Dining for Women: Rwanda
HIGHLIGHTS:
- Visit DFW grantees, including Sustainable Health Enterprises and Gardens for Health.
- Visit grassroots organizations: Akihila Institute and Rwanda Men’s Resource Center.
- Traditional Rwandan dance class.
- Monkey trekking in Volcanoes National Park.
- Optional gorilla trekking.
- National Genocide Museum.
- Dian Fossey Museum.
ITINERARY:
Day 1: Sunday, February 18
WELCOME
Receive a personal welcome at the airport, transfer to the hotel, and check in. Enjoy a welcome dinner at the hotel. Get acquainted with your fellow Dining For Women members, and learn how they became involved with DFW.
Overnight: Chez Lando
Meals: Dinner
Day 2: Monday, February 19
INTRODUCTION TO RWANDA
Learn about Rwanda's culture, history, and the 1994 genocide that changed the country forever.
The day begins with a group welcome and orientation at the hotel.
In the morning, visit the Nyamirambo Women's Center and take a guided walking tour of the colorful, lower-class suburb of Nyamirambo. The afternoon will include the opportunity to see firsthand how local people live by sharing lunch in the home of local women from the Center.
After lunch, explore Kigali with highlights of pre-colonial, colonial, independence, genocide and post-genocide times. The day includes a visit to the Kigali Genocide Memorial – the country's most prominent genocide memorial. Afterward, join a Q&A session with a representative of the Center.
Enjoy a group dinner at Heaven Restaurant.
Overnight: Chez Lando
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 3: Tuesday, February 20
Women's Development in Rwanda
Today will give you an introduction to the national policies, strategies, and structures that support women's development in Rwanda.
In the morning, visit the Gender Monitoring Office (GMO), and partake in a discussion with Chief Gender Monitor Rose Rwabuhihi, who will provide an overview of the role of women in Rwanda from a policy perspective.
Next, visit the Akilah Institute for an introduction to women’s education in the growing hospitality and tourism workforce. Continue the discussion with some of the students over lunch.
The late afternoon will be at your leisure.
Dinner will be at Zen, joined by guests of the Rwanda Men's Resource Center who will talk about how they are addressing domestic violence against women.
Overnight: Chez Lando
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 4: Wednesday, February 21
SUSTAINABLE HEALTH ENTERPRISES (SHE)
After breakfast, meet with representatives from Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE) – a DFW grantee – in Kigali.
SHE seeks to fix the systemic problem of lack of access to affordable menstrual products in Rwanda. DFW’s 2015 grant to SHE supported the production and distribution of eco-friendly and affordable pads along with puberty and menstrual hygiene management education. Members will visit the SHE Cooperative, where you will meet the local farmers that supply the crops used for production of menstrual pads.
In the afternoon, transfer to Ngoma for lunch. Tour the SHE production site, and visit the local kiosk where products are sold. Meet the production staff, and see how this organization is changing the lives of girls and women at all levels of society.
Transfer back to Kigali for dinner at Khana Khazana, where you will have the opportunity to talk about your own DFW chapters.
Overnight: Chez Lando
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 5: Thursday February 22
GARDENS FOR HEALTH & DANCING
After breakfast, travel to Ndera for a visit to Gardens for Health – another DFW grantee – where you will tour the garden and learn how the organization addresses chronic childhood malnutrition through lasting agricultural solutions.
DFW’s 2014 grant to Gardens for Health supported health and agriculture programming in order to meaningfully reduce rates of malnutrition. This was accomplished by providing mothers of children with a clinical diagnosis of malnutrition with the knowledge, resources, and support they needed to feed their families then and in the future.
The group will enjoy a leisurely lunch in the garden with the staff from Gardens for Health.
The rest of the afternoon will be at your leisure.
In the early evening you’ll have a chance to move your body at the Inema Arts Center with a traditional Rwandan dance class!
Dinner will be served at Repub Lounge.
Overnight: Chez Lando
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 6: Friday, February 23
TRANSFER TO MUSANZE
Enjoy a leisurely morning, and prepare to check out and transfer to Musanze – a city in northwest Rwanda and the gateway to Volcanoes National Park. We will arrange a yoga class for anyone who is interested.
After check-out, embark on a scenic three-hour trip to Musanze. Flanked by volcanoes and set in the verdant, undulating terrain that gives Rwanda its nickname of "the land of a thousand hills,” Musanze’s setting offers a glimpse into rural Rwanda’s exquisite natural beauty.
Upon arrival in Musanze, visit the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International with its famous Karisoke exhibit.
In the evening, check in and enjoy a leisurely dinner at the lodge.
Overnight: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 7: Saturday, February 24
MONKEY OR GORILLA TREKKING
Get an early morning start, and go the Volcanoes National Park for either monkey trekking (included) or mountain gorilla trekking (optional, additional $1500 fee for permit).
Both experiences begin with a brisk walk through the bucolic farmland that encompasses the park. Upon entry into Volcanoes National Park, the environment transforms into a whimsical bamboo forest.
Travelers who choose to go monkey trekking will navigate the level, lowland vegetation in search of golden monkeys that lounge in the rainforest canopy and hunt for bamboo shoots in the undergrowth. These cheeky monkeys are entertaining and exhilarating to watch.
Those who choose to go gorilla trekking have a longer journey ahead. Based on the location of the closest habituated gorilla family, the trek can take many hours and cover steep, and sometimes slippery, terrain. Spending an hour with a gorilla family is more than enough reward. Remarkably human in their expression and interactions, the families go about their business – grooming, feeding, and playing – in quiet acceptance of their human onlookers.
Dependent on everyone’s trekking lengths, there will be an optional visit to Red Rocks, where participants can partake in community-based tourism activities, such as banana beer brewing, basket weaving, or a village walk.
If you prefer to indulge in some relaxation or reflection, you are welcome to spend the afternoon at the serene Gorilla View Lodge.
Join a special farewell dinner and closing conversation with the group this evening.
Overnight: Mountain Gorilla View Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 8: Sunday, February, 25
FAREWELL
Enjoy a leisurely morning before your check-out and transfer to Kigali (three-hour drive).
Lunch will be served at Sole Luna.
Visit Kimironko Market, and other local craft markets, where skilled Rwandan artisans sell their wares. The country’s vibrant but conscientious culture translates into their bold textiles and intricate sculptures.
Transfer to the airport in time for your departure flight, with a personal farewell before you take off.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
*Please note, this itinerary might change to fit the schedules and availability of speakers, organizations and factors beyond our control.
PARTNERS:
Nyamirambo Women's Center
Nyamirambo Women’s Center (NWC), a Rwandan NGO, was launched at the end of 2007 by 18 Rwandese women living in Nyamirambo, Kigali. Together they created a project which aimed to address gender-based violence, gender inequality and discrimination. Today, NWC’s mission is to provide education and vocational training to women who do
not have the means to pay for such training on their own, so that they can gain better opportunities for employment.
Kigali Genocide Memorial
The Kigali Genocide Memorial is the final resting place for more than 250,000 victims of the genocide against the Tutsi population in Rwanda. Through education and peace building, it honors the memory of the more than one million Rwandans killed in 1994.
Gender Monitoring Office
The mission of the Gender Monitoring Office is to effectively monitor gender mainstreaming and the fight against gender-based violence in public, private, civil society and religious institutions to achieve gender equality in Rwanda.
Rwanda Men's Resource Center
Rwanda Men’s Resource Centre was created in 2006 by 9 men. The organization aims to address issues of negative masculine behaviors and gender inequalities in order to promote healthy families, men’s welfare, women’s rights and men’s well-being. The organization also aims to prevent gender-based violence, and related consequences including HIV/AIDS, health, high rates of demographic growth, poverty and environmental issues.
Akilah Institute
Akilah offers a unique model of market-relevant education that enables young women to achieve economic independence and obtain leadership roles in the workplace and in society. The institute aims to build future generations of women leaders and professionals in East Africa through the development of a network of campuses.
Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE)
SHE has an innovative solution to dealing with the systemic problem of lack of access to affordable menstrual products in Rwanda. SHE's go! pad, developed with the assistance of its partners from a patent-pending mechanical process, uses locally-available banana fiber which is affordable, eco-friendly and provides jobs from the farmer to the pad assembler. SHE’s education campaign focuses on providing education to both boys and girls about puberty and menstrual hygiene.
Gardens for Health International
Gardens for Health has been changing the way that malnutrition is treated by moving away from short-term handouts towards equipping families with the knowledge and resources to grow their own nutritious food and improve their health. Gardens for Health envisions a future in which the key to lasting food and nutrient security for vulnerable families lies in their own backyards.
Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International
The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund began with one woman in 1967, Dian Fossey, saving gorillas alone in the forest. Today it leads the world in protecting and studying gorillas as well as in rainforest conservation efforts. It also works to help local communities thrive and build their conservation capabilities.
Red Rocks Rwanda
Red Rocks Rwanda is a social enterprise, community tourism initiative for activities such as banana beer production, village walks, organic farming and basket weaving. Red Rocks Rwanda believes in responsible tourism that directly serves local people, providing them with opportunity and empowerment by sharing their unique culture.
HOTELS:
Chez Lando (Kigali)
Located at the heart of the bustling Remera business suburb in Kigali, Chez Lando Hotel represents the essence of a homey, green, family-friendly and hospitable hotel. Chez Lando applies the tradition of Rwandan hospitality to the needs of modern travelers. The quaint, garden-style hotel is located just five minutes from Kigali International Airport.
Mountain Gorilla View Lodge (Kinigi)
Mountain Gorilla View Lodge is located in Kinigi in Northern Rwanda and on the edge of the Volcanoes National Park, home to the endangered Mountain Gorillas. To ensure the least disruption of the surrounding environment, the ecolodge was constructed with locally-available material. The ecolodge supports the surrounding rural community by purchasing
farm-fresh produce that is served in the lodge’s restaurant.
WHAT'S INCLUDED:
Inclusions:
- All accommodations as listed
- Transportation
- Local guide
- All meals as listed
- All activities as listed
- Honorarium/host stipends
- Gratuity for drivers, meals, guide
Exclusions:
- Gorilla permit ($1500)*
- International flights
- Visa
- Personal expenses (shopping, phone calls, laundry, etc.)
*The gorilla permit is required to participate in a gorilla trek. This fee is charged by the Ministry of Tourism and permits are provided on a first come first serve basis. Full payment is the only way to guarantee a permit. The cost of the permit is used to strengthen conservation efforts for these majestic creatures and contribute to community development while improving the livelihood of local people living around national parks.
PRICING:
Cost per person in shared accommodation: $4,150*
Single supplement: $350
Cost for gorilla permit (optional): $1,500
*International airfare not included.
ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS:
If you have any additional questions please feel free to reach out to our travel team: dfwtravel@elevatedestinations.com
To register, please visit the DFW Rwanda registration page.
