It is hard to believe that I am on my 4th
adventure. This year it is Rwanda,
Africa. Every year it is harder and
harder to leave for a long period of time, so I am limiting my journey to only
one month.
I am very excited about the opportunity to work with an NGO
in Rwanda. I will be assisting the
women’s co-op to build their ice cream store into a profitable operation. Blue Marble Ice Cream out of New Jersey
started the Rwanda NGO. Their goal is to
help women become financially independent through a business opportunity, ice
cream stores, as well as provide business opportunities for local farmers to
supply the products that go into making good ice cream.
It has been a struggle for the Rwanda women’s co-op. A woman from Bpeace has been there to assist
for the last few months and I will be taking over her efforts, when she returns
to the states.
Now you are probably wondering: “What do I know about the
ice cream industry”. I have asked myself
that also!! I hope to apply my business
experience in looking at productivity and policies that will be able to make
the operation more efficient. Perhaps a
new person can see things that others can’t??
I hope so. I would feel terrible
if I could not add value to their operation.
My other goal is not to eat all the ice cream. I am hoping to lose a few pounds on this
trip. It may be hard working in an ice
cream store, which is one of my favorite desserts.
I also will be responsible for teaching English. This is
something I wanted to do for some time, so I am excited to be able to develop a
curriculum and test it out on the Rwanda women.
I don’t know if they know they are my first students. I do not know one word of Kinyarwanda, which is the Rwandan language.
While I am in Rwanda I hope to visit my chickens. Yes, I did say chickens. Last year I gave my 6 grandchildren chickens
for Easter that were given to various families in Rwanda. I will get to meet these families and make
sure my chickens are healthy and producing eggs. If they are, I hope I can convince others to
donate more chickens.
I arrive in two days…. The airtime is over 24 hours not
counting layovers. I already had a hard
day with plane delays and baggage that did not arrive. Obviously, I can’t leave without my luggage. I may have packed more than I need. You think I would be getting better at this,
but I am actually packing for Rwanda, Pennsylvania, and St. Thomas. I was still able to fit it into one bag, but
all the liquids required a check in. Of
course, I brought my hair dye and peroxide.
I learned from Italy.
Thanks for following my adventure to Rwanda, Paula
