Rwanda Recap Day 10 (pt. 2 of 2)

We landed safely at the Gisenyi airport. I think there were 8 of us. The helicopter took off and we made our way to the airport terminal. I think a lot of flights take off from here to head into the Congo so I don't think it would be wrong to say it was an international airport.

Arrivals:


Departures:

Yes, it's the same building. And just to the right of the entrance....


Not exactly the kind of thing you really want to see at an airport but there you go. We hang out for a few minutes before Joseph from COOPAC shows up in this old school minibus. There was some sorting out to do with the airport officials. They were trying to give us a bill for landing in the helicopter. A few calls to the RIEPA guys and we were good to go.

Our first stop was the processing plant where coffee beans come to be processed and bagged for shipment overseas. The final product is still a green bean (not yet roasted) but they had plenty of roasted samples for us to try.

It seemed like a pretty small operation. I saw maybe 4 or 5 employees doing various things but mostly just staring at us.

Next we were off to the washing station. We loaded back into the minibus and headed down to the beach and got into these boats which kind of reminded me of the airport. Safe? Maybe not, but we didn't sink.

It was a beautiful ride across Lake Kivu for about 45 minutes. The most interesting thing to me was that we were the only people out there. Seriously. The ONLY 2 boats for as far as you could see and every way you look is an incredible landscape.

Then, just as we arrive at the washing station we are greeted by a couple traditional dancers with some children providing backup music and rhythm section.


We toured the facility which was very impressive. The cherries come in from all around the area and then are sorted by hand and washed in different stages. The husks are removed and the final bean product is sorted by hand again and set out to dry. Then it goes to the processing plant.

There are several different groups of women who are part of the cooperative. These groups are continually looking for support and very appreciative of any help they get. After we were finished looking at the technical side of the operation we went down to this kind of football field sized area near the drying racks. They had set up a tent for all of us to sit under and then different groups of children and adults came and performed for us. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. Then they presented Liz with gifts which she gracefully received. Then we as a group gave out and distributed a bunch of toys for the kids. Again, beach balls were handed out and the party was on. Try to envision 200 people playing with beach balls like it's the most fun thing they've done all year. It was great.

Afterwards we boated back to the beach at Gisenyi and loaded back into the cars. No helicopter ride back to Kigali. That's ok. It's hard to sleep in a helicopter.