Enterprising is what we can call the women of Dusabane Association. One of their most recent pull-offs is literally turning garbage into gold. The women collect garbage from residences and public places at a fee for starters. Then they sort the garbage and the one that is biodegradable is processed and turned into fertilisers, which are sold at a higher price as finished products I guess, since they have had a lot of value added. The Great Women of Dusabane are actually teaching us Rwandans two important lessons. The first lesson is that success can be achieved in anything we try provided we are organised. Dusabane is an association of many members, working in a cooperative setting. The association can now receive different forms of aid, be it training or funding, because it is a group. It is not easy for individuals to get aid, but associations or cooperatives can. That is the first lesson. The second is that by dint of sheer determination and hard work, many projects can be initiated and be turned into money-makers. Garbage for example will always continue piling as long as we have a living population. Scrap dealers are in existence because metallic devices do get old and have to be recycled, so they earn a living from the scrap. The age-old adage that necessity is the mother of invention should stand us all in good stead to escape the bonds of poverty. Though a little expensive, prisons are producing biogas from self-generated sources – their waste matter. They have cut down so much on the woodfuel they would otherwise consume if they did not rethink fuel use - and where are the trees anyway to provide enough firewood to sustain their fairly large populations? But it is a project that can be maximally exploited to even become an economic activity – canning and selling biogas to other users. Let’s all become innovative; what is wrong with taking advantage of hospitals and schools to supply this energy? If the institutions themselves are still napping, then a smart businessman should tap their latent energy for them and sell it! We should re-examine all waste products carefully to see if we cannot make them work for us to bring us fortune. Ends
