We are really excited to be launching our latest film bringing to life the impact of our Tubeho Neza stoves programme in Rwanda.
It is hard for those of us who have never visited rural Rwanda to understand the reality of women’s lives and the daily struggle of wood gathering and cooking before the provision of the stove. So, in this film we follow Genecita, a mother of three and grandmother to Ivan who features in the video. We hear in her words how hard these duties were for her and her children and then the change to her life once she has received her DelAgua stove.
Genecita was very happy to be involved in the filming because she felt it is vital that more people are aware of the time and energy that has to be spent cooking on an open fire and how serious the consequences are for the health and wellbeing of families.
The filming took place in May, at the beginning of our 2022 season of stove distributions. We only work with the rural poor, for whom a modern cookstove is completely unaffordable but who are most in need. We provide, free of charge, not just a high performance top quality stove but an integrated education and support programme throughout the 10 year life of the stove. The rural communities are hard to reach, remotely situated on mud tracks that wind up and down Rwanda’s endless hills. The film shows this unique landscape and also the hillside terracing where trees have been cleared: intensive agriculture required to feed a large and rapidly growing population. You can also spot the bare hillsides: the deforestation caused by so many trees being cut down to fuel traditional cooking fires.
The rural tracks become impassable in the rainy season so we focus our distributions from May to October before the heaviest rains arrive. We will be distributing our 1 millionth stove at the end of October, averaging around 10,000 stoves per day Monday to Friday, an incredible feat of logistics for our extraordinary Rwanda team.
The film features some of our wonderful staff. Monica Keza is the Country Director, leading the team in Rwanda. Monica has always been focussed on supporting the development of women and she is driven by the transformative power of the stove to free women from the fire and allow them to spend time on more productive activities. Eric Izerimana has worked for DelAgua for 7 years. He leads training as well as being particularly passionate about understanding the impact the stove has on the environment. Eric has a Masters in Environmental Economics and Natural Resources Management and a BA in Soil Science and his knowledge of Rwanda’s flora and fauna is extensive. Marie Christelle Ishimwe is one of our senior Project Coordinators. She is an absolute powerhouse of energy and with such passion for what she does because of the immediate impact it has on families’ lives. She has seen the project grow from its early days when she joined 8 years ago to where we are today: the world’s single largest stoves programme. She oversees a local team of 12 as well as coordinating the activities of our 5,000 Community Health Workers who visit every single family twice a year.
We worked with a fantastic local production company, Digitec Studios, based in Kigali. Cedrick Kaneza led the team who shot and edited this and 3 other films which will be launched soon. Cedrick was fearless in sliding down vertical hillsides, camera held aloft, to get the perfect shot and his drone means we can get a real sense of Rwanda and why it is known as The Land of a Thousand Hills.
We hope this film helps give you a window onto the Tubeho Neza programme. For regular updates from the field including from the families who receive our stoves, please follow us on Instagram and Twitter. Your support is so motivating for our team .
