1998: In Rwanda, PIC began a conservation partnership with the Nyungwe Forest Conservation Project (PCFN) to address education programs and the socio-economic needs of people living adjacent to the park.
1999: At the request of PCFN, PIC began partnering with basket makers in a tiny village of Banda adjacent to Nyungwe National Park. These women were gathering firewood from the forest everyday for cooking and to keep their homes warm. The ladies needed a dry place to make and store their baskets; PIC agreed to fund construction of a small community building for the women and the village to use.
2000: The basket making co-operative from Banda joined the Artisan Project. With money earned from selling their baskets to PIC, the women are now able to purchase charcoal made from non-rainforest woods for cooking and heating; PIC continues to purchase baskets from these women. Since this program began, removing wood from the forest by the basket makers has been reduced by 85%.
2004: Also at the request of our PCFN partners, PIC began working with beekeepers at Nyungwe in 2004. Beekeepers told us that they were using traditional hives that they placed inside the forest. When they went to collect honey they burned dried grasses to create smoke to calm the bees. Forest fires were accidentally started by sparks from the burning grasses that the beekeepers used as part of their practice for gathering honey.
To assist the beekeepers, PIC purchased equipment including smokers, gloves, veils and modern hives that the beekeepers placed outside the rain forest. Since the project began, no forest fires have been started by beekeepers participating in the project and beekeepers are collecting 50% more honey. The modern hives are protecting the rain forest and economically helping beekeepers. Beekeepers have taken ownership and are now helping save the forest. The beekeeping project is being replicated in additional villages that are adjacent to the Nyungwe National Park. There are 23 sectors surrounding the park; the beekeeping project is in place in 14 sectors, with three sectors added in 2009.
2005: Again, in partnership with PCFN, PIC began funding a program that is converting clay, sand, water and the leaves from sweet potato plants into energy saving stoves. One member of each family attends a training session so they can learn how to make and maintain their own stove. After drying for three weeks, an energy saving stove is ready to use. Women are now able to cook the same amount of food - which tastes the same - and they are do so using 75% less wood.
An energy saving stove costs $3.00 per unit to make; PIC funded more than 35,000 stoves between 2005 and 2010 and will continue funding the stove project. The new stoves are not only reducing pressure on the rain forest but also are preserving the habitat for animals that live there, including the endangered chimpanzee. The mayor of a remote village - located adjacent to the Nyungwe National Park - eloquently asked the PIC Team to thank the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium for making it possible for families in his village to make their own energy saving stove; he added that people can now help save the rain forest, because they no longer need to take wood from it.
2006: In partnership with PCFN, PIC began funding educational programs at the Gisakura Primary and Secondary Schools that are located 2 miles from the Nyungwe National Park. PIC funded educational materials, books, and supported the initiation of a conservation club.
2007: As part of the PIC partnership with PCFN, PIC co-sponsored an inter-school competition focusing on conservation. The on-site PIC team along with over 400 villagers attended this event, which featured schools vying in the categories of song, dance and composition. Over thirty schools located adjacent to the Nyungwe National Park participated in this event. Included in the program was an interview with a man who was recently convicted of poaching.
2008: PIC purchased two motorcycles at the request of Lewis Rugerinyange, Chief Park Warden for the Nyungwe National Park. Mr. Rugerinyange wrote the following:
I would like to express my gratitude towards Partners In Conservation for the invaluable support it provides towards the conservation of Nyungwe National Park (NNP). Specifically, I would like to recognize the support you provided to the community conservation department of the NNP through the supply of two motorcycles for the staff. These motorcycles have enabled our staff, especially the community conservation wardens, to reach and mobilize far areas of the park where cars could not go and greatly aided our conservation efforts.
2009: PIC continues to pay the salaries of men and women who dig the clay from the ground that is the primary component for the energy saving stoves. The stoves continue to be made and used by families and were installed in local schools and hospitals.
2010: The beekeeping project has now been initiated in all 23 sectors surrounding the Nyungwe National Park. No forest fires have accidently been started by beekeepers and beekeepers are collecting fifty percent more honey. The next step which is in progress is to have the organic honey officially certified by the Rwandan government. This will enable beekeepers to sell their honey to international markets.
2010: PIC in collaboration with PCFN colleagues is funding livestock projects for ex-poachers who were hunting inside the Nyungwe National Park to feed their families. PFCN conservation officers conduct workshops on how to operate successful cooperatives and provide expertise on live stock management. This successful program gives people an economic alternative to poaching. Many men in these cooperatives had been poaching for more than 30 years and are now assisting park rangers to remove snares and track poachers.
2010: When PIC began buying baskets from women in the village of Banda, the women had no market for their baskets. Their skills, confidence and management of their coop have grown significantly. Four women from the Banda cooperative attended a workshop conducted by the Gahaya Links Association to learn how to weave the Peace Baskets sold at Macy’s. The workshop attendees are now teaching the skills they learned to the other women in the Banda cooperative. When the PIC Team met with the basket makers in June 2010, they purchased some of the new basket designs, and were able to celebrate this wonderful new opportunity with women they have known for the past 11 years.
2010: For the past 5 years, PIC has continued funding educational programs at the Gisakura primary and secondary schools. The primary school has 1,100 students and the secondary school’s enrollment is 180. Teachers told the PIC Team that their support was appreciated and the additional materials provided by PIC made it possible for 58 out of 62 students in Primary Six to pass their national exams in 2009. Parents raised $300 and PIC provided $700 that allowed the secondary school to “patch” into a nearby tea plantation’s electrical grid; the tea plantation is not charging the school for electricity it uses. The electricity enables the school to request computers from the government, thereby advancing the school’s educational capabilities. The following are excerpts from a letter written by the Head Master of the secondary school.
Distinguished Guests of PIC
We are very glad to welcome you again to our school. In fact, PIC and the Gisakura Secondary School have a friendly relationship, characterized by the collaboration in environmental protection activities.
We wish you again a happy visit to ‘our and your’ school. It is also your school, because your contributions and collaboration are very important in the promotion of education in our region.
The Head Master of GISAKURA SECONDARY SCHOOL
Marcellin Musaniwardo
23-Jun-2010
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