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Queue 'Eco-Tourism'

James Uwizeyimana

May 29, 2009

James Uwizeyimana is 40 years old, married with 4 children. The children’s ages range from 8, 6, 4 and 2 years old. The elder children go to primary school. This family grows different crops like cassava, potatoes, cabbage, spinach, tomatoes, and beans, sweet potatoes for both home consumption and to sell in the near by market. They basically carry out subsistence farming. He sells about 600 kilograms of cassava tubes to the wholesalers from Kigali.

From the Field: Stories of Hope and Change

May 29, 2009
These two young entrepreneurs are carrying cassava, potatoes to the market place in Butare. They have to push the bicycle for 10 kms on top of the hills. They are coffee farmers who sell their coffee to Maraba washing station and were interested in the coffee/cargo bike for transporting the coffee cherries. Many people in the northern part of Rwanda still use wooden bicycles as a means of transport. When the local farmers in the area were asked if they would be interested in the coffee/cargo bikes, they said they could use the bikes to transport their agricultural produce to the market before it perishes.

Francine Mukeshimana

May 29, 2009

Francine Mukeshimana is 40 year old widow left with 5 children to look after when her husband died in 2000 of HIV/AIDS.

Mediatrice Mukeshimuremyi

May 29, 2009

Mediatrice Mukeshimuremyi is 35 years old, married with 2 daughters. This family grows: beans, sweet potatoes, corn, vegetables cassava, etc.

A Bike with a Future

July 30, 2009

PhocasName: Phocas Ndolimana
Age: 21
Hometown: Kinigi, Rwanda (Northern Province)
Dependents: Mother, two younger brothers - ages 2 and 3
Income before Project Rwanda cargo bike: $180 per year
Income since then: $535 (3x previous per year)
Target income: $35,000 by the year 2020

Only two years ago, job prospects for Phocas Ndolimana were grim. Head of the household at 19, Phocas farmed potatoes on a small plot, struggling to generate enough income to care for his aging mother and two younger siblings. With only a grammar school education, Phocas’ future seemed limited to the brutal realities of subsistence farming.

Last year, the president of a farming union approached Phocas and introduced him to the local cooperative. This, as a way to work with other growers to pool resources and increase their earnings.

Building a Business from a Bike Up

July 30, 2009

VincentName: Vincent Habyarimana
Age: 31
Hometown: Kinigi, Rwanda (Northern Province)
Dependents: Wife, newborn son (7 months)
Income before cargo bike: $360 per year
Income after using cargo bike: $1930 (5x previous per year)
Target income: $ 3,900 in 2010

With a young wife, newborn son, and a meager income, Vincent struggled to feed and care for his growing family, much less save for the future. A local potato farmer, Vincent spent his days tending his fields and selling his crop at the market. Fortunate to also own a cow, he sells the milk to his neighbors as a second source of income.

Through the Field Farmer's Association - a local agricultural vocational institute - Vincent joined a cooperative to benefit from shared knowledge and resources with fellow farmers. Not only did he learn about the Project Rwanda cargo bikes but, as a member of the cooperative, was able to receive a micro loan through Urwego Bank to purchase a bike.

Multiplying a Better Future with Bikes

July 30, 2009

IsaacName: Isaac Nzabalinda
Age: 49
Hometown: Kinigi, Rwanda (Northern Province)
Dependents: Wife, six children -- ages 6-27
Income before cargo bike: $12,500
Income after using cargo bike: $21,400 (after 11 months of ownership)
Target income: $27,000

As an older farmer with a large family, Isaac has done well financially in spite of the constant pressures of subsistence farming. With three hard-won hectares of land being farmed, he beat the odds and was able to send all six of his children to school.

Isaac first heard about Project Rwanda through district officials in the northern province of Musanze where he resides. As a community leader and head of the farmer's union, Isaac was one of the first to see the Project Rwanda cargo bike. He immediately recognized the bike’s potential for transforming the farming community.

Smoothing the Path to Progress

July 30, 2009

From the Field: Stories of Hope and Change
Name: Philbert Nsengiyumva
Age: 48
Hometown: Kinigi, Rwanda (Northern Province)
Dependents: Wife, 8 children, 1 orphan
Income before cargo bike: $852 per year
Income after using cargo bike: $1,760 per year
Target income: $2,136 in 2010 (3x per-bike annual income)

Against the majestic backdrop of the Virunga mountain chain, Philbert tends his potatoes and local plants used as natural herbicides. Waking at 5:00 AM, he pulls potatoes, loads them on his bike and makes a long, bumpy ride to the market in the hope of making a good price for his daily effort.
With responsibilities both for his birth children and an orphan they’ve taken under their family’s care, feeding the family was a relentless challenge common to subsistence farmers like Philbert who comprise 80% of Rwanda’s population. Earning enough to send his children to school was seen as out of reach.

Volunteer Needed! looking for anyone traveling to Rwanda to take a 33lb. box of tools


tools
We are looking for a volunteer courier. If you will be traveling to Rwanda in the next few weeks please fill out our 'MULER' form. We have a 33lb. box of bike tools destined for coffee bike maintenance and repair. We will ship the box to you, and you would take it with you to Rwanda as extra luggage. We will arrange for someone to meet you on your arrival to collect it. Click on the photo for a larger view.

Marc Pauly's Rwandan Coffee Bike Fund Raiser

Learn more about Marc's fund raiser here: 24 bikes in 24 hours