Global Health Corps Fellowship with TWB

First, I squealed, then I teared up: this was finally happening.

Several months ago, I received word that after a six-month application process I had been accepted into the 2017-2018 Global Health Corps Fellowship cohort and was placed at The Women’s Bakery, in Rwanda. I was thrilled, excited, and ready. After months of consideration, it was humbling and energizing to know that I was going to move forward with work that motivates and inspires me.

In September 2016, I moved to Rwanda with the intention of working in health development. Just before leaving the United States, a good friend of mine mentioned a great organization working to empower women through baking: The Women’s Bakery. This friend of mine knew TWB Founder & Co-Director, Markey, from Furman University. As she told me more, I thought I should check it out.

After arriving in Kigali, I quickly engaged with TWB Staff, Meg and Julie, and was intrigued and motivated by the work that TWB was doing with vocational training and business launch. Simultaneously, I heard about the fellowship with Global Health Corps, a program that offers fellowships to those interested in working in the field of global health. I began an application. After months of interviews and documentation, the opportunity I had been waiting for was here! I was working for TWB. It was real, and it was happening.

Now, as Nutrition Coordinator for The Women’s Bakery, I am working on nutrition and health programming at bakeries in Kigali and beyond. I am so enthusiastic to see the impact The Women’s Bakery is having in the communities of which we work.

From women’s health, to mental health, to home health, we have so many programs and ideas to improve the lives of the women we serve. I’ve been given the opportunity to see at a ground level what training and engagement with a group of women can accomplish.

On a daily basis, lives are being impacted one muffin or roll at a time, and I can’t wait to continue to be a part of the change being made through The Women’s Bakery.

So, Tell Me More

Last week, two TWB staff and Global Health Corps (GHC) alums, Aime and Meg, attended an East Africa GHC leadership summit in Nyamata, Rwanda to reconnect and share experiences with other co-fellows and staff from different parts of the world.

It was an opportunity for alums to share their achievements since they completed the GHC program. In doing so, everyone had to introduce themselves, where they were placed, their role during their fellowship year and what they are doing after the fellowship. 

When I (Aime) said that I work at The Women’s Bakery, another GHC alum approached me and said, “You work with The Women’s Bakery, so tell me more.”

This is a great inquiry that I always like to answer. It is an opportunity to showcase the uniqueness of The Women’s Bakery and what drives us in what we do.  We are promoting nutrition education, health and business education and above all we are availing locally sourced, nutritious and affordable breads.

This fellow continued, “So tell me more, how do you measure the impact?” 

An even greater question!

From the baseline surveys taken before training begins we learned that our trainee women/men couldn’t afford the health insurance coverage for the whole family or could only afford to cover the family members most vulnerable to sicknesses, like kids or pregnant mothers.

But, from our follow-up surveys taken 6 months after the conclusion of training, we can see that the training graduates who chose to work in bakeries are able to cover their health insurance, send kids to school and cover the basic needs.

That’s the impact.

“There is more to tell, come learn the Power of Bread!”