Back to work!
This week we got some logistical details for Henk’s research figured out, we even had our own private taxi hired to take us to the field and back. This meant that he could finally start getting some serious work done.
What was the goal of Henk’s research again? Well, just in short, he is investigating the effectiveness of an agricultural development project. The project has trained a small group of innovative farmers, who are then reaching out to train their neighbors and friends, and so on, to eventually reach whole villages and more. Henk is interviewing these farmers at different levels along the chain: the first, second and third ‘generations’ of farmers involved in the project, to see whether the farmer-to-farmer trainings are actually effective. He doesn’t only want to see whether they have gained technical knowledge, but especially whether they have caught the future vision. This involves an awareness that they can improve their own situation if they only make a plan and work hard at it step by step.
This week, we were privileged to visit two farmers in the village of Rwesero.
Léocadie
Léocadie, a “first generation” farmer was chosen to participate for obvious reasons: she has strong leadership qualities, innovative ideas and a vision for developing not only herself but also her community. During the interview, we quickly got a sense of her vision. She had many ideas to not only protect her soil from erosion, but also to increase her income, such as growing mushrooms. In the future she would send all her children to university and even employ her neighbors! Léocadie, like all farmers in the project, has made a poster-size drawing of her farm as it is now, and her farm as it will look in 4 years, with all her plans realized. She also has 3 poster sheets with her action plan, which depict, step by step, how she will reach that future situation. She does not keep her future plan tucked away in a shelf; no, she has it hanging prominently in the living room of her simple mud hut where she, her husband and children can consult it every day. Each member of the household is involved in the project and held responsible for his or her tasks. If the wife needs money, the husband will sometimes even give up his nightly beer to help her buy some fertilizer or other necessity.
Talking to Léocadie was very inspiring, she is a very active member in her community. Besides training her group of 10 ‘2nd generation farmers’ she is also involved in a local micro-financing association. She even trains parents of 15 local malnourished children in better nutritional practices. This may be why she has not had much time to actually work on her farm, and not all her suggested improvements have yet been commenced. Still, it was clear to us that what she has done she has done very well with serious investment. By the end of our interview we could clearly see two main things that motivated her: the education of her children, and a genuine desire to care for and help develop her neighbors.
Fidès
Léocadie’s neighbor, Fidès, lives on the same homestead, and was part of the group of ten 2nd generation farmers trained by Léocadie.
Fidès is a widow, which makes things particularly difficult in a country with hardly any form of social welfare. However, she has decided not to sit down waiting for handouts from somewhere. She has adopted Léocadie’s mindset of self-development and even taken it to a new level. Besides carrying out the improvement on the level of farm, livestock and forestry suggested by the project, she wants to upgrade her house with solar panels and a water pump. She assures me that one of her children will own a car some day, and she will be counted among the rich of the village. When we asked her for any further comments or questions, we didn’t get the request for more help (donations) from the project, which often happens at this stage. Instead, she said:
“It was so encouraging to have you visit. I will continue training other people and exchanging my experiences. I want to set up an experimentation field so that I can be an example to others in development. After the project is over, I hope to have gained important knowledge which I will use to help other people, other communes and even provinces, so that other people may be involved in the project.”
