Day 10 - Abasangirangendo Co-op

July 19, 2018

Travel day! After an early rise, we embarked on the last leg of our journey down to the Cyangugu region of Rwanda, right on the Congolese border. The total drive is about 8 hours, but because one of our newer co-ops is located half-way down, today we’re only traveling about 5 hours.

Abasangirandgendo joined our family in January 2017, so this will be the first time we get to meet them. They live in the Butare region, which is the coffee plantation district!

Before arriving at the co-op, we stopped at the district government’s office to say hello and introduce ourselves. There, we met with the local Cash Crop Director – also named Justin! It was a quick, pleasant meeting, and then we continued on.

The Butare region is vastly different from any other place we’ve been. A very populated area, there are all kinds of markets, shops, churches, schools, and coffee plantations along the main road.

Most of our co-ops are located in remote, rural areas, so it was a change to meet this new co-op is a bustling area!

We poured out of the bus, and walked to the back of a building, onto a beautiful grass clearing overlooking the coffee-covered hills below.

Abasangirangendo is a women’s community of poor farmers. Their dream is to one day have a small coffee plantation of their own. They will soon be receiving a big delivery of goats once Rwanda’s livestock quarantine is lifted.

We danced, we sang, we introduced ourselves, and listened to the leaders share about their community. All in all, a lovely visit, but we still have much to learn about these people – and we’re looking forward to making something wonderful happen together.

Tonight, we’re staying at a small motel in the center of town. Tomorrow, we take on the second half of the drive – through the Nyungwe Rainforest! We’ll be stopping along the way at the famous Canopy Walk – a series of suspension bridges that take you across the rainforest canopy.