Today Joan and I are hopping on a local bus and heading into the heart of Rwanda to visit COPABU (Coopertive du Producteurs Artisans de Butare). This is the final organisation that we will visit during this evaluation trip and it sounds like they have really taken the training on board.
The group is the first to put into action the environmental training in particular. In April this year the cooperative planted 5,000 jacaranda and sederera trees in their community. The declining tree population is a great concern to this group as they rely on it to make an income. They specialise in wood carving and it is becoming increasingly difficult to source the raw materials.
So we are off to meet with Annonsiate Nyiramisage, the cooperative leader, to visit their tree nursery and record their story as a Shared Interest Foundation case study for others to learn from.
« Previous | Home | Next »

Andrew Hebden is Assistant Editor (Business) of The Journal »
Matt James runs fingerprint-recognition technology firm UKB Security »
James Mills is a web developer in the North East of England and founder of Refresh Teesside »
Phil Renton is managing director of North East IT empire Croft »
Matthew Rippon is an IP lawyer for BHP Law »
Formerly editor of a national business lifestyle magazine, Jez Davison is a business writer for the Evening Gazette in Teesside »
Ian Brown, Northumberland farmer and businessman writes about the agricultural industry »
Accessibilty Champion Steve Wilkinson on the importance of inclusion »
Shared Interest Staff at Newcastle's fair trade firm blog on their latest international missions »
PR man David Honeywell on raising your profile in the right places »
Marion Bernard is from NorthStar Equity Investors »
Caroline Theobald is the Managing Director of Bridge Club Ltd »
John Barton of Renew, on the region's low carbon and sustainable energy agenda »
Paul Williamson is Senior Partner at Deloitte »
Stephen Hall is Tax Partner at Deloitte »