With patient gestures and gentle nudges, our
tutor, Aminatha Murekatete, teaches us how
to prepare a Rwandan-style lunch of bean
and cassava stew, matoke (a starchy variety
of banana) with fried tomatoes and spinach-
like dodo leaves with garlic and peanut
sauce. Our kitchen is the concrete courtyard
Aminatha shares with her neighbours.
Women wander to and fro to clean windows
or hang washing as we slice, chop, mix and
stir. Soon, an array of delicious aromas are
wating up to the sky. It’s the best kind of
therapy ater the Genocide Memorial.
The class is one of several urban tours
and experiences organised by Nyamirambo
Women’s Center (NWC), a crat cooperative
that’s helped lit local families out of poverty.
“We realised that one of the best ways to
promote our products and generate income
for our community was to invite tourists to
share a little of our culture,” explains co-
founder Marie Aimée Umugeni when, ater
lunch, we visit NWC’s sewing studio and crat
shop. The handmade purses, toys and baby
clothes on display are so irresistible that
everyone from my course buys something.
For more feel-good shopping, I drop
into Kigalifaam, the monthly farmers’ and
artisans’ market at Kigali Serena, one of the
city’s plushest hotels. Many of the goodies on
ofer have a backstory: adorable needle-felted
gorilla ornaments are created by Handspun
Hope, which employs genocide widows;
social enterprise Beeutiful Creations sells
jars of locally harvested honey; and there
are smart kitenge-trimmed bags by Itara, a
project that beneits vulnerable children.
In her stylish Kiyovu boutique, Inzuki
Designs, I chat to jeweller Teta Isibo about
the city’s lourishing creative scene. “Kigali
feels like a new city,” she says. “Thanks to
the work my parents’ generation did to
rebuild Rwanda, we now have the freedom
to be whimsical. Almost all of us designers
and artists are self-taught, and there’s
nothing really to stop us experimenting.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Teta Isibo of
Inzuki Designs; Inzuki Designs boutique;
shop selling a range of kitenge fabrics
April 2020 143KIGALI