Pots for a better future

STEVENSON MUGISHA discovered how one village is being transformed by an ancient craft The time is 7 a.m. With my notebook and camera I set off on a motorbike. I am headed for Cyamudongo Forest in Rusizi District of the Western Province. I wind along twisting roads, through hundreds and hundreds of Shagasha tea plantations. We move slowly, dodgy the vehicle that collect sacks of tea from the farmers. As we approach, we are engulfed by the forest’s silence and its mist. My destination, Rwamaraba community settlement, Mataba cell in Nkungu sector, is known for potters who earn their living selling pots to tourists and neighbouring communities. The pots make fine decorations but they are also used by locals for carrying water and storing a local alcohol commonly known as Urwagwa. Located 22 kilometres from Kamembe town, Rwamaraba has over 50 residents. I arrive and am greeted by a group of women: “Are you a tourist who has come to visit us or are you on your way somewhere? Either way you are welcome.” Shortly after introducing myself, their leader, Alfred Mushinzimana took me around the place to see the pots they make and the other activities they do. Mushinzimana, 45, explains that they have been in the business of making pots for over 50 years and that they make about 70 pots a day. According to these potters, each port takes at least two or three hours to make irrespective of its size. The pots then take three to four days to dry. After the pots dry, they are put in a kiln to burn for almost a week. “We then wait for cash from customers especially tourists and our fellow Rwandese who visit us,” Mushinzimana explains. Mushinzimana says that the pots are sold for between Frw200 and Frw700 depending on the size and uniqueness of the product. The community sells over 25 pots on a daily basis, earning the community over Frw300,000 each month. In an attempt to diversify, the group also makes tea cups and candle holders which they sell between Frw300-Frw500. “Our business of making pots has helped us to improve our social welfare. It enables us to get school fees for our children and to solve the financial problems we face daily,” says Mushinzimana. Mushinzimana further noted that the government has given them 50 goats aimed at improving their living standards.The group also has an association of basket weavers which was set up by the government and they get money from the baskets they weave. Mushinzimana recalls that in the 1990’s they used to hunt animals to sell and eat but later ORTPN stopped them from hunting activities. The villages applaud the government for donating goats to them and forming a basket association which has changed their attitude towards work. They also said that the government is to construct 0ver 60 houses for them and the process for leveling the new sites is going on by prisoners. “We thank our leaders and the government in general for supporting us in all ways. For example, we have been living in small houses roofed with grasses but now the government is to build for us good house with iron sheets before this year ends,” explained Specioza Barayagwiza, one of the potters. The potters also participate in government programmes. For example they are all registered under Mituelle de Santé and practice family planning methods. Villagers hailed the government for extending health and education services in the region which has meant they don’t have to walk such long distances. Ends