This is a project by the same association that also operates the rabbit breeding program. Here they produce what they call "Peace Makers", which are basically insulated baskets stuffed with foil, cotton, and cloth. The baskets can be used to keep food hot for a whole day. That means that women only need to cook (I'm sorry to say that but it's just a fact in this part of the world....it's really uncommon for men to cook for their families) once a day in the morning and can keep the food warm until the evening when the children and the husband get back home; or as an alternative when the husband is unemployed, instead of "when the husband gets back home": "when the husband is hungry". This way families can save a lot of energy and the most useful part in this, why those things are called Peace Makers, the women don't get beaten by their husbands when the food is not ready on time, because it will be, thanks to those baskets.
This is actually really true; A lot of the domestic violence in Rwanda is a result of men not getting their food in the moment they want it.
So, this seems to be a very useful project and worth suporting.
Garlic Farming
The following project is not quite as interesting but it's very typical one, a lot of the requests that reach our office are for similar activities.
This project was originally initiated by an association who's memebers had different sorts of slight disabilities (also very typical). What they decided to do in order to generate an income was; They wanted to grow garlic. This turned out to be a quite good idea because garlic is very rare in Rwanda and there was a possibility to earn a lot of money for them.
That is also something my colleague and I do at our office and out in the field; We check for the usefulness of a project.
So, since this association had worked out a good concept, they got their funds and started cultivating their garlic. All of this was unfortunately delayed because it wasn't raining enough during the rainy season. But the rain has caught up by coming down during the small dry season....which is just about right now :P It keeps raining and raining every day...and believe it or not it's actually really cold. Brrr.But as you can see in the picture (or at least those of you that know what garlic looks like) the garlic finally started growing:D
