This summer, the non-profit society Developing World Connections (DWC) will support Covaga Women, a cooperative of weavers in Gashora, Rwanda. They have a mission to protect the environment and create jobs in their community. Hopefully this summer, DWC volunteers will be able to report directly from Rwanda and tradeyourtalent will provide continuos news on the process of creating a cultural center in Covaga. The first steps have been made with building the Covaga Innovation Centre in 2010.
Background: Beginning in the fall of 2009, Developing World Connections (DWC) has been working with Building Bridges with Rwanda (BBR Ltd), to implement a long-tem development program to support Rwanda’s Millennium Developing Goals. BBR began to work with Covaga in the fall of 2006. This collaboration was the result of BBR interest in contributing to Rwanda’s reconstruction efforts following the devastating 1994 genocide against the minority Tutsi. International volunteers help raise funds in COVAGA, a cooperative of weavers in Gashora whose mission is to extract water hyacinth plants and use them as renewable natural resource to protect the environment and create jobs. Last summer, DWC and Softchoice, a Toronto based software company, built the Covaga Innovation Centre.
This summer: In 2011, another four DWC groups are scheduled to work in Gashora. They include three student groups from Quest University and University of Victoria, in British Columbia Canada. In addition staff from Jones Delaurier, a Toronto-based insurance company, will spend a week working with Gashora residents to continue the construction of the Covaga Innovation Centre. During their stay in Rwanda, international volunteers work on the construction projects, visit interesting sites; such as world’s renowned mountain gorilla, they go on neighborhood walks, home visits, pay tribute to victims of the 1994 Genocide at memorial sites, they visit museums and national parks.
Cultural Centre: When completed, the CIC will have a boutique where Covaga will sell its products, two weaving studios, a kitchen and restaurant. The restaurant and boutique will create jobs for Covaga and contribute to Gashora tourism and hospitality industry. At the same time, the centre will host learning exchanges between international visitors and local residents. It will have events that promote Gashora culture, such as storytelling and cultural performance.
The Covaga Innovation Centre/ CIC
Covaga had approached BBR and asked for support in building a new facility, in the past they had received a dilapidated building from the local government that members were using as weaving studio. Soon DWC agreed to send volunteers to work on the construction of the Covaga centre. In 2010, four DWC teams spent the summer and fall working on the construction of the Covaga Innovation Centre. BBR has made arrangements with a vocational training school that is being constructed by Green Helmets, a German NGO called the Nelson Mandela Education Centre. NMEC students and instructor work with Covaga members, residents of Gashora and DWC volunteers to build the centre using German technology. The project is supervised by a German architect, Till Groner, who is the principle of NMEC.
DWC philosophy is inspired by the interconnectedness between travel, cultural exchange and development. The organization creates a forum where Canadian volunteers raise funds and travel to work in developing countries along side with the local residents. Through a learning exchange, visitors and locals engage in a meaning contribution to the local development.
For more information, please contact:
Lama Mugabo, BBR Initiator bbrwanda@gmail.com
Jessica Kleissen, info@developingworldconnections.org
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