African Road Board member, Julie Solomon, joined a small travel team for the most recent African Road working trip. Connecting with Changemakers and seeing the tangible progress and pride of partner communities in person, Julie shares some of the moments that were most meaningful for her in this guest blog post.
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I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel with a small African Road working group to visit East Africa this past February. As a long time volunteer and friend of African Road, I’ve been following the stories of each community and Changemaker for years. I joined the board in 2021 and while COVID delayed travel plans, when this orientation trip became a reality I was more than ready to embark.
It was a pleasure to “visit the stories in person”, and to meet Changemakers. The trip I shared with Kelly Bean (Executive Director), Madison Zurcher (Grants Manager and Impact Curator), Craig Spinks (Video Producer), and Katie Garner (Communications Consultant/Photographer) was a wonderful opportunity to see African Road’s approach of collaborative partnership activate positive change, again and again.
RWANDA, Togetherness Cooperative
Visiting Togetherness Cooperative, our little team met with Changemakers Steven Turikunkiko (Togetherness Founder) and Penina Mukashema (Togetherness President). Even before they began sharing their stories, I felt a hum of activity in every direction; laughter and conversation coming from the Ebenezer Sewing room, the murals on the preschool walls pulsed with energy, even when the children were elsewhere, and primary students were busy working inside and outside of their new classroom block.
Later in the day, I stood in the stadium seating by the soccer pitch and looked out at groups of young players scrimmaging, and further down to the Women’s Bakery, full of warm baked goods fresh from the wood-burning oven, ready to be packed up and sold in the neighborhood.
As we walked the Togetherness property, I recognized familiar projects and saw growing initiatives that exude a sense of purpose and hopefulness. In every corner there are new projects, crops planted, or carefully tended landscaping.
I could see the long and faithful partnership between African Road and the Togetherness Cooperative in the community’s literal accomplishments, and feel it in their goodwill and hopeful confidence as Togetherness continues to play an important role in the daily lives of its members and the broader community.
BURUNDI, Batwa Indigenous Partnership
A beautiful patchwork of little farm plots and homes clinging to steep, green hillsides, Burundi is one of the poorest countries in the world. Over a couple of days, we traveled narrow, winding roads into more rural areas to visit each of the three indigenous Batwa villages that are part of the African Road Village-to-Village partnership. Each of these communities greeted us with enthusiastic (and sustained) singing and dancing, and generously shared about their history, the ongoing activities, and the aspirations of their community.
I really appreciated the opportunity to spend time with Changemaker Evariste Ndikumana and dedicated members of his indigenous leadership team, ASSEJEBA, as we visited each village. It’s clear that ID Kits and other African Road investments over time have had meaningful impacts in each community. It’s also apparent that Evariste is focused on preserving these changes for the long term.
It was encouraging to learn more about ASSEJEBA’s steps toward sustainability for each of the villages, acquiring small plots of land to ensure a permanent presence and expanding farming with multiple harvests each year. This strengthens the sense of community and ownership, and tangibly increases food security.
TANZANIA, New Hope for Girls and Elimika VICOBA Plus Group
Visiting Elimika Women’s Cooperative in Tanzania was one of my personal highlights. Several members of this long-standing VICOBA Plus group hosted our team for a generous lunch. They sat with us to share their experiences of living through the economic and emotional impact of COVID and their progress since restarting their business endeavors. COVID restrictions caused many of these VICOBA members to survive on and deplete their savings.
Slowly, they have been re-imagining their businesses, starting to re-establish their savings. These small business entrepreneurs, running all manner of businesses, shared lessons learned, struggles, and successes. The principles of VICOBA have clearly been an important part of their process – allowing opportunities to reframe, learn, and encourage fellow members.
As one participant said, “If you get down, you can get up. And if we can hold your hand when you get up, we will hold your hand.” The quiet confidence, earnest hopes, and efforts expressed by these women was inspiring.
As a board member of African Road, I am grateful for the chance to see the work of African Road in “living color”. In each place we visited, it is clear to me that the approach of carefully considered, collaborative partnership, coming alongside local leaders to listen and reflect, and to expand capacity, is an approach that fosters sustainable, meaningful change that is valued by the community. As engaged and invested partners, we strive to avoid dependencies and encourage local projects and leaders. It’s energizing to see these strategies play out successfully over time.