We're going to Rwanda!! Kind of.

We're going to Rwanda!! Kind of.

We'll cut to the chase; cinder + salt is sponsoring the Bumbogo Secondary School Agricultural Expansion Project, through a partnership with Feeding Mouths Filling Minds.

FMFM's mission is to create sustainable food and water sources to provide nutrition for children, which in turn creates a ripple effect of healthy families, educated children and successful economies.

Bumbogo Secondary School, located in Gasabo District in Kigali, Rwanda, has been a valued partner in their mission to improve education and nutrition for underserved communities. Since its establishment in 1997, the school has been committed to providing quality education, and it currently serves 750 students. 

Building on the success of their initial agricultural initiative—a project that introduced a school farm producing vegetables and fruits for students’ meals—FMFM is now launching an expansion to ensure long-term sustainability. This project seeks to provide a self-sufficient food system for the school while creating surplus production to benefit neighboring schools and communities.

And that's when cinder + salt stepped in and said, "Here's all the money!"

The long story of all this is that we're members of 1% for the Planet, and Rachel went to Boston for a 1% networking event last Summer to make some connections in the sustainability sector. There was this guy Jake, with a super rad, colorful belt - Rachel had to know about it. Jake said, it's from Kenya. Who doesn't love talking about travel? Anyway, long story short, Jake works for Feeding Mouths Filling Minds and he & Rachel talked about doing a cinder + salt eco-retreat to Kenya & Rwanda and sponsoring some farm/food opportunities in the region!!!! What a connection!

Ultimately, I decided that an eco-retreat of this scope was too much for cinder + salt to coordinate. But I still wanted to help grow the farm so the children, their families and the surrounding community could benefit from abundant, healthy food.

The project goals are as follows :

1. Sustainability : Establish a year-round, self-sufficient food system to meet the school’s annual nutritional needs without relying on external markets.

2. Community Impact : Extend the benefits of surplus food production to surrounding schools and local communities.

3. Improved Nutrition and Academic Performance : Provide students with balanced, nutrient-rich meals to enhance their physical health and cognitive development, ultimately improving educational outcomes.

Cinder + salt plans to fully fund the farm expansion by April 30, 2025. There's optimism from the team at Feeding Mouths Filling Minds that the project will be complete by the end of summer. It's all so exciting!

I'm still going to plan a visit to Rwanda myself, to check out the project when it's complete and meet the folks doing the hard work of making this a reality. If you're super adventurous & don't need much travel hand holding, reach out. We can have an unofficial eco-retreat. 

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