Month 1 at DelAgua

Getting back into formal employment after 3 years of self-employment was both exciting and frightening. However, I had prepared mentally to get back into employment and to handle all the challenges that came with it. I was open to anything believing that the universe would bring me something fulfilling.

Then I saw this advert for a job where they were looking for someone with an entrepreneurial mind with a strong personnel management background for a small company that does big things and, I was intrigued. I applied and, as they say, the rest is history!

One month into joining DelAgua and I couldn’t be any happier! Indeed, DelAgua is a small company that’s doing big things. We have delivered 640,000 improved cookstoves to rural Rwanda changing the lives of over 3m people. Improved cookstoves provide the following benefits to the served population:

  • Positive environmental impact due to reduced carbon emissions and reduced deforestation.
  • Improved respiratory health and reduction in lung disease through smoke reduction.
  • Reduction in waterborne diseases through the increase in boiling water.
  • Significant impact on economic, health, and wellbeing outcomes for women and girls due to less time spent gathering fuel, cooking, and tending the fire.
  • Economic benefits through reduction in household income spent on fuel.

Having met the beneficiaries of these cookstoves, it’s deeply satisfying to see the joy and pleasure they have got from the stoves. They are grateful for the work that DelAgua is doing. I visited families that have had the stove since 2015. One widow who lives on her own in Bugesera could not stop praising DelAgua for giving her this stove. She can cook her food in half the time it took before she got the stove and this leaves her with enough time to tend her garden. DelAgua does not only provide better cooking solutions, it changes people’s lives.

The team at DelAgua which includes DelAgua employees and the Government of Rwanda employees (Community Health Workers) visits the beneficiaries of the stoves at a minimum once a year. The team is dedicated, patient, and supportive of both each other and of their beneficiaries. They travel miles into rural Rwanda to visit and support their beneficiaries. They work together to ensure all beneficiaries get the support they need.

The work environment at DelAgua is supportive, understanding, and friendly. This was one of the fears I had going back into employment and the DelAgua Team has proved me wrong. I could not be more thankful for this amazing work environment.

We have big ambitions of providing an improved cookstove to every rural household in Rwanda (2.3m Households) but this is just the beginning. Together we will improve our distribution processes, – ensure financial sustainability and continued teamwork to impact communities in Rwanda and all over Africa.

Truly, “Transforming lives through Enterprise!”