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.

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.

Growing Together

I have now worked for one year with The Women’s Bakery and it’s been a pleasure to work with this lovely team of professionals.

TWB is a good working environment where you can develop your skills and knowledge. As for me, I got to know many things through TWB. I would say for example, that I got management skills by working with different kinds of women with different personalities. This gave me knowledge in how to manage whatever comes my way.

Ever since I started working with TWB, I saw how TWB takes part in the growth of Rwanda by empowering women. So, I decided to develop my own working team spirit whereby whatever I think that can grow within TWB, I bring it to the table to be discussed. It is incredible that I may get to play my role in the growth of my country as well.

Travelling to different areas within the country and outside the country gave me an experience of how women work from all angles, not only Rwandan women but also women in varying backgrounds and environments. Visiting other sites and bakeries has been a big part of my job and it’s helped develop my skills in all aspects of my career and growth.

I am very glad to be part of TWB and will continue to think and do whatever it takes to make our organization grow faster. We are working to sustain profitable, successful bakeries and I am honored to do my part.

The Power of Two

TWB is the idea of two. The two founders, Markey and Julie, started the company and conducted the very first trainings in both Tanzania and Rwanda, beginning in 2015. As the company grew and more organizations got interested in our services, there was a need to hire another training facilitator to help me execute our training package.

I have been the first facilitator to join and run TWB trainings in Kigali and outside of Kigali. In September 2016, Denyse was hired as a training facilitator to work closely with me. We trained together in Bumba for the months of September and October. This November, we started a new training in the outskirts of Kigali, in a neighborhood called Ndera.

It was a very smooth training in Bumba when Denyse and I were training together.  We would plan together, review the lessons together, and agree on who was teaching what, how and when.  During the actual training, one would be teaching while the other was circulating the classroom making sure the students were following the trainer’s instructions. Also, when the trainer forgot something, the other would remind them of it.

This is what I call the power of two.  When two people come together and work together great things can happen.

TWB is built on the spirit of working together as a team. Our team works together really well, and women beneficiaries work together in our respective bakeries because we believe in the power of two.

“Stronger together” -- Hillary Clinton, 2016

TWB LTD Growth in Rwanda

A lot has changed in just one year for TWB Rwanda. Since our official business registration in August of 2015, TWB has been working as a social enterprise, specializing in training programs and bakery business launch for groups of women throughout Rwanda.

Our first training group of 15 women was conducted in Nyabisindu, a neighborhood within the capital city of Kigali, launched October 2015. Over the course of several months, the women learned basic business skills including inventory and stock management, production cost calculation, sales strategies, and record keeping. The group also studied bakery specific business skills, as well as intensive training in baking and nutrition. All of this was made possible by TWB’s first Rwandan staff, Aime Nshizirungu, who co-facilitated the entire training in Kinyarwanda. Not only did Aime ensure the curriculum was comprehensible in the local language and context, he also fostered relationships with each of the trainees, providing support and encouragement in their lives in and out of training.

In July 2016, 8 women from this training group launched a bakery in their Remera community, with the support of TWB. Over the last five months, they have been working hard to introduce their nutritious, high quality bread products to the community. Their success has been driven daily by our second Rwandan team member- Yvonne Mukamutara. Yvonne joined TWB in February 2016 as an intern while in her last year as a finance student at University of Kigali. She quickly adapted to the TWB team and played an integral role in the Remera Bakery launch in July. Yvonne concluded her internship and was hired on full time by TWB in September. Since July, she has been working in the Remera Bakery as the Operations Manager—organizing daily operations, managing 8 women who work daily in the bakery, seeking out sales opportunities, promoting hygiene and quality products, and managing finances. As if that were not enough, Yvonne is also the women’s mentor and a constant support. She knows who needs extra money for their child’s school field trip, who needs extra clothing, who is registered for health care and who has a sick family member. Yvonne ensures that the women’s needs are being meet, not only at work but also at home.

Without both Aime and Yvonne’s dedication, passion, and hard work, the Remera bakery would not be what it is today.

Following the Remera Bakery launch, TWB was scheduled to begin two more trainings in 2016. To do so, we brought on our third Rwandan team member, Denyse Uwineza. Denyse joined TWB just one week before our second official Rwanda training program began in the small, rural community of Bumba in the Western Province of Rwanda. Denyse put in a long week working with Aime to understand the TWB curriculum and to familiarize herself with the mission and vision of TWB. Then, she jumped right into 6 weeks of training in the west, initially supporting Aime as he taught the lessons, and eventually taking the lead on some lessons herself. A quick and eager learner, Denyse is now co-facilitating her second training with Aime at our newest training site in Ndera, just east of Kigali. And, she has already contributed to training improvements and new curriculum content!

As TWB foresees even more growth in 2017, we gratefully reflect on the growth we have seen from summer 2015 through December 2016. Our Rwanda team is now made up of two American staff and three Rwandan staff, all of whom contribute to TWB’s work in Rwanda in immeasurable ways. We would not be where we are now, planning to conduct 3-5 new trainings in the upcoming year and looking to hire 3-5 more Rwandan staff, without the daily commitment of our current team. Their commitment to TWB, and most importantly to improving the lives of the women we work with through education, employment, and nutrition, has brought us to where we are today.

A huge thank you to TWB Team Rwanda! We can’t wait to see what next year brings!