From Pottery to Bakery

This month, TWB, together with AsOne, started a bakery training in Kagina, Kamonyi district in the South of Rwanda. The group is composed of 5 women all living in the same neighborhood.

This week, our trainer on the site took some time to sit with one of the trainees, Hadidja Esperance, and hear from her what it feels like to be in this training.

Hadidja, together with other women in this group, used to gain their living through pottery. Life was hard for her and her family to meet their basic needs, but now that she has joined this training she hopes that her life is going to change.

She said, “You can’t feel how I feel to be doing baking as a business, I used to do pottery but with no gains, but now I’m baking and eating nutritious breads; it’s so great.”

She continued by explaining that she used make so many vases and then wait for a long time for people to come and buy them, but now she is happy that she will make breads that are needed in the community and people will eat them right after being baked.  

“My children will eat breads and improve their health, I will make money out of breads and my whole community will benefit… but when I was doing pottery, it was just survival, not living,” she continued.

The story of Hadidja is very much in common with most of the women TWB is working with. Many of them used to be street vendors and worked for daily surviving with no hope for tomorrow. They never used to make savings for future needs like health insurance or children’s school fees. For TWB, as a social enterprise, we feel that those people are most in need of our program and we have seen a great impact over the last two years.

We believe that one can advance from street vending to supermarket supplier and storefront management.  And as Hadidja says, one can come from pottery to bakery.

#Breadislifechanging

Historical note: Potters in Rwanda tend to be among the poorest and most vulnerable—most potters belong to the Twa tribe, which makes up less than 1% of the Rwandan population and which has historically been marginalized. The craft of pottery, while highly respected in many western societies, does not necessarily hold the same esteem in Rwanda.

Bake & Break

Last week Aime, TWB Rwanda Training Manager, had a conversation with a group of TWB women following the last session of training in Ndera, Rwanda before the holidays.

Aime asked some of the trainees about their holiday plans. One woman, Hillary responded, “I have so far learned how to bake yeast and banana breads, so I want to be baking them at home using our imbabura (local home cooking stove); I want to try this and feed my children with good breads.”

This is what at TWB we call transfer of knowledge.

Knowledge gained from TWB programs can be shared with relatives and friends through baking in our homes during the holiday festivities—for staff and trainees alike.

During the festivities of Christmas and the New Year 2017, TWB would like to wish you all a healthy life!

As many are enjoying this break with families and friends, one thing we would love to wish is that you break and bake nutritious breads.

This year has been filled with a lot of work and many successes for TWB. We are looking forward to an even greater year in 2017, and more baking throughout Rwanda.

As you are enjoying your break, don’t forget to bake as well. 

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.