Friday, November 30, 2012

CCA VIDEO: "Rwanda - A Co-op Quest for Food Security"

"CANADIANS FRONT AND CENTRE AT IYC CLOSING CEREMONY"

For those that weren't aware, 2012 was the International Year of Cooperatives (IYC) observed by the United Nations (UN). Every year the UN observes a new focus / topic(s) for the year ahead. Previous years focused on People of African Decent (2011), Chemistry (2011), Forests (2011), Youth (2010-2011), Biodiversity (2010), the Gorilla (2009), and many more. The year 2013 is set to recognize Water Cooperation and Quinoa. More on International Years observed by the UN can be found here.

Anyways, back to the reason of this post! So this year was a really neat year to be embarking on an internship through a Cooperative organization [the Canadian Cooperative Association (CCA)] given the emphasis placed on the Cooperative Business Model this year and the work cooperatives carry out globally. I had a really great opportunity to participate in a the ICA Africa Annual and Regional conference this year, as it was being held right here in Rwanda! Really neat!

Well the UN officially wrapped up the IYC last week in New York City, and it turns out the Canada played a significant role in the closing ceremony. Below is a News Brief I received in the CCA Weekly News Briefs e-mail I subscribe to that mentions Canada's role in the closing ceremony. Enjoy! :-)

CANADIANS FRONT AND CENTRE AT IYC CLOSING CEREMONY
Canadian co-operators were front and centre as the United Nations held its official closing ceremony for the International Year of Co-operatives on November 19-20.

Five Canadians had speaking roles at the event, which was webcast live on the Co-operative News Global News Hub.

In her keynote speech, Monique Leroux, president, CEO and chair of Desjardins Group, focused on the important role young people can play in both the present and future of the co-operative movement.

"You need to dream big and not be afraid to share your dreams with others...," she said. "The co-op model belongs to all of us, but it will be your heritage. It will be yours to pass on to the next generation as we are doing with you."

Jack Wilkinson, former president of both the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, was featured in a panel discussion on co-operatives and food security.  Stephanie Guico, who managed the youth program at the International Summit of Cooperatives, moderated a session on co-operatives and youth.  Tanya Gracie, IYC manager for the Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA) and Marco Plourde, public relations advisor at the Fédération des caisses populaires acadiennes, were both speakers at the youth forum.

Participants in the youth forum issued a statement on co-operatives and youth, which urged that young people engage with co-operatives "as a viable and promising option for their transition to full economic, social and civic participation."  The UN is encouraging young people around the world to sign the statement, and others to support it.  To do so, go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2QTY8RT.

About a dozen Canadians attended the UN event. In addition to those mentioned above, they included Denyse Guy, CCA's executive director;  Michaël Béland, director of communications and programs for the Conseil canadien de le coopération et de la mutualité; Alison Barter, coordinator of youth services at the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Co-operatives; Jamie Felsch, coordinator of the Manitoba Youth Cooperative Camp; and Duane Nicol, manager of marketing and communications at Assiniboine Credit Union in Winnipeg.

Go to http://s.coop/12o98 for full coverage of the event on the
Global News Hub. 

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Happy/Sad Kind of Day

So today was both a very exciting, happy and sad day - all in one lol! 

Exciting because...
Joyce and I booked several parts of our East Africa trip, confirming hotels and methods of transport to each destination. We will be visiting Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar - yay!! Plans to visit / meet up with friends in Uganda and Tanzania/Zanzibar, go white water rafting on the Nile (yes, I said it!!), snorkeling in Zanzibar, and taking a train across Kenya - amazing!! We're also hoping to fit a mini-safari in there as well. Will be relaxing on beaches in Mombasa and Zanzibar, spending our Christmas in Mombasa and New Years in Zanzibar! We're sooo lucky... and extremely EXCITED!! =D 

Happy because...
We decided to open the gifts my parents had sent for Dec 1st early so that we would be able to open them with our friend Justine before she left (she really wanted to know what the one that smelt like a Christmas Tree was - it turned out to be a Christmas smelling candle - amaaaaazing!!). We're really happy we decided to go ahead and open the gifts early, because they were the perfect gifts to share with a friend who is going away (sad but happy face). The December 1st gifts included a Christmas (Balsam & Cedar to be exact) scented candle, a Lindt Chocolate Advent Calendar and a mini Christmas tree with decorations! LOVE THEM!! =D We decorated the Christmas tree with Justine, while burning the Christmas tree smelling candle and listening to Christmas music - Just Perfect 


Candle & Advent Calendar
Decorating our Christmas Tree!

And Sad because...
Justine has officially left us L She is off to more adventures in East Africa, and then home for the Holidays with her fam. We will miss you bunches Justine. You were our bestest friend here in Rwanda - things definitely will not be the same without you! I know that sounds cheesy, but it's really the truth. Sad to see you go, but excited for you and all the adventures ahead of you! See you soon lady 

Our last picture with Justine 



Monday, November 26, 2012

Amahoro (Peace) Island

This past weekend I travelled to Amahoro (Peace) Island, just off the shores of Kibuye in Rwanda. It was our friend Justine's last weekend in Rwanda, so we wanted to spend it in style. Justine heard about Amahoro from her homestay family, so we agreed to check it out!

Kibuye is a 2 hour drive from Gitarama using the bus. Joyce and I caught the early bus (as in 7am early) on Saturday to Kibuye because of Umuganda (the whole country, including business/transport, stops between 8:00-11:00am to clean). We arrived in Kibuye by 9am and walked around trying to find the way to the "beach" and "people". Turns out there's actually no real beach in Kibuye, and the life of the town is not very lively, so we hopped on a boat and headed straight to the island.


Some pictures of Kibuye & Amahoro below (more can be found here): 


Lake Kivu - Kibuye, Rwanda
On the boat to Amahoro
Amahoro Island
Path Linking the 2 parts of Amahoro Island
Our Tents on Amahoro Island

Once on the island we ordered brochette and lounged around chatting with these very nice Chinese friends we met and a mixture of other muzungus from different countries. Joyce and I also played some beach volleyball with a girl from Poland and a Rwandan guy. I sadly injured my thumb at the end (just a bruise though, nothing serious) - goes to show how sportive I am! *blushes* lol!


EVIDENCE: Bruised Thumb #sadstory

We were finally joined by the rest of our friends (6 to be exact) later that evening. When they arrived we listed to their adventures in Gisenyi earlier that day and then set up our tents and were off to sleep!

The following day we woke up to gorgeous weather and the island monkey in our the tree behind our tent - definitely a treat to wake up to! We had met the island dog (Bobbie), cows and bird (crested crane), the day before, but had yet to spot the monkey. He was super cute and we had the pleasure of having him hang around us for most of the remainder of the day.

Bobbie

Cows (mean/scary cows, to be exact)

Monkey :-)

Crested Crane

We spent our day swimming in Lake Kivu and enjoying the sun. Around mid afternoon our group split up; with Justine, Joyce and I heading to see the Bats on Napolean's Hat (Island), and the others heading back to Kigali. Below is a very short video of the bats on Napolean's Island :-)


Hangin' Out in Lake Kivu

Lake Kivu

See Ya!! :-)


View photos from the weekend here.

Friday, November 23, 2012

Friday, 23 Nov 2012

So yesterday 2 of our friends from Kigali (well 1 is actually from America and the other from South Africa lol) came to good ol' Muhanga and stayed with us here at Azizi. Justine also came over and we all headed to Splendid for dinner and then back home to watch a movie on our awesome projector that my parents and grandma sent me via our CCA Colleague (thank you again!). We watched "What to Expect When You're Expecting", which was really cute/funny. Always so nice to have friends come over and hang out here with us, it doesn't happen as much as it should!

Today was a typical day at work, nothing crazy exciting happened aside from the usual. Although, I did meet with Fresnel on Wednesday of this week and we thorough discuss my workplan for the remainder of my internship here, so now I have a much clearer idea of how to approach and get started on the work I will be carrying out over the coming few months. Feels really nice knowing how to move forward on things and to have a clear idea as to when things will be taking place and how - exciting!

It definitely looks as though I will probably have to extend my internship by another 3 months though if I have any hope of accomplishing the items on my task list. It's not that I have a long task list, but the tasks that I do have are quite large in capacity and will take a while to carry out - especially when there's 15 co-operatives involved! Here's what I've got ahead of me:

  • Market Research on Financial Tools available for co-operatives
  • Market Research on activities and options available for equal participation of men and women throughout the agriculture value chain of their co-operative
  • Help to draft questions for the Project Baseline Study and assist in the execution and analysis of the Baseline
  • Conduct value chain mapping for each of the 15 co-operatives
  • Research and suggest income diversification options for the co-operative members 
So yes, really interesting stuff ahead, but very limited time to complete it - so we'll see what ends up happening :-)

I didn't share these press releases on my blog yet, so here are the official communique's from CCA and the Co-operative Development Foundation of Canada (CDF) on the project I am working on here in Rwanda:
So that's that! This weekend Joyce and I will be joining Justine and Leah in Kibuye, a town about 2hrs away from Muhanga located on Lake Kivu. This will be our second time visiting Lake Kivu (Gisenyi was the first), so should be really nice! We'll be camping on an island just off the shore of Kibuye called Amahoro (Peace) Island. Our bus leaves at 7am sharp tomorrow - the latest bus possible tomorrow morning because of Umuganda. So we'll be in Kibuye by 9am, giving us tons of time to enjoy the town and make it to the island. Should definitely make for a nice, relaxing weekend - will post pics upon return, of course :-) 

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Blog Writing: Take 2

So I've clearly been a failed blogger. Last post on October 3rd? That was almost 2 months ago!! "Sorry sorry" as they would say here in Rwanda, that's very bad of me. 

As a result of my failed blogging skills, I have decided to take a new angle at blogging: instead of writing ginormous life stories for posts every so often, I'm going to try to just write a brief synopsis at the end of each day (or at least every other day). Hopefully this way I won't be such a fail and every one (including myself) will be continuously updated on what's happening in my life here in Rwanda. 

I'll start with a brief roundup of my weekend, etc.:

Friday
Had a going away dinner for Alvin, our awesome friend from Uganda who returned home to Kampala on Sunday. Nine of us enjoyed a lovely dinner at Zen Oriental Cuisine in Nyarutarama (Kigali). Lots of wine, sushi and a variety of oriental dishes - wonderful food and gorgeous restaurant!
Saturday
Friendsgiving!! On Saturday some of our lovely Kigali friends hosted a Thanksgiving dinner/potluck at their home. About 30 people attending this splendid gathering, and the food spread was outstanding. Sadly I arrived super late due to language barriers with moto's and lack of vehicle taxi's, among other set backs, so I failed to produce the sesame green beans I had promised - oopsies! Bottle of wine had to suffice. Below are a few ridic photos from that night :-)
Sunday
Sunday I came down with the initial symptoms of what turned out to be a small flu virus, which is finally almost gone - so I wasn't feeling the greatest on this day to say the least. However! It was Alvin's official last day in Rwanda, so Justine, Joyce, Alvin and I all went to brunch at Bourbon Coffee for his final send off. Sunday evening I retreated to my bed Muhanga in an attempt to save my body from the lovely illness I had adopted. Tuesday I went to the clinic in Kigali where I was officially diagnosed with a minor flu virus and prescribed this wonderful medication that has nursed me back to health in lightning speed - success! :-)

Alright my loved ones, that is my update for now - I promise to be more effective at providing short, daily updates in my blog. 

À bientôt! :-) 

xox MM.