Sunday 8 February
Well, having suffered just one week of the bitter cold and snow in the UK (I was on holiday at the end of January), I feel very fortunate to be jetting off to warmer climes once again. This thought was reinforced when we realised we would be delayed by an hour at Schipol, Amsterdam so the plane’s wings could be de-iced due to there being ‘ice in the vicinity’, whatever that meant!
I’m returning to Africa, a continent which is fast becoming a favourite; quite simply, it touches the soul. I will meet up with Rachel, our local representative, at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and from there we will fly together to Kigali, Rwanda.
We will be attending the 6th African Fine Coffee Conference and Exhibition (EAFCA for short) so we can gauge the interest in our lending from African coffee producers. We will also be visiting with some local handicraft producers and I can’t wait to see their wares. I’m interested to know how different or otherwise they are from the products I have seen previously in Kenya and Peru.
I don’t believe Rwanda features highly, if at all, on most people’s holiday destination wish-lists but I understand from colleagues that this is a big mistake.
I am very excited about this trip and am looking forward to learning much more about this previously-troubled country and its peoples.
Monday 9 February
As planned I met with Rachel at the departure gate. She definitely looked less tired and more fragrant than I! There is little peace for the wicked though so after 3 flights and travelling for 20 hours, we set off at once for our first visit of the trip.
Our booked transport failed to show which I believe is the norm, so we got into a taxi that had definitely seen better days. The windscreen had what would be considered an illegal crack in the UK and my door only came anywhere near to closing for the driver (there was obviously a knack to it!) but it did have a ceiling which was more than could be said of one of the ones we foolishly got into in Peru!!
My first impressions of Kigali are that it is clean, the low-rise buildings are well-maintained and it appears to be set in a ‘bowl’ so the vista is stunning. The main roads are in good condition and the driving is disciplined. Finally, the pace of life is blissfully slow even though the temperature is not overly hot.
The thing that I am finding unnerving is that I can’t seem to get the 1994 genocide out of my mind. The people here have obviously moved on and I should do the same but I find myself fascinated by the history of each individual and every building I encounter.
Our first meeting was to follow up on a previous meeting with a handicraft producer making hand-woven products from grasses. Our timing could not have been better as this prospect is ready to work with Shared Interest and is keen to reduce her interest rate from 18%. She is also just about to apply for IFAT status and so long as she is successful, this will give her the fair trade credentials she needs to start working with SI. She trains some of the most vulnerable in society and offers them a trade so I hope very much that we will be able to assist in this instance.
Tuesday 10 February
We began the day with a swim. Wow, the water was cold! but then it was misty again. Apparently it’s always a bit like this but the outside temperature is never really cold – still, the gorillas seem to like it!!
We met with a lovely lady this morning called Chantal. She has been involved with the training project currently being run here by Shared Interest’s Foundation. Unfortunately she has no premises at the moment as her shop is being renovated which was a shame as I would love to have seen all the different products she offers.
Longer term we hope the Society will be able to offer her some finance also but at present she too needs to register her fair trade credentials and to form alliances with some of the northern buyers. Her dream is to open a craft centre as such a thing hasn’t yet been conceived in Rwanda. She is so animated when she talks about it and she has so many great ideas for it that I really hope she is able to get this project off the ground.
As those of you who travel regularly know, it’s rare that things run smoothly. This trip I seem to be having more than my fair share of technical issues. First my ‘phone ‘died’, then I lost some photos I’d taken (I know, I know, it has to be something I did!) and now I have succeeded in blowing the circuit in my room so I no longer have any electricity. There is however usually a positive side to such occurrences and mine is that I now have a nice, quiet room overlooking the pool with a wonderful view of the city.
This afternoon we met up with the local representative of Transfair (the equivalent of the Fairtrade Foundation in the US). She had 2 of her colleagues with her from the States and it was great to exchange information on the producers we are and will be working with. They are incredibly supportive of Shared Interest’s work and aims.
Wednesday 11 February
Well, the water must have been really cold yesterday as we opted out of an early morning swim today.
Rwanda is proving to be somewhat of an enigma. Whilst they drive on the right, the cars have their steering wheels on both the left- and the righthandside of the vehicles. On the subject of cars, it does seem that it is de rigueur for taxis to have ‘illegal’ cracks in their windscreens.
The French influence remains but I wouldn’t say that it is strong. A number of people still speak French and for once I have found myself able to say more than ‘hello’, ‘welcome’, ‘thank you’ and ‘goodbye’ in an African country! That said, English will apparently soon be replacing French as the official language of Rwanda. This is to fall into line with the rest of East Africa but someone did let slip that the current President doesn’t speak French….
Where I believe the French influence remains strong is in their cuisine. I wasn’t sure what to expect and tend to be sensibly careful with food when travelling for all the obvious reasons. I have however been pleasantly surprised and can honestly say I have thoroughly enjoyed every meal so far.
Late in the afternoon we took ourselves off to the Serena Hotel to register for the EAFCA conference. We stayed for the cocktail party and managed to catch up and arrange meetings with some existing customers as well as some new prospects. We were also introduced to Rwandan singing and dancing. The men and women never dance together and the women in particular were especially elegant in their beautiful costumes. Whilst they sometimes wear bells around their ankles, this dancing could never be compared to Morris dancing!
Thursday 12 to Saturday 14 February
These 3 days were spent at the coffee conference for which we had primarily come to Kigali. They were long, very full days and to be honest, they all seemed to merge together somewhat. We were in and out of presentation after presentation, meeting after meeting and spent hours standing at various podiums drinking coffee (that was what we were there for after all!) and chatting. We were introduced to various new prospects, we spent time with existing customers ironing out any issues they may have had and we visited the various East African coffee board stands to ensure we understood exactly how coffee is sold in each of the different countries. Periodically we were fed and watered but the chatting continued.
At the Welcome Dinner on the Thursday evening we bumped into a very nice lady from the Fairtrade Foundation; one of the very few other UK participants I had seen. This had been her first work trip and the passion and enthusiasm for what our 2 companies are trying to do shone through. She had been travelling with an influential UK retailer and demonstrating first-hand the benefits to be gained by all parties of buying fairly-traded goods. It will be interesting to see what next appears on the shelves in the UK.
Friday 13 February
Friday followed much the same pattern as Thursday had done. However, first thing we took ourselves off to see a new potential handicraft producer making cards from recycled paper. The process is very simple and old-fashioned but effective and even the lack of designers here in Rwanda did not seem to be hampering their efforts. The finished articles were quite simply beautiful.
They employ children who have been orphaned either by the genocide or HIV and gradually train them over a period of 4 years. They are all local and despite their youth, many of them are now heads of households. This business had also recently taken part in our Foundation’s Train the Trainers Programme.
The area where this business was located was poorer than most we had seen but it was still nothing like some of the slums I have seen in Nairobi. It is Rwandan policy apparently not to have any slums which did make me wonder where the very poorest in this society go to live.
Everywhere appears to be quite congested but I guess this is due to the fact that most of the buildings are low-rise. Even though they have been constructed in this way because Rwanda lies on the Great Rift fault line, policy is apparently now dictating that more high-rises should be introduced.
Rachel and I have been particularly taken by the national costume and have done a mad thing and each had our own outfit designed for the Closing Dinner tomorrow night. The girls at the conference look so elegant and attractive in their black tops, long dark burgundy skirts and fawn drapes which hang down from the right shoulder over the left hip. Let’s hope that Rachel and I look equally graceful in our new outfits!
In the evening we were invited for dinner by a Dutch gentleman from one of the other social lenders. He and I had met on my first trip for Shared Interest last year to Holland and he had just moved to Kigali so it was good to ‘look him up’ in his new home. He took us to ‘Heaven’ which is a lovely restaurant up in the hills with a stunning view out over Kigali. Both the food and the company were great and we whiled away a very pleasant evening.
Saturday 14 February
Well, I never thought we would but we managed to achieve all but one of the things we had planned to do during this conference. If the number of notes we now have to write up are anything to go by then I believe it has been incredibly worthwhile.
