Day 7 - Cokawi, Copakika, & Murindi Co-ops

July 16, 2018

Written by Leesbeth

Today we visited three cooperatives close by, located in the outskirts of Kigali.

The first one, Cokawi ("Wake Up and Improve Yourself") is one of the first cooperatives supported by WD4H. It was started by a group of former sex workers (all of whom have AIDS) who were dreaming of a better existence. These women now are mostly healthy with their disease managed well, and so happy with how their life has improved. They are incredibly hard working farmers, and have applied Tom Cole's permagardemn techniques to their vast farmland - raised beds covered with local compost materials to keep the water in, and a newly installed irrigation system. Their crops are amazing! They are the most successful farmers in the area, and have now been asked by the government to train other farmers.

The second cooperative, Copakika, is one of the newer ones adopted in January 2017. Since then, their standard of living has much improved drastically thanks to mattresses and goats. Their little community was located in this idyllic bamboo grove, and we were royally treated with cooked corn on the cob, sodas multiple gifts, dance song and lots of love.

During our meeting, two of our travelers stepped forward with surprises for Copakika. Jill, the birthday girl, shared the wonderful news that thanks to support from her church and good friends, she will be donation a full-grown, pregnant cow to be named "Jarod," after a dear friend. In an expression of wild excitement, two of the women dumped water over Jill's head! It was hilarious - and oh so fun! The co-op has also dreamt about starting chicken coops, which will now come true - thanks to Danna! When the members received this second round of good news, they ran over to Danna and hoisted her up into the air, while jumping and cheering. Thank you, Jill and Danna!

Before departing, we visited the home of a mother and her two young children to see their new matterss - the photos below say it all!

The last visit of the day was to Murindi, a community of Genocide survivors and widows. These gentle, soft-spoken women shared their story with us through quiet tears, touching our hearts deeply. Their tears of sadness turned to joy when they began talking about how much their lives have changed and how well their dozens of cows are doing! The goal is to have a dairy, but they still need a large parcel of land to house the cows, as well as a refrigeration system for the milk.

As a token of their love, they presented us each with a gorgeous printed shoulder bags, sewn by two of the Murindi members. After hearing that the women would like to start a sewing venture, Naima offered to donate 2 sewing machines, using funds she had raised with her friends and family. The women were ecstatic hear the news, and carried Naima up the hill all the way to the bus!

Such a profound day for all of us...

Tomorrow we'll be traveling east to Akagera National Park - the wild animal preserve!

Cokawi

Copakika

Murindi