Flashback to Memory Lane
Switching from wooden ovens to electric ovens at our Kigali Bakery was a game changer, but as a Rwandan proverb says, “If you don’t remember where you came from, you will never know where you are going.”
Switching from wooden ovens to electric ovens at our Kigali Bakery was a game changer, but as a Rwandan proverb says, “If you don’t remember where you came from, you will never know where you are going.”
Keeping our old wooden ovens was just an idea to use them for back-up when there is a black out or power shortage. Recently, we did lose power, and seeing the TWB women back to the old oven also called “The Agakecuru” ("the old lady") as the women call it, reminded us of the old memories TWB went through when we were only using the wooden oven.
This incident prompted me to reflect and also gave me a lot to appreciate for where we are now. This is also a marker, and for other bakeries that are starting from the beginning, they can see that growth is certainly possible.
Remembering how far we have come is a paramount value to hold onto as our journey toward success continues. Now, we're building our brand even more and even launching a coffee shop!
Best yet, we're just getting started.
Together we rise! Bread Power.
Growing Together
Yvonne has now been a team member of The Women's Bakery for one year! Happy Anniversary Yvonne! Here, Yvonne reflects on what she has learned and how she continues to propel TWB forward in Rwanda.
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.
TWB Team Retreat
I am continuously awed by my team. Here’s to building TWB and changing the world, one piece of bread at a time.
TWB has many champions – our trained women, our donors, our partners, our volunteers, our team. While I get to interface with all of our champions, I had the opportunity to be with our senior staff on our team retreat in Colorado last week.
To say our team is uniquely committed would be a gross understatement. Our team is the most fiercely dedicated, uniquely qualified, courageously enduring, and compassionately driven team I have met. It is a privilege to work with a team of this caliber – and to build and shape TWB with them.
Their commitment to TWB has a kind of JFK “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,” tenor to it. I was amazed, and humbled, by it. This was certainly not the first time I’ve felt both awe and gratitude for this team, but it certainly was intensified by being in person with them.
We discussed everything – from gas reimbursement policies, to grand visions for US expansion. We mapped out in detail our plans for 2017, yet dreamed well beyond. We revised plans and refined methods and solidified our priorities.
At our core and in our services, we are women-centric. We strive to provide women with:
- An educational foundation
- Sustainable and gainful employment
- Opportunities for improved health
Number three has a subtext that applies to our individual bakeries – TWB bakeries will provide nutritious options to a community that otherwise would not exist.
Comprehensively, The Women’s Bakery, we confirmed, exists to provide women an educational foundation for their sustainable and gainful employment, which can result in opportunities for improved health.
While we achieved many tasks, substantiating these priorities was among our most important. These priorities are our why. They serve as both our guiding principles and long term goals.
As I mentioned in a previous blog, we have revised our 2017 goals in Rwanda – we will dive deep into the operations of our individual bakeries, analyzing their breakeven and profit horizons. We will also test our markets, listening more intently to our customers – what do community members desire and value in their bread? We presume it to be nutrition, but it may be cleanliness, or even technology (that is, bakery machinery). We will maintain our emphasis on nutrition, but we may approach it differently and in accordance with customers’ desires.
We are excited – trepidatious, yes – but excited about our US expansion and the possibilities for TWB therein. Our priorities will remain the same with our US target populations, currently refugee and immigrant women, but our mediums and methods may vary dramatically (and excitingly).
I am continuously awed by my team. Here’s to building TWB and changing the world, one piece of bread at a time.
