Raising Rwanda: Women Farmers' Training Center

In East Africa there are two sayings that are heard very often - Haraka Haraka which means Hurry, Hurry or Pole-Pole - Slowly, Slowly.  Though seemingly opposite these sayings state truths that go beyond the words.  When advised to go Pole-Pole what is meant is "take it easy, pay attention to the task at hand".  While Haraka Haraka means "more haste, more speed". Pole-Pole is the approach that Africa Development Promise and Edge of Seven have taken in a potential collaboration effort to support the women's cooperative, Ingabo Ikingira Ubukene cooperative in Rwanda. 

As you know, the co-op initially committed to providing the wood, bricks, and labor for this project. However, when local government required that the training center be built with concrete bricks, instead of the traditional mud, this increased the challenge exponentially for the co-op members to fund their required contribution.

For a second year, the Posner Center for International Development is offering collaboration grants to stimulate real collaboration between its tenants and members. The Posner Center houses over 50 international development organizations with unique opportunities to collaborate, problem-solve, reflect, and share best practices. However, collaboration is a major undertaking that should not be taken lightly.  As Edge of Seven and Africa Development Promise considered a collaboration we went through a rigorous vetting process. Clearly, we have a similar vision for women and girls - Eo7 creates access to education for women and girls by identifying and removing the barriers that hinder them from becoming thriving students or entrepreneurs. They focus on educational infrastructure projects such as schools and women's resource centers.  Africa Development Promise strives to build the entrepreneurial capacity of women farmers through well-managed and profitable agricultural cooperatives. The need of the Ingabo Ikingira Ubukene cooperative for a resource center which would serve as a training center, office and storage facility provided a perfect opportunity to collaborate.

We understand the need for Haraka Haraka because the need is great, yet Pole-Pole has been absolutely necessary.  In October 2015, staff from Eo7 were in Rwanda and met with the ladies of the cooperative. The site visit went very well and our collaboration looks promising. As the collaboration progresses we will have more updates via our website, newsletter, and social media. Stay tuned, and thank you always for your continued support. 

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