Kungahara women: their accomplishments and challenges

Today we visited the Kungahara women's group and their parent cooperative, Bwishaza. The main objective is to cup the coffees and select the lots for our customers. Relationship building and strengthening is another key objective of these trips. A third objective is to "Go to Gemba". This is a phrase from Lean Operational Management theory, that managers need to go to the place where the activity is happening, and go there often. Otherwise, the manager doesn't really know what is happening and makes poor decisions.

Relationship Building: happens in many ways. One of the sweetest on this day was a serendipitous meet-up with 3 of the Kungahara women while I and my translator, Bridget VUGUZIGA, were driving to the cooperative. We saw three women walking along the road, going the same direction we were going and stopped to give them a ride. After a few minutes, we asked where they were going and explained we were going to Bwishaza cooperative. Then one of them asked, "Are you Ruth?". My translator helped me reply with surprise, "well, yes! How did you know my name?"

Claire Mukakaruta, Marie Josee Nyirasafari, and Rose Nyiransekuye proceeded to explain that they are Kungahara farmers and therefore they have heard a lot about Ruth and how Artisan's customers support their group by paying a few cents per kilogram for the annual women's premium. I asked about how they feel about the coffee harvest this year. They said "it's good, but it's not just that the cherry price is high this year. We appreciate the opportunity to come together as women. We share our concerns and we help each other."

Kungahara Accomplishment - Land for Mulching Grasses

Last year the women leading Kungahara decided to buy more land that is next to their community coffee plot so that they could grow the grasses used for mulching.  The premium that Artisan paid helped them make the down payment for that land. They borrowed the rest of the money needed from the parent cooperative.

I'm confident from past experience with Kungahara that they'll pay down that loan from the parent cooperative and doing more exciting projects like this one. They are great about sharing what they do and communicating effectively.

Kungahara Challenge - Cupping lab destroyed to make room for the road

By "Going to Gemba" one learns what is really going on. I learned, for example, that the cooperative's

beautiful cupping lab had been destroyed to make room for the road improvements. The cupping lab was built for them in 2017 by a Korean non-profit and fully equipped with sample roasters, grinders, cookers, a sink, a large cupping table, lots of cups, spoons, etc. This was a shock. The road improvements are desperately needed, but Samuel, the cooperative's manager, was clearly pained as he explained the compensation payment from the government was about $1000 short of what they would need to replace the cupping lab. As I walked around and saw the piles of bricks, metal roofing and metal window frames that were the cupping lab, I was concerned. 

Cupping Continues - in the warehouse among the stacks of coffee

True to my past experiences of Rwandan persistence, a little thing like a crushed cupping lab does not stop them. They had set up a wonderful place to cup in the middle of their small coffee warehouse. We proceeded to cup many wonderful coffees while among the stacks of parchment freshly brought from the tables just steps away from the door.