It's been quite a while since we updated our blog and there is much to tell you about this little initiative that just keeps growing and gaining traction.
Our February trip seems so long ago.
A brief recap...
Beatrice's house was rebuilt and the community volunteers were kind enough to wait for us before the finishing touches.
As these homes are a combination of wood and a mud/aggregate/cement mixture, we were able to help out with the 'mud' flinging that fills the spaces between the wood. It was great fun, very cathartic, and not nearly as easy as it first looked.
With Paul, our co-founder, Beatrice and Andrew, the leader of The Porters Club of farmers, all standing inside Beatrice's unfinished house.
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| A volunteer smooths the 'mud' |
We are excited to visit Beatrice and her children living in their new home when we return in October.
We also had a chance to be present for another round of sheep purchase and delivery, this time beginning with the first of the Amizero Group of farmers.
It was a lovely surprise to see that some of the recipients were the same people we met when we stayed over-night at a "traditional village', Iby'lwacu almost 2 years ago. In fact, Jeff had drummed and I did some dancing!
Andrew, the leader of The Porters Club of farmers addressed concerns the farmers had that they would soon have more sheep than they could look after, and wanted to get on with the last part of their commitment to the project, passing on a sheep to other Rwandan farmers from a different cooperative.
Logistics such as the great walking distances between the various farming groups made it difficult to easily pay forward the sheep owed to the project on an individual basis. It would also be more difficult to keep track of the growing number of sheep and to tag them, as well as to have them examined by a vet.
We would need a place to keep the sheep until the transfers could take place.
And so our project begins another initiative.
Thanks to the incredible generosity of a small handful of supporters who will be joining us on a trip to Rwanda/Tanzania in October, we are in the process of negotiating a 5 year lease on a lovely little piece of land, in the heart of the farming community, next to the Iby'lwacu Village, very near a small, spring-fed lake where women and children come to fill their gerry cans with water.
The lease contract is being prepared now, in Knyarwanda of course, so we will have to wait for the translation to be forwarded to us.
Once again, we cannot thank Paul, our co-founder, enough for all his commitment to this amazing little endeavour. It's really his efforts, along with the Rwandan farmers, that make this all possible.
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| standing on our land with Iby l'wacu Village in the distance |
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| the spring-fed lake just beside our land |
I am happy to report that thanks to all these wonderful women, we raised just under $1,000. and 150 pairs of running shoes!
