I Need You to Eat, Please!

I grew up in a community whereby eating was always about quantity and not the variety - eating one meal a day is not a problem as long as you get a big full plate. Well, that is fine but what does that plate contain? Only the carbohydrates. My community is very rich in locally grown fruits and vegetables but I learned growing up that rice, beans, potatoes are enough even if you eat primarily those for year and years.

My culture has also taught me that it is a taboo to eat on the street, and I obey this somehow conservative culture. The Kinyarwanda idiom “Imfura zirannywa nti zirya” means that respectful people do not eat but rather they drink. This has affected how I felt about nutrition.

This year, however, I read the curriculum and attended all the trainings that TWB offers and loved one of the key components of the TWB training program; Nutrition. You cannot bake, you cannot do business, you cannot be social if you are not healthy. You cannot be healthy if you do not eat healthy food that is highly nutritious.

“Our body needs a variety of carbohydrates, proteins, fruits and vegetables for our wellbeing.” I learned this during the TWB nutrition training. I had learned about nutrition, read books about nutrition like “Croquer la Vie, l’Art de Vivre” and many others, but I had never put much effort into practicing what I’d learned until someone from the TWB team said, “I need you to eat, please.”

Now that the TWB training with the Remera women is almost at its end, there is one big lesson I have learned from the training, “We become what we eat”. 

I thank the TWB team that I joined recently and am very proud because not only am I helping to drive the TWB mission and grow professionally, but am also growing personally – including learning how to eat healthier.

Thank you, thank you - I mean thank you Markey for the nutrition lesson you taught me in a second by just saying; “I need you to eat, please!!!”