Education Must Matter

My childhood was filled three important things: sports, family, and “playing” school.  

As an educator for over 30 years, my father frequently brought my brother and I to his summer school sessions at large, expansive high schools in Denver. This was my dream world. I would sometimes pack my stuffed animals, and with my brother, arrange them in desks so I could teach them whatever lesson I felt was important for the day.

My allure to school was rooted in something far more than new school supplies or the excitement of a unique lesson; I loved school (real, or otherwise) because always, I have appreciated learning, and understanding knowledge in new, innovative ways. I was fortunate enough to attend schools that encouraged me to ask questions, always considering why I think the way I do.

This drive for education, since I was young, has fueled my passion for all people experiencing and having the same right to an open, accessible, and meaningful learning experience.

At The Women’s Bakery, education is the foundation for all that we do. We believe that a foundational education, one that can be applied in real, practical ways, can lend opportunities for gainful, sustainable employment, and opportunities for health. We provide all training groups with 150+ hours of lessons that are especially tailored for their communities and backgrounds. Intentionally, we design and deliver lessons that provide new skill-sets that are needed, applicable, and useful – whether a woman works in a bakery, launches her own business elsewhere, or seeks regular employment in any field.

The promise of education isn’t enough; in Rwanda, even for secondary students who can and do complete their high school diploma (only about 14% of those enrolled), the job market is severely saturated such that job acquisition becomes a major barrier for income generation. Thus, education must matter – it must mean something.

Our curriculum package pulls content from a variety of areas to create distinctive modules of content: nutrition, life skills, business skills, and bakery-specific expertise. Each lesson has a subset of sessions that get even more specific, ranging from sessions on how to use substitutions in recipe adjustments and how to complete a sales pitch for a bread product.

We've been revamping this curriculum this year, accounting for our learnings at existing bakeries, and ensuring that each part of our sessions are culturally appropriate, for example, updating our vocabulary terms so that the high-level business terms are articulate for those who may have no previous business experience. The revamp has been a way for us to ensure that our pedagogy is experiential focused, so that TWB students can learn theoretically and by hand - practical learning, we have found, is most effective - when providing business and bakery education.

When TWB graduates receive their certificate, they have also completed a post-test, recognizing that they have experienced knowledge gain, and more importantly, they have skills that are applicable to future opportunities. Graduation is a big deal for our team at TWB; it is the launching pad for a future bakery, but also, a celebration of students – who may have never attended or completed school before – and now, can enter the world, completing coursework that matters.

“Success” at TWB looks a lot of different ways: a profitable bakery, income generation, and health opportunities for women; these are just some of the measurements we use to track what is working – and what is not. Educational excellence continues to be one of our most important, too, knowing that a meaningful education is irrevocable – no one can take that away.

That is the essence of us, TWB, as we envision a future of autonomous women, accessing social mobility for entire households, one bakery at a time.

Leadership & Self-Confidence

As a social enterprise, TWB is an organization where our staff can learn and experience different skill-sets. One of the skills acquired at TWB is strong leadership. Leadership can look like a lot of different things, but I know for certain that it has improved my self-confidence, more than anything. Having a new perspective and attitude allows me to be positive, hold realistic views of myself, and to be mindful of our mission and women, no matter what happens. Too often, we imagine leadership to be one that improves the people around us, but leadership improves our own selves, too.

Leadership – and thus, self-confidence is not only something experienced by our staff. It’s happening with the women who work in our bakeries, as well.

Faith, who is a notable female leader within her community, has demonstrated immense leadership ability and growth while I have worked with her. She is our internal accountant at TWB, and helps us manage daily production and sales reporting. Recently, at a church event, Faith noted that it was at TWB where her leadership skills developed most. With a healthy and practical approach to decision-making, she is learning to lead our team of women effectively – and with confidence. Now, Faith has an expressed desire to even become a pastor within her community, something that could only be accomplished if she believed in herself. She does.

Leadership also involves the ability to believe in existing, innate skill-sets. One of our TWB employees, Jeanne D’Arc, is not able to read or write. Instead of letting this sideline her from opportunities to lead in her community, she is a visible advocate for herself, her family, and TWB where she lives. Inability has not stopped her – it’s propelled her.

Together, leadership and self-confidence are powerful. They are outcomes from a bakery that is producing bread – and also, a dynamite, women-led work-force. That’s #breadpower.