The
women involved in the artisan cooperatives in Rwanda have experienced various
changes from their participation in the cooperatives. Compelling stories of
changes in diet, finances, family dynamics, community, concerns, daily life,
future goals, and change in self emerged as themes regarding empowerment of
women participants in artisan cooperatives. The participatory rural appraisal
techniques provided an environment to capture responses in community. The use of these techniques along with focus
groups and interviews allowed me to capture the changes the women have
experienced. My photos document both their participation in the activities and
their daily work.
Changes in Diet
Being a part of a cooperative and having a more stable income allowed many women to experience the typical three meals a day. Some of the cooperatives provided morning tea or lunch for those working. Such changes gave the women even greater courage to try other foods they previously avoided buying. Women mentioned the freedom that came from having a consistent salary. There was no fear in where the next meal would come from. They now dared to buy sugar or go to the supermarket and purchase items they would have previously never have felt bold enough to have purchased before.
The
women from Rwanda said adults did not consume fruits that often. One
participant said that they were told babies needed fruit so they would give
fruit to children and not eat it themselves. After being a part of the
cooperative, they were able to learn more about the importance of fruit in
their diet. Komera Creative experienced the greatest change in their fruit
consumption which increased by three days a week.
Another
cultural component to one food item was milk. In Rwanda, milk is a culture. It
is featured on the national currency, and milk bars (imagine an alcoholic bar
but with milk instead) are found throughout every town. Women in Umutima
consumed milk 3.7 times a week before being a part of the cooperative, but it
changed to 5.4 after participating in the cooperative. The women in Komera had
lactose intolerant individuals, so they avoided milk. Yet both groups mentioned
that in Rwanda, you knew you were destitute if you could not afford to buy milk
even once a week for morning or afternoon tea.
Changes in Family Dynamics
The
women in the cooperatives discussed all the hours of unpaid work they
contributed towards helping their families before being a part of the
cooperative. Many women had no jobs and most expressed how their family members
saw them as nothing and not contributing towards their family’s wellbeing. One
woman from Komera Creative said she had family members who did not know she
existed before working in the cooperative because she could not help them but
now that she has a job, they see value in her. Some assets have greater value
and many of the women described how they had little value before because they
had no economic output. Family members saw women who stayed at home as lazy and
disrespected them. They also described husbands as more controlling of their
marriage if they were not working. There was an overall concern voiced on how
they lacked the ability to discuss financial, social, and family issues with
their husbands because they were not contributing towards family expenses.
All
the women from Komera Creative described how before bringing in a consistent
income their children said as mothers, they could not punish them because it
was their fathers who did that. The women were now paying school fees for their
children, so they showed more respect towards their mothers rather than just
their fathers. This dynamic changed because of their consistent income they
were bringing into their families
Change in Self
Not
only did women see changes in how their families saw them but they also discussed
how they viewed themselves differently. They grew in the skills they had
acquired from their job. They also had grown in their confidence in themselves.
Women in Umutima learned how to beautifully create hand stitched birds on
various bags. The women doing the hand stitching shared with me how they had
previously only sewed by hand to fix clothes at home, but they have the ability
now to create different animals and shapes like those depicted below.
Many
women became leaders in both the cooperatives and communities. In all locations
the women discussed how having a job now gave them value. They expressed how
their confidence had grown in themselves and of their ability to accomplish a
variety of tasks. The women in Rwanda
were still confident and expressed they felt they had changed and grown but
many still expressed fear from the previous violence of the 1994 Genocide and
how it impacted their lives. Jesse from Komera Creative seen below lost most of
her family during the genocide so she is the sole provider for her children.
She expressed how she was forced to be a leader and grow in confidence. As a
mother she had no choice to fail because then she would be failing not only
herself but her children. Having a job in the cooperative gave her greater
confidence in providing for her children. I visited her home, and she was happy
to show off all the new renovations she had done because of her job. She
expressed a confidence that indicated she was not scared about the future because
she was prepared.
The
women also exuded confidence and pride in the industry they worked in. They saw
value in it and wanted to share it with others. In Umutima the cooperative
conducts tours around the workshop and community for added income. While there,
whenever I asked about how a product was made or made comments about the colors
the women would start sharing more about what it was and how the item was made.
At Komera I was discussing with the women how their sewing on treadle sewing machines
looked hard and must take some sort of extreme talent. They then said that they
had learned and so could I, so they proceeded to teach me how to use the
machine to make a simple gitenge napkin as I had discussed in my previous blog.
I took about 30 minutes to sew such a simple item while they finished a whole
napkin and placemat set within the next 30 minutes. They were so happy to share
their craft and talents with me and others who were interested in learning
more.
Walking
into both cooperatives in Rwanda I saw women dressed in African skirts,
dresses, and shirts. They seemed to be happy to show off the colors they were
wearing. The change in self is not only an inner feeling of confidence but also
an outward portrayal. One woman from Komera mentioned how because being a part
of the cooperative she has learned from the others how to dress well. Some
women were wearing gitenge fabric dresses or simply nice clothes like those
below.
One
participant in Komera said how when she was home alone and faced issues with
her period or other feminine specific health issues, she never was able to
discuss them with others, so she suffered through her issues. That changed when
she was able to be with the other women every day. Gabriel from Komera
mentioned how with a consistent income and job she could now afford to go to
the “good doctors.” At Komera the women discussed how when they were sick, they
would just go to a pharmacy and get some medicine and hope it would resolve
their sickness. They had no clue what they were suffering from but thought
something was better than nothing to take for their ailment.
Women
specifically from Umutima and Komera discussed how working with other women
also helped them heal from the previous emotional trauma they experienced from
the genocide. At Umutima one women mentioned how she always had her old
memories of the genocide and would be so emotional about it. Coming to work she
now had other people who had experienced similar things, so she was able to
freely discuss them with the other women in a healthier atmosphere instead of
keeping everything bottled up inside.
Changes in Community
Before
being a part of the cooperative many of the women discussed how coming to work
provided them a community of support. When the end of the workday was over, all
the women were yelling to each other saying goodbye or walking home in groups
together. Many women discussed the feelings of being alone before the
cooperative and not having friends. Neighbors and family around them did not
see them as having value when they were alone at home. Now they saw those they
worked with as close friends and looked forward to coming to work.
Changes in Finance
Each
cooperative had women who discussed how they felt less stress and anxiety now
because they had a consistent income. They also mentioned that there was added
pressure and problems in their life with additional income. In the Financial
Preparedness Activity all cooperatives reported a positive change in their
confidence in being more financially prepared. As Figure 28 shows all
cooperatives showed major changes in how much more confident, they felt now as
compared to before being a part of the cooperative
In
Komera the women discussed how school fees were always a pressing issue and
something they previously struggled to come up with. Yet now with a consistent
income they are better at saving and in being able to send their children to
school. Being able to afford quality healthcare was another issue discussed.
When medical emergencies came about, women in the cooperatives felt more
confident now in being able to afford such costs.
Changes in Concerns
The
concerns the women had before being a part of the cooperative to what they were
concerned about now changed. Concerns shifted to larger concerns rather than
daily life or basic necessities. Umutima and Komera operate differently but
still discussed how the Covid-19 pandemic was a main concern for them. The
pandemic meant less tourists or visitors so that meant they had less customers.
At Umutima one of the leaders told me how they had the desire to get into the
digital market with their products so they could overcome the impacts of the
pandemic. At Komera they sell some of their products to other international groups
but still do not have an online marketplace. Gabriel of Komera told me that she
hopes soon they can find a way to gain access to more international consumers
so they would not be concerned about having no customers. This is where I saw a
need that I felt my project could help to solve. I hope to create a digitial
platform for Komera. By creating videos and highlighting the artisan’s skills I
think I can help create a story that will bring customers from all over the
world to their shop both in person and online.
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