Azizi Life

“During 2007 and 2008, Food for the Hungry (FH) partnered with the Rwandan Government helped to train and promote small businesses within the rural communities of southern Rwanda. The idea of this initiative was to give local people the skills necessary to run successful businesses. Participants received training in areas such as improving literacy & numeracy skills, creating and writing business plans, and applying for bank loans.

Although this program was successful in significantly improving the skill and efficiency of the rural entrepreneurs, many continued to struggle financially. FH staff determined that the main problem was that the growing businesses simply did not have enough customers for their products and services. This lack of markets and disposable income within the rural communities was a real barrier to seeing significant small business development.

A wise observer likened the problem to teaching people how to fish and then leaving them in a desert – although they may have the appropriate skills, there are simply no fish to catch.

So FH began to look for ways to help the rural communities to access much larger markets. This, in turn, would increase the money available within those communities that could then be spent on other products and services, creating a cycle of development for the whole area. Out of this process, Azizi Life was born.”

www.azizilife.com

On Wednesday 4^th January a small group of 7 volunteers got together in Giterama, south west of Kigali, to spend a day with Azizi Life. We were taken by mutato out into the countryside along some very bumpy dirt tracks and eventually dropped off with members of the Azizi Association. We were divided into two groups each with an interpreter and introduced to our hostesses for the day. Our group of 3 were in the company of the chairperson, vice chair and treasurer of this particular association and we set off down the track to visit the family home which consisted of two rooms which were absolutely bare apart from three benches round the walls and a table. After introductions, we were each dressed in a panga, a long piece of material wrapped round the waist and headscarf, all designed to keep you as well protected as possible from the dust and dirt of the chores which lay ahead.

Our first task was to go to the field to do some hoeing, so armed with our heavy tools we set off in a vertical direction to reach our destination. We were shown the basic action of lifting the hoe high over our shoulders then bringing it down heavily into the earth to disturb and remove all the weeds. It wasn’t long before the sweat was literally dripping off our faces and even with shifting from right leading hand to left hand the blisters quickly started to form. We manfully struggled on for while longer, spurred on by the actions of 74 year old “grandma” who was also doing her bit, while two and half year old “Isusu” was running around brandishing a sickle. 

Once it became clear we were not capable of completing our whole field we were allowed to stop in order to go and fetch water. A bit too much like home from home for me, but at least I knew I could carry one of the large sized jerry cans, particularly when we were told the water was only 5 minutes walk away. Again what I hadn’t taken into account was that the 5 minutes were directly upwards and then downwards on return. It took me all my time just to get myself safely back down the steep path and had to relinquish my jerry can to a much younger and fitter member of the family!

Once the water was deposited back at the house we were then sent off to fetch firewood, this being the main source of fuel for most Rwandan families for cooking. Again a hike up the hillside to where a tree had been freshly chopped down, not a saw in sight, and cut up into transportable logs which we were to carry on our heads. We were shown how to make a cushion for our heads out of a banana leaf, but mine ended up looking more like a dog’s breakfast and provided no sense of cushioning at all. The tricky part was again negotiating our way back down the hill slope while still balancing our logs on our heads, it was with some dismay that we were told we had to go back and fetch another load.

We were then allowed to wash up before joining the family for lunch which consisted of plantain ( green banana) in a ground nut sauce. The meal was fairly unappealing in both appearance and taste but a slice of fresh avocado helped to make the food more palatable.

After lunch, we trekked along the myriad of twisting paths to join the other group who were stationed at another Association member’s home. We were to be shown how to extract sisal from its leaf, how it is then dyed and twisted and then woven into the beautiful artifacts, which the association now produce. We, each managed to make a small bracelet, a rather poor effort in comparison, and then for those of us who had finished we helped to shell beans, which had been hanging out to dry, and which form the staple diet for most families.

It was then time for us to say fond farewells but not before we went through the customary speech making, with votes of thanks being given from both sides of the group for the warm hospitality and friendship which had been established. Altogether a very exhausting but satisfying day, which I think reminded us all of the very harsh existence that most people, particularly in the countryside, have to endure, in order to keep themselves and their families at the most basic of subsistence levels.

“Azizi Life is currently working with around 25 different independent groups of artisans. The groups vary in size but on average they have between 15 and 20 members, of whom about 95% are women. When you consider that in 2007, the average number of children per couple in Rwanda was six, it is likely that the Azizi Life craft project is benefiting around 2,500 individuals - but it has the potential to do so much more!”

During 2007 and 2008, Food for the Hungry (FH) partnered with the Rwandan government to help train and promote small businesses within the rural communities of southern Rwanda. The idea of this initiative was to give local people the skills necessary to run successful businesses. Participants received training in areas such as improving literacy & numeracy skills, creating and writing business plans, and applying for bank loans.

Although this program was successful in significantly improving the skill and efficiency of the rural entrepreneurs, many continued to struggle financially. FH staff determined that the main problem was that the growing businesses simply did not have enough customers for their products and services. This lack of markets and disposable income within the rural communities was a real barrier to seeing significant small business development.