Bread Knowledge

As I reflect on my last three years helping to build The Women’s Bakery operations in Rwanda, I have been thinking about the knowledge I have gained and the lessons I have learned.

I know that this knowledge will only be useful to the business if I can successfully transfer it to my colleagues As a result, I have begun to focus on training. My days are now filled with one-hour blocks to teach a variety of topics such as: how to process employee income and social security taxes, how to build pivot tables in excel, how to create a company policy, how to create employee contracts, and how to purchase and enroll employees in health insurance. I have always thought of myself as a horrible teacher. So, this process is teaching me yet another lesson – how to become a better teacher.

We have to acknowledge that a single task that may take us one hour might take five hours of training and countless follow-up questions before someone else may be able to master it. When we budget our time, we often fail to budget the appropriate amount of time it takes to actually train and pass off a single task. But, we have to. We have to invest in training our team members, especially in times of transition to ensure that operations can continue smoothly.

I am excited to pass on the knowledge I have of our operations to my colleagues and I am excited for the business growth that will follow.

I am confident that my colleagues will take what we have built and the lessons we have learned to build better systems and make more sound decisions that will make the business grow bigger and stronger than we ever could have imagined when we started.

This is bread knowledge; this is #breadpower.

Sharing Knowledge

With two groups in Rwanda having graduated from our training program in 2016, and another group coming up on graduation in early February 2017, we are steadily expanding The Women’s Bakery network and community across Rwanda.

While some of our goals at TWB are focused on training more women, employing more women, and launching more sustainable bakeries, our growth in Rwanda also accomplishes other significant goals. One these is engaging graduates and current bakery employees in sharing their knowledge with current trainees, as well as with TWB bakers and bakeries across the country.

We don’t want to just build bakeries in Rwanda, we want to build an ecosystem of community and support across our bakeries, allowing TWB bakers to share ideas with each other, collaborate, trouble shoot challenges, and encourage each other with successes. TWB graduates are able to share their knowledge and experiences with each other, and with current trainees.

Since concluding our training program in Bumba in the Western Province of Rwanda, we have facilitated knowledge sharing with the bakery located in Kigali, the capital city. The two groups have been able to share recipe tricks, adjustments, record keeping tips, and even marketing strategies. Managers from each bakery have traveled 3.5 hours one way to visit each other, share insight and challenges, and gather ideas from each other’s bakeries. 

Currently, the training group located east of Kigali is conducting their baking practical. For the last two weeks, one of our skilled bakers from the Kigali bakery has traveled daily to the training site to lead the baking sessions and to impart her expertise. Over the next two weeks, another employee from the Kigali bakery will lead training sessions on sales and marketing, providing the trainee group with her firsthand knowledge and advice on jump-starting sales and finding customers during the crucial first months of business operations.

As TWB expands in Rwanda and throughout the region, we aim to create more opportunities for shared learning amongst our bakery and trainee groups. By empowering women to circulate their knowledge and skills with one another, we hope to not only strengthen the TWB community but to also create new avenues for women to utilize their skills and expand their own networks. 

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.