Week 8: Charlotte, The Queen City
The bus has officially started making it's way back to the Northeast with a stop in Charlotte, North Carolina along the way! A recent article from the New York Times has inspired a new direction in conversation with the students this week. The village of Mayange, Rwanda- photographed by Gary Knight, highlights the big strides Rwanda has taken to achieve the Millennium Development Goal focused on gender equality. In the bus, we have baskets made by the girls from the Mayange Basket Weaving collective on display and many students are curious about how they are made and we often refer back to Gary's documentation of this unique, women-owned initiative. Last week, an article was published by the New York Times highlighting the growing industry of women in the fishing business in Eastern Rwanda. The model of a women run business collective is not just specific to the village of Mayange but has grown to become common across the entire country. Sharing this new information with students has offered a greater perspective on a country that is evolving quickly past it's dark history. However, explaining the historical context of why these women-led business collectives is essential in understanding why they are so important and popular. Specifically that after the genocide, the majority of Rwanda's population was female which meant it was imperative to begin including women in the recovery process. While these conversations are challenging to navigate and impossible to adequately cover in a 45 minute session, it has come with a deeper understanding of the different types of initiates and momentum built around the Millennium Development Goals.
