Merchants and their merchandise

We spent our last day in Kilgali. After a.   nice hot shower and a good nights sleep we were all ready to go out and explore   the city.  We started our day at a              women’s co-op. This is a place where    women come and sew clothing, bags     and other items. They also make jewelry and baskets. 

We were here today to work with the      weavers and make a necklace or             earrings. We found out that the co-op is now in 3 different areas in Rwanda. The  co-op provides women a place to gather, to sell their products, and to advance      their knowledge. 

The co-op provides classes, a library,      and babysitting so women can improve   their education and learn to make money off their products. Many of the women    come to the co-op with no formal            education. Some of the women we worked with had a 2nd or 3rd grade educationbefore coming to the co-op and two       were taking classes at the university in           tourism. 

We met two young women who were in  our weaving class who were in medical   school at Penn State and were working  with Paul Farmer at his partners in health Butaro hospital. One women graduated from MIT so she was chatting with our group about Boston. The other women was  from California and had a lot in common with our guide Seth. Such a small world. 

After working with the weavers we had    lunch. A women from the center who       teaches cooking classes made us an             incredible lunch. 

Then it was off to the markets where we did a little bit of shopping before headingto the airport for our flight home!