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Lake Kivu

Lake Kivu is flanked with rice and banana fields in between small picturesque villages. Sweeping slopes of coffee tower above one of the most beautiful areas of Rwanda.

Creativity…

Children are amazing! When given the challenge, or when faced with the need, they can put together just about anything. Forced to be creative with their inventions because of the lack of resources and equipment, it’s inspiring what we’ve seen so far…

• a serenade with a tin can fiddle (held together with a few strings) when we stopped to look at a waterfall.
• a soccer ball made from twisted together plastic bags.

What else will the next generation of inventors show us?

Shyira Umutima Kukazi

“Put Your Heart in Your Work” -

A simple statement on a worn piece of paper tacked to the wall at Nkora Coffee Washing Station – a testament to the work ethic of Rwandan people - hardworking, proud, happy, enthusiastic and willing to learn new things. There is a lot of heart in Rwanda!

Rwanda Tea

Not only does Rwanda have coffee, tea is also a major crop. In the southern and western regions, hillside after hillside can be seen covered in tea. It is also hand picked and carried in baskets to central collection sites and from there to the tea processing factories.

“I don’t speak Muzungu”…

Friday on the way back from the field we stopped to have a coke at a roadside stand; as usual, we were soon surrounded by curious onlookers, mostly children, who came to check out the Muzungus. One little boy asked us our names and how we were (in English), we answered (in English) and then he walked away saying “I don’t speak Muzungu.” That’s funny, we don’t either! Muzungu isn’t a language, but we knew what he meant regardless.

Lake Kivu – Cyangugu

Lake Kivu stretches across the entire western border of Rwanda; to the west of the lake (directly across in this picture) is the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The border town of Cyangugu on the shores of the lake separates the DRC from Rwanda. As beautiful as it is, the lake has some serious issues – one of which is methane gas buildup. When I first heard this, it reminded me of Lake Nyos in Cameroon which eventually had so much gas buildup it exploded and hundreds of people in the surrounding villages died of carbon dioxide asphyxiation.

Rwanda is taking measures to subdue the buildup before it becomes too late. There is a power plant on the shore near the town of Kibuye which is working to turn the gas into power. Several organizations are researching and scanning the lake to see how much methane (among other things) is there. Because of the gas, hardly anything lives in the lake – the only thing we’ve seen thus far are isambaza (teeny tiny fish, the size of your finger) which are fried whole and eaten – yumm :(

More info: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn3438-lake-methane-could-power-entire-nation.html

Muzungu! Muzungu!

We bounced along the road through village after village, each town resembling the next until they became a continuous blur one after another. It seemed as if we saw the same store fronts, the same crops, the same trees and even the same people in each town. We were on a mission to see as many coffee washing stations as the daylight hours would allow possible – an introduction to the country and our jobs. However, we soon learned that the children in each village were also on a quest. As quickly as they caught a glimpse of us, they had their hands out and started running alongside the car shouting “Muzungu mpa agacupa, Muzungu mpa agacupa!” Most of them barefoot, they kept pace with the car on the mud, rutted roads – incredible! The kids wanted our plastic water bottles (agacupa), which of course they knew we had because we were Muzungu (white). We slowed down and gladly passed out what we had. Such a treasure – used to carry water to the farms or make toys out of – they will definately be put to good use.

Coffee from seed to cup…

A planted seedling takes, on average, three years before it will produce commercial coffee beans. Rwanda grows a unique variety of Arabica called “Bourbon Blue”. A typical Rwandan farmer has 100-150 coffee trees. One tree will only produce enough to make approximately 1 pound of roasted coffee beans in one year (or growing season).

Coffee cherries (the fruit in which the beans are found) are harvested by hand picking. This is done several times a season (March – September) because the cherries ripen at different times, depending on the elevation at which they are growing.

A farmer brings his cherries to the washing station by bike (or walking) or he/she sells the cherries to coffee collectors who have trucks. Once picked, coffee starts to lose its value and flavor within 8 hours so the cherries need to be processed quickly. Most farmers pick all day and bring their cherry to the station in the afternoon. The station runs all night.

The owner of the station buys the cherry from the farmer at a pre-determined price per kilo of cherries. Last year the price was pre-determined (by the Rwandan Coffee Board) at 120 Rwandan francs per kilo (about $ 0.10 cents U.S. per pound), not enough to have a decent life. Our company is working towards increasing the income directly to the coffee farmers.

The station wet-processes the cherry to remove the red skin and pulp. Only the beans are left - wrapped in a light skin called parchment. The wet process takes about 32 hours from start to finish for de-pulping, soaking and fermenting; once a batch is started it cannot be stopped until it is done.

After the wet process the beans are hand-sorted to remove the ones damaged by insects or fungus. The beans are then placed on drying tables for 5 days.

During the drying process, hand sorting continues, removing any remaining damaged beans. Once dry, the beans are bagged and transported to the capital city (Kigali) where they are stored until a buyer (roaster) is found.

Once a buyer is found, the beans are dry-milled. Dry-milling removes the outer parchment from the beans. After dry-milling, the beans are taken to the Rwandan Coffee Board where a sample is cupped for quality control. Cupping allows the board to taste any defects in the coffee after which they will approve or deny the batch. The Rwandan Coffee Board stores the bags in their warehouse where the beans are continuously hand sorted again for quality control.

After the board issues a certificate of origin for the coffee, the supplier (i.e. washing station/dry-mill owner) sends a pre-shipment sample to the buyer. The buyer cups the sample and approves or denies shipment.

If approved, the beans are now ready for export and a shipper is contracted to fulfill the order for the buyer. Once the shipment arrives at the buyer’s destination, the beans are roasted, ground, bagged and labeled and are sold to retail stores.

From the store, the beans go directly to your cup of coffee each morning. Enjoy!

Murakaza Neza Mu Rwanda

Welcome to Rwanda - The Land of a Thousand Hills