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The Earthquake story (Fausta Nyirabirori)
Sunday February 3rd 2008 is a day many residents of Nyamasheke, Rwanda will never forget. The area suffered an earthquake registering 6.2 on the Richter Scale and large subsequent aftershocks. It was a very frightening experience for residents - most of their structures were either permanently destroyed or partially damaged. Schools, churches, hospitals and houses alike were affected.
One school completely destroyed was St. Francis Kibogora, where Habineza Odette, second-born of eight, was enrolled. Habineza had been a student here from the time she finished primary school in 2003 until the earthquake.
Habineza’s mother, Fausta Nyirabirori, considers her daughter one of the luckiest students from Nyamasheke. She refers repeatedly to the role of coffee income in her children’s education.
“After the earthquake, our daughter’s school was destroyed and I had to relocate her. She was already in form three of secondary and we could not consider postponing or ending her education. From coffee income savings, my husband and I were able to make a quick decision as to where we would transfer her. We agreed to use some of our coffee savings to move her to another school in Kigeme, about 150 kilometers away from home.”.
“Because I was once a teacher myself, I believe that girls also need an education, and while earning an income from coffee, I believe we can continue to save from increasing returns to ensure our daughter attains a higher education”.
In Nyamasheke, coffee is a key cash crop farmers rely on for economic stability. Fausta says “When I married my husband in 1986, he was a coffee farmer, and we planned to continue growing coffee throughout our married life”. At the time Fausta, and Ephrem Nzeyimana had only 150 trees. They now have over 2000. Luckily for this family, they were not affected by the Genocide and did not have to move away from home.
In 1986 their 150 trees yielded on average 300 kilos of coffee cherry. This was not enough to survive on and Fausta had to work outside the home. Over the years, they gradually added coffee and land with their savings, thus building up to their current holdings of 2000 plus trees.
Save for the earthquake, 2008 was a great year for the family. They joined Abangakurushwa cooperative and are now able to sell their harvest in cherry form, which requires less family labour. *
In 2008, they sold almost 5 times as much coffee as in 1986, at substantially higher prices. Fausta says an added benefit of cooperative membership is she can sell her coffee at more stable prices than before.
Habineza, who returned to her old school after it was rebuilt by Catholic missionaries, currently performs as the third best student in her class.
* TechnoServe’s wet mill model allows farmers to sell cherry to their cooperative and produce a better and more valuable coffee.
Peet’s Uzuri African Blend and Rwanda Lake Kivu coffees are part of the Rwanda Initiative.
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