth or nothing that produces worth something like a piece of livestock can provide pride that not only leads to improved outlook on life but is also a snowball effect. When you receive an asset like this you are inspired to create more positive change in your life and empowered to work harder to create this change. 

Once the co-op is created and they receive their goats the co-op begins to form their business plan. This is extremely different for each community WD4H works with, and the different parts of the process can take up to years. In the past two weeks I have visited four cooperatives.

Ubehezo

Justin, our project director in Rwanda, leading the meeting

The co-op book keepers, transcribing what was talked about at the meeting

This co-op is a farming community which has received cows and goats from WD4H. A few things I didn't realize before this meeting was that the co-op leaders, once their mandate is up, are up for re-election. What's interesting about these position is that people don't campaign for it but rather are chosen by the co-op members because of their genuine ability to fill the role. 

It was amazing to see how these co-op members were sitting and listening and accepting each others opinions on how to run the enterprise. There were obviously differing opinions but there was always respect and understanding and listening when it came to different ideas. These are people that previously, most likely had negative feelings of resentment and dis-trust towards each other, and were now sitting together in harmony working towards a better future together.

Cokawi

Justin teaching the co-op members about water flow and how it can be utilized to benefit crops rather than hurt them

The visit to this co-op (which is also a farming cooperative) was to talk to the members about a permagarden project that was introduced to a couple of our cooperatives last year.  The training that these initial cooperatives received was run by Tom Cole a Santa Barbara local and co-author of a manual on the benefits of these permagardens and how to create them. The manual was produced by TOPS which is described in the manual as, "The Technical and Operational Performance Support (TOPS) Program is the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of Food for Peace-funded learning mechanism that generates, captures, disseminates, and applies the highest-quality information, knowledge, and promising practices in development food assistance programming, to ensure that more communities and households benefit from the U.S. Government’s investment in fighting global hunger. The TOPS Program empowers food security implementers and the donor community to make lasting impact for millions of the world’s most vulnerable people" (http://www.fsnnetwork.org/sites/default/files/pg-technicalmanual-mono.pdf). 

This past week we have built a large permagarden at Cokawi. It was an extremely humbling experience, I will talk more about the goals and methods of the permagarden in-depth in a future post.

Abishyizehamwe

Judy, our business coordinator, checking out the oven

Judy, looking over the books of the co-ops business

Abishyizehamwe is a co-op comprised of a few hundred people. After years of planning this co-op opened a bakery with the help of donations from WD4H. It amazes me that something as simply as donations of a mixer, oven, and business training can lead to the stability of an entire community. This is not simply aid, this is development. These are people that previously would never have the ability to own their own business. These are people that previously received bread deliveries once a week because their community is so remote. Seeing the pride the co-op members had in their business, their success, and their new knowledge was inspiring.

Umunezero

Umunezero co-op president leading us to their farmland

Umunezero is a farming community that was initially formed by 40 women survivors of the genocide. They recieved a large parcel of land in this picturesque valley and have come together to benefit from it. The day we visited this co-op, we came with a nurse from Santa Barbara who wanted to learn how these women benefitted from owning a business together, both financially and emotionally. The testimonials we heard were incredible. 

One women who offered her opinions on the benefits of a co-op said, "Reaching out to people who work together is much easier than reaching out to individuals. In the regard to giving training to people, things like orange sweet potatoes (which include essential nutrients that are lacking in Rwandans diets), beet roots (Which also include vitamins that are lacking in diets), and other farming training. Working together is very important because when those services come they first reach out to people working together as it is not as easy to reach individuals. The other benefit of working together is that we are all gifted differently, our education is different, and our skills are different, but when we bring everything together it is very easy for us to be productive. So each individual bringing her individual skill set to share with another, that brings about a very significant result, rather than working as individuals. Another benefit of working together is that each and every member of the co-op brings back a portion of the seeds from their shared farmland and plants them at their home, for their own kitchen garden, to make sure there is no malnutrition in the home" This is a paraphrased quote as Justin, our project coordinator was translating her response after she had finished speaking. 

Once we had heard many testimonials of the benefits of a co-op and said goodbye to the ladies, the nurse that me and Justin had visited the co-op with voiced some of her concerns. She said that the women she is working with have a lot of distrust among them and the thought of them owning and running a farm or business together worries her. Justin assured her that you should not approach lack of trust head on the beginning of an endeavor like this. The people simply need to be put to work. When people are busy and working hard it is difficult for drama and distrust to grow. Simultaneously, as the enterprise grows and the members work together over time, they see that they are all putting in equal energy and are getting equal benefits. This natural process will work to solve the problem of lack of trust on it's own.

Umunezero co-op members saying BYE!

The most interesting part of these communities to me is that people that were extremely desolate and lonely to begin with made the leap in faith to risk what they did have to put their efforts together in order to (hopefully) become more successful in the long run. 

This is curious when you look at Rwanda’s history. Rwanda’s traumatic and horrific past was a culmination of divisions between ethnic groups. These groups had extreme racial biases against each other and this caused them to not believe one group was worthy of living. Fast forward a little over 20 years later and you see these divisions evaporating and regrowing into blossoming cooperatives. Co-ops that trust each other enough to know that everyone is putting in equal inputs (cooperative entrance fee, and manual labor and time for the enterprise) and are receiving equal outputs (dividends from the cooperative farmland and/or business). 

This is a miracle turn of events. The growth of these communities is not only in their reconciliation but in their education towards leadership, agricultural, and business training. The only way that these co-op businesses can exist as functioning bodies is if they have a functioning understanding of how a business works. How supply and demands are related, how costs affect their profits, how to market affectively, how to take profits and divide them equally among the community, etc. I will talk more about how we train cooperatives to obtain and apply these skills in a future post.

Another beneficial part of this project is that we are working with the first generation of children that are growing up in these cohesive, functioning community. They are internalizing what they see, hear, and learn. They are internalizing not only how a community can work together but how the business should work in order to be the most productive to the community. 

In the United States I see a lot of greed and selfishness when I look to businesses, this greed is extremely troubling especially when I look to see the inequality between executives pay and lower ranking employees pay. I am so inspired when I look to these cooperatives that are not individuals looking for individual benefits, but groups looking to sustain the life of one another.

reusable menstrual pads??

World Dance for Humanity was looking at different ways to offer the women we work with a way to deal with their periods. Most of them are currently using old fabrics/rags that are extremely ineffective. We had our women try two different options, one being the reusable flannel menstrual pad by Days for Girls and the other being a disposable pad made by (Sustainable Health Enterprises) that is produced with banana leaves. Our women concluded the reusable ones are best fit for their lifestyles. They proved to be more absorbant and more successful at staying in place because they feature a button on the wings. The wings can then fold over the underwear and be snapped in place so they won't move. When we showed this feature to our women they screamed, they had never seen something that was so simply effective.  

"Days for Girls" has created an invention, reusable flannel menstrual pads. They now allow different groups/organizations/individuals to make them all over the world as long as they follow their original template for the pads. These reusable menstrual pads have reached over 1 million girls in 110 countries.

How it works, 

The design Days for Girls created is a pad made of flannel on the top and bottom with a plastic liner on the inside. The plastic liner allows for no leaking. On the top of the menstrual pad, there is holder parts that allows for you to put more pieces of the flannel in the pad according to your needs. And a button latch that goes around your underwear to keep the pad in place.  It may be simple, but the best things are.

Another issue these pads address is the social taboos on the subject. In regards to women not feeling comfortable hanging their blood stained rags out to dry. Not allowing the fabrics to fully dry allows for bacteria and diseases to be harbored in the fabric, bacteria easily grows in moist areas and being able to hang them in the sun allows for existing bacteria to die.

But, perhaps the largest issue at hand is that girls, without a functional option for their periods, are missing school. This is holding them back compared to their male counterparts. While simultaneously keeping concepts of shame present and an understanding that they are less capable than males. It goes without saying that remaining in school and getting an education is vital for these girls. Not only are girls missing school but they are facing shame and ridicule if and when they miss school or if they leak at school because of their current ineffective menstruation rags.

Image/Stats taken from Days for Girls website

It is worth noting that some of these girls do have the funds to afford disposable menstrual pads. But have to rely on their parents or boyfriends in order to afford them. This is simply an ineffective solution to the problem at hand. With the reusable menstrual pads they will pay a small amount for their menstruation needs one time, with these pads lasting approximately three years. The disposable pads are not a solution to dealing with the issue at large, the lack of conversation. 

Lack of conversation on the issue is leading to girls 

1. Face periods on their own, via staying home from school, or being ridiculed at school

2. Being held back compared to their male counterparts, perpetuating notions of incapability compared to males

3. Not being active and confident they will not leak. These pads lead to building confidence in girls by allowing them to be comfortable with their bodies and not be ashamed or embarrassed of their periods

We wanted to find a solution, with a desire to get as many women these reusable menstrual pads as possible.

We sent four women from four different cooperatives, that are located all over Rwanda, to a Days for Girls convention in Uganda. This 3 day convention taught them how to sew these pads, how to sell and market them, and how to break social norms and have the conversation about periods and work to take steps to fixing this problem. The women are back from the convention and teaching other women in their communities everything they have learned! Now the cooperatives are working to get the supplies to produce these pads.

My current project is to create a presentation to show to high school age girls in Rwanda that will convince them to buy these menstrual pads. They will be sold for a very low price and can last up to 3 years. World Dance for Humanity is currently look for donations to subsidize the fabrics, thread, plastic liners, and buttons for these pads so they can be given away and sold for cheaper. The price for the reusable pad on the chart is just an estimate as our cooperatives still don't know how much they will be to produce. If this project interests you and you would like to donate please visit worlddanceforhumanity.org

This project is a huge step forward compared to either using ineffective rags, or paying an unattainable price for disposable pads. But the biggest feat is being able to break social taboos and talk about this issue plaguing women's life's, girl's educations, and both of their concepts of themselves and their bodies. 

confessions of an economic hitman

Do you ever find a book that changes your perception of reality so dramatically that you wish you could force people to read it? "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" by John Perkins is that for me. Written by a man that was an economic hitman for most of his professional career, but after crippling guilt he had to come clean about the evil american/developed world empire that he was assisting through his work.

John concisely states the issue at hand and the book as a whole in an interview, "Economic hitmen, when I was playing that game, what we were really doing was we were exploiting 3rd world countries, economically developing countries. Creating huge amounts of debt (via loans) for those countries using that debt (those loans) to hire our own corporations to build big infrastructure projects in those countries, so the money never went to those countries it went to our companies. These projects, in addition to making profits for our own companies would help a few wealthy families in that country who own the industries, the commercial establishments, but not the majority of the people they'd be left holding a huge debt that would take away from their education funds, healthcare, and other social services and in the end we would go back and say hey since you can't repay your debts sell your oil or some other resource for real cheap to our corporations or privatize your electric utilities, your water and sewage systems, all of your publicly owned businesses sell them to our big corporations". 

John goes on to talk about how this system has created a global economic failure, an economy that is based on "debt, fear, militarization, and the destruction of resources" 

The reason I am including this reading suggestion in this blog is because of the drastic shift it has caused in my understanding of the developed world and more specifically The United States economic exploitation of developing countries.

I am curious to be in Rwanda and learn about well educated peoples understanding of this system, and less educated understanding of the developed world in general. I also want to understand how the people that the non-profit I work for interpret the donations they are receiving and the place and people it is coming from. While simultaneously looking at the vast amount of inequality these people face not only on the global scale but within their own country as well. I am also curious to see how Rwanda specifically deals with outside influences on their development. Influences with both positive and negative intentions.

I HIGHLY recommend reading this book or if anything, here is a link to a Ted Talk of the author highlighting his work as an economic hit man, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btF6nKHo2i0. Here is the authors website so you can learn more about his story and mission, https://johnperkins.org/. 

what? why?

Welcome!

I wanted to begin by introducing myself, I am a third year global studies major with a focus in non-profit humanitarian work. This is my academic/field notes blog.

During this spring semester I am going to Rwanda, where I will be following the internship that I have had for over a year to the source of our efforts. The organization that I work for is call World Dance for Humanity (http://worlddanceforhumanity.org/) (WD4H). WD4H is a Santa Barbara based non-profit supporting sustainable, grassroots development projects in rural Rwanda.

Through this blog I also hope to raise the consciousness of my friends, family, and members of the 1st world to the struggles of the majority of the rest of the world. I also hope that writing in this form will allow me to digest the things I am learning and be able to express them in a concise way.

I am going to begin by explaining what exactly WD4H does.

Our mission is to provide help and hope to 25 Rwandan communities struggling to survive and create a sustainable livelihood for themselves. These communities are organized in government-sanctioned cooperatives. A cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise. Many of these co-ops are made up of groups of people that share a common theme: widows, orphans, former sex-workers, unwed mothers, people with HIV/AIDS, impoverished farmers, and members of previously warring ethnic groups – all of whom now depend on each other to survive.

The key to these ventures is that the ideas and plans comes from the co-op members themselves. 

 Our different prongs of assistance include:

1. Annual student stipends for 200 students (primary school, secondary school, and college)
2. Goats, full-grown pregnant cows, chickens, and pigs
3. Parcels of farmland
4. Training in business, agriculture, leadership, and cooperative management
5. Funding for community-run businesses, including 4 reusable menstrual pad businesses, 3 sewing businesses, 3 bakeries, a ventilation brick business, 2 event rental businesses, a café, and a fish farming project
6. Health insurance for 600 people each year who can’t afford the $4 annual fee
7. Mattresses for people sleeping on the ground; solar lights for people with no electricity

I don't want to sound like a brochure for WD4H but I do want to display the size and scope of our efforts and most importantly how WD4H goes about this type of work much differently compared to other non-profits. Our holistic approach allows us to aid in the development of every part of these peoples' lives. We work from the inside out, so that these cooperatives truly feel they OWN these projects, and the changes happening in their lives. As opposed to how most NGO's work, where project ideas and concepts are thought up  by a board of privileged people in a far away land, with no concept of what the people they are servicing need. 

WD4H is also a breed of it’s own because our main non-physical goal is to help the people we work with to reimagine their own existence. Instilling in them that they do have the capability to recover, grow, and flourish.

As for my role in all of this, here are a couple of things that I want to focus on during my trip:

1. How non-profits decide where to allocate funds (When everyone is struggling in their own right, how do you decide who needs what the most)
2. How the people receiving aid view the countries and people they are receiving these things from and how they view the inequality in the world in general
3. How these cooperatives created such a strong sense of community in a country still working to rebuild itself after the 1994 Genocide
4. The environmental and economic impacts of WD4H's new permagarden project
5. The social impacts and health impacts of a reusable menstrual pad project, and it's effect  on the taboo of menstruation in Rwandan culture (I will talk about this project more extensively in a future post)

I want to finish by saying thanks for sticking with me and now that we have a base for what WD4H does in Rwanda and what my purpose there will be, I'm really excited to share everything :) My hope in this blog is that through my experiences you can gain some insight into the struggles and growth of the rest of the world!

- Grace