Education as Access & Power

At TWB, educational programming and training is at the forefront of our model. We don’t just employ any woman in our bakeries but rather those who have completed our intensive 200+ hour (now accredited) technical and vocational educational training program.

Education is access: access to a better income, a better job, a better life but most importantly, access to choices. The women we train, support and employ have a choice, every day, to come to work at TWB. To (oftentimes) wake up before the sun and work well into the afternoon, creating unique, healthy products for their communities, pushing through the lows of business and celebrating the highs. Education is power.

And you know what else is powerful? Witnessing our women transform from students to teachers and empowering a new group of women.

Enter Liziki. This woman is the definition of a rockstar. She has been with TWB since the beginning (2015) and works as a professional baker at the Kigali Flagship. She can bust out an order of 300+ sweet potato rolls in a morning, keep everyone on track to meet production goals and is just an amazing human being, mother, and friend. When our newest bakery, Gicumbi, was struggling with workflows, I had an idea: what if Liziki spent a few days with our newest employees and taught them her tips and tricks? The team at TWB has been experimenting with sending our more experienced women to train new, less experienced groups and the results had been positive.  

Liziki spent three full days at our Gicumbi bakery leading, teaching and demonstrating. It was inspiring to see her in her element and to see how much respect the Gicumbi women had for her. From my corner office, I could overhear them asking her questions from when to rotate trays in the oven, to what the ideal rising time was, to how to work faster. Prior to Liziki’s arrival, the production team has been finishing baking around 2PM, which caused them to miss market/daylight sales opportunities. After one day of Liziki’s expertise, they were cranking out 15 kilograms of bread before noon! Not only was she empowering the women, she was empowered as, now, a trainer.

As if I wasn’t already beaming with pride, for Liziki and our Gicumbi group, on her last day, Liziki gave a powerful speech to the women. Her exact words were,

“Sometimes the Kigali group, we had to wake up early and come to work and sometimes we stayed late but it didn’t matter because we we’re so proud of what we were doing and we wanted to achieve something in our lives. We (the Kigali group) are where we are now because of TWB and our hard work. Some days will be hard but you must have confidence, work hard, never give up and be proud of what you are doing. This is how you will grow and achieve more.”

I couldn’t stop beaming (crying) with pride and joy: for Liziki, for our Kigali women, for our Gicumbi women, for ALL the women TWB has the privilege of working with and for our work-our gritty, innovative and dedicated work. It truly is impacting lives and that is #breadpower.

Education Never Ends

At TWB’s Kigali Bakery, we have been conducting Nutrition Extension lessons for the last nine weeks with TWB women that work at the bakery.

Each lesson (totaling one hour) occurred once a week, covering the importance of balanced diet, malnutrition status in Rwanda, breastfeeding, child development, and women’s health. At the end of each lesson, the women shared a nutritious meal and reflected on the experience of learning and working together.

After the final lesson, I, as the training manager, held an informational dialogue to collect feedback from the women about their experience with TWB’s pilot nutrition extension program.

Nearly all participants commented on the acquired understanding of Rwanda’s 1,000 Days Campaign. One participant spoke proudly, “I never knew what the 1,000 days campaign in Rwanda meant,” but after the training, “I know the 1,000 days is about healthy nutrition from when a mother knows she is pregnant until a child is 2 years old of age.”

Another participant said that thought she had forgotten most of the nutrition lessons she had in the first training (three years ago), the Nutrition Extension Program was a good refresher for the content.

“I had forgotten most of the things we had learned before, but this lesson extension came as a reminder and refresher, I am going to go back and really put in practice what I learned, especially breastfeeding.”

At TWB, we believe that education is an endless process. We always learn to improve and that is why we developed the Nutrition Extension in the first place: so that we can remind our women that their and their child’s health matter.  

Education never ends; we will continue to educate TWB women and the community throughout Rwanda on the importance of healthy nutrition for individuals, and for families. 

#breadpower #nutritiousanddelicious #togetherwerise

BOM Training Program

Aside from eating all my favorite foods (re: cheese), indulging in everything Christmas, and reconnecting with friends at 10,000 feet, my most recent trip home included time in TWB’s Denver office with my badass colleague, Heather, TWB’s Director of Education and Advocacy. With the goal of getting our Rwandan bakeries to profitability in 2018, Heather designed and composed a 75-hour, Bakery Operations Manager Training Program and a Bakery Operations Manager Manual.

See what I mean? She’s a beast.

I had the opportunity to sit down with her for three intensive days to learn the methodology behind this robust curriculum and discuss a timeline for implementation. One of the coolest parts of my job is working with our Bakery Operations Managers or BOMs.

They are, literally, the bread and (healthy) butter of TWB’s bakeries. They are the leaders responsible for day-to-day operations, on-the-ground problem solving and record keeping. But they aren’t just managers. They serve as leaders, counselors and mentors to the employees in the bakery. They have the ability to listen and moderate social, economical and health issues that many of the women we work with face. They also collaborate with TWB management to report monthly bakery statistics such as sales, loss and profit. They really do it all.

The BOM Training Program will equip our current and future BOMs to sharpen their management skills, master the ins and outs of a TWB bakery, analyze conflict resolution strategies and learn how to lead- with passion, grit and humility. With a mix of theoretical and practical lessons, BOMs will learn every aspect of managing a bakery, including baking, inventory, production, sales, marketing, human resources and tools for accounting. This training program has the ability to take TWB bakeries to the next level- profitability. That’s #breadpower.   

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.

What Do We Do With the Data?

Behind the scenes at The Women’s Bakery, we have been working hard to collect data to help inform and grow our programming.

One of the main monitoring and evaluation tools we use is a baseline survey, which is taken at the beginning of training, six months after, and each year subsequently. It is lengthy and includes many questions that can help us identify changes in livelihood including topic areas regarding health, nutrition, income, education, expenditure, and self-confidence.

This baseline has been updated and enhanced six times this year with help and input from a variety of interns, friends, and professionals.

Over the course of the past two years, the data collected has helped us to improve our programming. For instance, we anticipated that women working in the bakery for six months or more would choose to use their income to pay for national health insurance, Mutuelle. We were wrong. We reacted by starting to include health insurance for the women and their families as a benefit to their employment at the bakery.

Additionally, we anticipated women would feel confident in having the right knowledge and increased spending power to purchase more nutritious food. We were wrong. We reacted by creating an eight-part curriculum series to be taught over a group lunches at the bakeries. One lesson per week for eight weeks.

We are learning from our mistakes and helping to grow our programs as we go. While data collection and analysis takes a long time, it is crucial for our success.

Kagina & AsOne Ministries

Tucked into Rwanda’s rolling hills, Kagina is a small town that feels worlds away from the bustling city of Kigali. However, the city is only a forty-five minute drive away. Kagina is also home to The Women’s Bakery newest project, a partnership with AsOne, a ministry that now supports a bakery training in the small town center. The church organization has partnered with TWB to train five women to run and work in the local bakery, baking and selling bread for their local area.

It’s a diverse group of women; they range in age, and some can read, write and speak English, while others are illiterate. They have worked with the church in the past and are excited and committed to this new opportunity. Training is a family affair; two of the women bring their children, one a newborn and the other an active toddler, and another is expecting.

As an intern with TWB, experiencing the AsOne Bakery training was one of the most valuable experiences I had while in Rwanda. I was able to see the very beginnings of the project and training, and when I returned a week later, it was so exciting to see the progress! While seeing the newly installed sink was exciting, I was so impressed to see how engaged and more confident the women were with the lessons, taking turns drawing on the whiteboard what they believe is the most nutritious meal. They discussed food pyramids, portion sizes and balanced meals.

These five ladies will spend the next month with Aime and Denyse, our intrepid trainers, learning about nutrition, baking, and business before officially opening their doors. In a few weeks, they will begin to sell bread locally and deliver to customers and small businesses in nearby towns.

They join three other active TWB projects in Remera, Ndera and Bumba.

Although my internship with TWB is ending, I’m excited to come back and visit the AsOne Bakery in the future for some bread and tea.

#bakebreadtogether #breadpower

#bakebreadtogether #breadpower

TWB A&M & "Rise"

On April 10-11, 2017, The Women’s Bakery Texas A&M hosted our first event on campus, “Rise.”

The Women’s Bakery Texas A&M is the first campus chapter for The Women’s Bakery. Dedicated to educating students about women’s empowerment, The Women’s Bakery Texas A&M is made up of 50 students with a passion for social enterprise and change.

Over the past semester, our organization has been working tirelessly to host a program that would have wide impact on our university. I am happy to report that we accomplished and exceeded our expectations.

On the first night of “Rise,” we screened the movie “Girl Rising,” a documentary which details the lives of nine girls in developing countries and their quest for an education. 

The next evening, we facilitated open dialogue with the same attendees. The conversation was very interesting because everyone had been touched in some way by the stories of the girls in the film. Then, we heard from speakers over a wide range of topics.

The Women’s Bakery’s very own Heather Newell spoke about TWB and ways that we could get involved. Janet Marcantonio, TWBAM’s faculty advisor, spoke on her time with the Peace Corps. Finally, Dr. Henry Musoma, of the Mays Business School at Texas A&M, spoke about the influential women in his life and the way that women positively impact society today.

At one point in his presentation, Dr. Musoma asked his daughter to come up to the front. We were excited to listen to what she had to say, as she had attended the film screening the evening before. When asked about how the film impacted her life, Dr. Musoma’s 11-year-old daughter told our audience that it “changed her life.” She went on to speak about the privilege that we have as university students, and how we need to appreciate what we have been given.

As a campus engagement officer of TWBAM, I can confidently say that we accomplished our mission. We were able to touch the lives of several community members, including an eleven-year-old girl, and inspire them to make a difference in the world around us. I’ve seen the impact that The Women’s Bakery has had in the last two semesters at Texas A&M. Our membership continues to grow as people hear the message and mission of this organization.

At Texas A&M University, we value service in every aspect of what we do. It is not a surprise that TWBAM has been well received given the nature of the organization. What has been a surprise however, is seeing the life change that has taken place in people who have heard our message. I have had the opportunity to personally witness student’s eyes light up when they hear about the wonderful things that The Women’s Bakery is able to do in Rwanda and Tanzania.

I am proud to be involved with an organization that is truly changing the world. With one major event in the books, I cannot wait to see where TWBAM goes in the future.

About the Author: Ashlie James is a junior, agriculture communications and journalism major from The Woodlands, TX. She is also a Campus Engagement Officer for The Women’s Bakery Texas A&M.

Cycling for Change

On March 11, over 30 cyclists set off from Byumba in Northern Rwanda on a 70km bike ride to Rwanda’s capital city Kigali.

Aside from the oddity of seeing so many amateur cyclists flying down the narrow s-curve roads at once, the group stood out because almost every rider was female. In Rwanda, this is not typical. Though some girls do learn to ride bicycles as children and there are some communities where it is less unusual to spot a woman pedaling a bike, the general trend is that older girls and women do not ride bikes. This is based on myths surrounding the ill health effects cycling has on a woman and stereotypes about the sex drive of girls/women who ride bikes.

The ride was hosted by current Peace Corps Volunteers as part of the Let Girls Ride Campaign, and was meant to challenge these ideas – not only through the visual of 30+ women rode proudly throughout the countryside, but also through education. The group took three stops in community centers to teach lessons on girls’ empowerment, gender equality, and challenging myths and stereotypes about women cycling.

The Women’s Bakery was honored to participate in this event, as well as to be chosen as the recipient of funds raised during the Let Girls Ride Campaign. Connecting bicycling directly with our work in Rwanda, The Women’s Bakery has long dreamed of teaching our women in the bakery to ride bicycles which they can then use for more efficient bread deliveries.

Currently, most deliveries are made on foot and the bread is carried by hand in baskets or buckets. With a bicycle and custom designed bread box attached to the back, more bread can be delivered faster and further!

In the coming weeks, the Remera Bakery group will start bicycling lessons on the new delivery bike that was given to them at the end of the Let Girls Ride event. Our hope is that over time some of the women will embrace cycling, empowering themselves, growing their business, and challenging stereotypes.

#letgirlsride #cyclingforchange #womenonbikes #breadbike

Women Can!

As in many other countries, Rwanda celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8th.

This year’s theme was “Women in the Changing World of Work”.

The current workplace (globally) is changing each day, with significant implications for women. If they don’t have potential support they will be staying behind men, especially in job markets. Many women are in the informal economy and domestic work, and are concentrated in lower-paid, lower-skill occupations with little or no social protection.

The Women’s Bakery is playing a vital role in creating jobs opportunities for women and empowering them, especially for those who are from underprivileged families. At TWB, these trained women get permanent jobs and participate in family and country development.

Women can change the world once they have means. Women can do everything men can do. Women have changed their mindset and are keen to contribute to development and making changes in their communities.  

At TWB we have started inspiring other women by using a bike in our sales; a woman will be riding and selling along the way.

In Rwanda, riding bikes is traditionally only done by boys and men, due to stereotypes and myths about the effects bicycle riding has on a girl’s virginity or a woman’s sex drive.

We believe that teaching women to ride bikes and to use them for the development of their business will empower other women who are still shy to try to do something different. We believe in women’s capabilities. We believe in empowerment for all. 

#breadpower #womencan #womensempowerment

Piloting TWB in the Refugee Community

Since I was young, I have been both passionate and curious about the process of adapting cultural experiences into new environments. This doesn’t always necessitate transcontinental travel – sometimes our most profound cross-cultural experiences happen in the migration between neighborhoods, schools, churches and from varying social, familial, food, educational, and work experiences.

TWB’s organization in Rwanda incorporates cross-cultural engagement daily as our team partners with Rwandans to ensure sound production, sales, and growth.

Since October, TWB has worked closely with the African Community Center in Denver as we have begun to expand our programming to the U.S. We are currently piloting a training program with seven refugee women to better understand how our work is both relevant and needed in the context of the U.S.

Per a state-issued report on foreign born residents, 2,199 refugees were resettled in Colorado in 2013, mostly from East Asian countries.[1] Currently, Over 1/6 of Denver’s population is considered either refugee or immigrant. In response to a growing need, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) launched operations in Denver to help provide resettlement and integration services for new individuals to the United States – especially those coming from crisis.

Currently, with ACC, our training has been tailored for refugee-specific participants. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a refugee is a person, “who has left her country of origin and is unable to or unwilling to return” for a fear of persecution. ACC has focused on this population as international conflict has grown across the world in the past decade and as more refugees have fled to safety in the U.S.

While ACC can aid in the services necessary for community establishment (housing, cultural orientation, school enrollment, etc.), the resettlement agency also looks to partner with other non-governmental organizations to assist with additional employment, education, and resource-based support for new community members.

TWB is enthusiastic and ready to fill this demand for partnership; our hope is that new TWB programming can help in this process, providing additional educational, training and work-readiness opportunities for refugees in Colorado, especially women.

In our pilot program, TWB trains a small women’s group for two hours each week. Recipe reading, budgeting, practical baking skills, nutrition education, and tips for grocery shopping in the U.S. are some topics we included in this pilot program. One of our participants recently noted that her class with TWB has been her “favorite” since taking part in ACC programming. Additionally, we have had the opportunity to introduce participants to our dry bread mix products as a potential future market opportunity for income generation.

Our class has included women from Burma, Somalia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Our pilot will end this month, but TWB & ACC will be continuing discussions about an on-going partnership with a larger, broader, and bolder vision of empowering women from an array of cultural backgrounds. If you are interested in learning more about our work in Denver, follow our social media networks. You can contribute to our work by visiting our donation page at www.womensbakery.com/donate.

[1]https://www.denvergov.org/content/dam/denvergov/Portals/643/documents/CommunitySupport/ImmRef_Assessment.pdf

Third Time's A Charm

On Tuesday our Training Facilitators, Aime and Denyse, rolled (no pun intended) into training at the Togetherness Co-op in Ndera, Gasabo District (about 45 minutes outside Kigali). Thanks to the sponsorship of our hiring partner African Road, 12 women and 4 men will be trained over the next few months. This marks our third official training in Rwanda!

Over the last year our team has developed a thorough, practical, and fun curriculum for groups. Through our training, Aime and Denyse are inspiring students to be active participants in creating economic opportunity for themselves and their families.

TWB’s complete training package is 153 hours and includes personal development, women’s empowerment, marketing, sales, nutrition, hygiene, accounting, inventory, baking practical lessons and much more! We work with each hiring partner to choose the appropriate lessons and timeline for their group.

In Remera (1st training) we delivered the full 153 hours. In Bumba (2nd training) we delivered 78 hours. And, in Ndera (3rd training) we will deliver 123 hours. Some of the factors that help determine the training schedule include past business training, overall baking experience, levels of education, and available time.

Creating a training schedule can sometimes be a challenge as many participants are primary caretakers in their home and have many responsibilities. Depending on the group, we plan to conduct training 2-4 days per week between 4-8 hours a day. The more condensed the training program, the more cost effective it is. In the case of Ndera, will be training 4 days per week, 7 hours a day. Participants are scheduled to graduate from our program and enter into business launch by the end of January.

We look forward to the next few months!

Inspiration.

This blog was written by one of TWB's first and most committed supporters, Kathryn Melton. Kathryn, of Charlotte, North Carolina, is a P.A. (Physician's Assistant) at one of largest physician's group in the Charlotte, NC region. She has been friends for numerous years with TWB Founder & Co-Director, Markey Culver, especially while at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. Inspired by TWB, Kathryn hosted an Inspired Meal late this summer and continues to advocate for our work regularly. #sharetheloaf #bakebreadtogether

I first learned about The Women’s Bakery right around the time it started.

My friend, Markey, had been working in Rwanda with the U.S. Peace Corps and was trying to figure out a way to improve the nutrition of the community she was working with. She also recognized the financial struggles of those around her.

Before Markey moved to Rwanda in the first place, we were both living in St. Louis, Missouri and I remember a coffee date that involved talking deeply about Markey’s hopes and fears for her time abroad in East Africa.

How was she going to help? What was she going to bring to her community?

I don’t think she could have even imagined her life and the fulfillment of anything like TWB before she got there. Life moves us in funny ways.

The Women’s Bakery inspires me.

I truly believe that communities thrive when women are involved and successful. Women work to bring people together and are able to catalyze the communities they live in. In addition to the nutritional support the bakeries provide, there is nothing that can be compared to the empowerment of financial independence. What an amazing need TWB is helping to fulfill!

TWB women are learning skills they can take with them the rest of their lives. They are supporting their families and showing their children that they can succeed, as well. 

That’s real, sustainable change.

I am proud to be even the tiniest piece of this wonderful organization and I will continue to advocate for the lasting empowerment of women in Rwanda - and beyond.

#breadpower

Together, women and men, we rise.

There are two questions I am always asked when I share that I work with The Women’s Bakery. Whether I am asked by friends, baristas, cyclists, strangers, or frankly, anyone who has ears to listen, these two questions remain constant.

“Where is your bakery?” and, “do you help only women?”

Quickly, I explain that TWB is a social enterprise with most of our work located in East Africa – including the bakeries that we help launch and oversee. This is usually followed by enthusiastic requests to have a bakery in the heart of Denver or another U.S. city. I smile and nod. “Someday, guys. Someday.”

When it comes to the question of gender, I emphasize that our work cannot, and should not be done in isolation. We are aptly named The Women’s Bakery with women as a focus because of the particular challenges women face globally, but we simultaneously believe that any investment in human development must involve everyone.

This year, we will have two trainings that include male participants. That’s a big deal. Working with men matters because promoting larger-level concepts of autonomy, or choice, or opportunity, has to be supported by the society-at-large.

Traditionally decision-making, authority, and control have often been yielded to men. As women enter the workforce, complete education, and make choices about the direction of their lives, power becomes more equitable. Men – and women- work together for the communities, families, and children they are looking to support. Equitable societies give voice to all – no matter what gender one has.

In the United States, when women were provided the right to vote in 1920, the process of acceptance and advocacy for civic equality was a movement propelled by both genders. Securing this victory didn’t happen overnight; it developed over time, with investment from all genders as a mutually beneficial change for our country.  

In baking bread, learning about nutritious food options, and building a locally-relevant bakery, men are needed because men are also part of the community.

When women and men are able to work side by side in a bakery, equality begins to take shape. Women – and men- are equally capable in kneading dough, in marketing products, and in tracking inventory. Identifying areas of gender inequity and previous assumptions based on gender, TWB actively is seeking to empower women – which in turn, empowers us all.  

See, Think, Understand, Do.

“Some people see, think, and go…Others see, think, understand, and try to do something.”

These words were shared with myself and Markey over juice and beers at a local bar last week. We were meeting with a new friend—a soft spoken, thoughtful man who had passed by the Remera Bakery one day and was drawn in by his curiosity. As it turned out, he had previously worked with Peace Corps Volunteers in Rwanda. We immediately bonded over shared connections and visions for strengthening women and communities as he marveled at the unique, nutritious breads the women had made that morning.

We continued our conversation with him later that week at Champion Hotel, and as a mélange of live local and foreign music played in the background, I was struck once again by the way things continue to fall in place with TWB.

Here was yet another local champion—a Rwandan who had grown up in Uganda, sacrificed his own education for 6 years to allow his younger siblings to study, moved his family back to Rwanda, finally pursuing his own secondary and university education despite being years older than his classmates. He has since managed large programs throughout Rwanda, teaching youth, women and families entrepreneurship and savings skills. When he stumbled across The Women’s Bakery last week, he recognized the link between our bakery business program and the entrepreneurship/savings programs he has done before. TWB is a bridge—“They (groups) have a business mind. If you bring a practical skill, it can be a scaling up, an additional benefit to these groups.”

It is people like Amos who make TWB possible in practice. I sometimes struggle internally, wondering if we are doing the right things, moving in the right direction, putting into motion ideas and programs that will truly work and not just be another failed “foreign input.” But when I meet the Amos’ of Rwanda, I am inspired to keep moving forward—not because I am seeing, thinking, understanding and trying to do something, but because Rwandans are, too. 

TWB: A Life-Long School

“If you want to stop learning, stop living.”

Being a part of TWB is not only a family to me, but a life long school; a chance to understand how micro-business is the engine of development, and opportunity for me to contribute to a bright future for our women. I am living a dream with TWB.

TWB is enabling women entrepreneurship and awakening their ability to stay self-dependent in terms of finance and healthy nutrition. My dream has always been about contributing to the economy of my country by empowering society through a bottom-up approach. 

In June, we traveled to Tanzania to visit the women of TWB in Tanzania. This was a chance for me to learn more about TWB’s work outside of Rwanda. The initial training in Tanzania involved women already working in a large soy cooperative. These women wanted to add more value to their soy products and TWB was the solution - soy bread! 

They produce soy milk and then use the milk to make better breads and increase awareness in the community to attract clients. My take away was that, although TWB-Rwanda has launched a new bakery in Remera where our women works six days a week, it is not enough. Soon we will need to grow, and I know that we have a great example with good mentors in Tanzania.

In six months of my internship, I learnt a lot not just about bread and cake, but more about administration, teamwork, and finance, and I believe there is still more to learn, which will help me to make my contribution to bring TWB. I am very excited to be part of TWB-Rwanda and I am hoping to keep learning a lot about our great work.

Teach a Woman, Feed a Nation

A common question I am asked about the work I do with The Women’s Bakery is, “Why do you work with women only and not men?”

My answer always starts with my favorite quote,

“You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation.” —Brigham Young

This well-known saying was used to convince parents who were more willing to allow their male children to attend schools than their daughters. The message here is that since we know the value of education for men in society, we should allow women to have equal access to it.

George Washington (1732-1799), the first President of the United States, said this about his mother:

"All I am I owe to my mother...I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her."

When interviewed, Faith Uwantege, a TWB trainee and baker, said, “When I learn a new skill in bread making, I go back home, bake for my children and teach them how to bake.” She is empowered, her children are getting nutritious breads, and she will also transfer skills to them.

 “A child well-nourished performs well in class and will become a great person in society, therefore I want to feed nutritious breads to my children and teach them how to make them,” Faith added.

Our recently opened bakeries in Remera and Kanombe are not only generating income through selling breads, but are also feeding families nutritious food and  sharing new skills with children.