The team looking very fresh in the morning as they were being driven to the CRS offices – We decided not to show the after-photo on the way back to the hotel (after over 14 non-stop hours going through tools, strategies, objectives, etc)

Finally we were able to put faces to the various ‘names’ we had been communicating with over the last few weeks. Making a country visit and having face-to-face meetings makes all the difference in relationship building. We were able to meet the many talented and wonderful people working at CRS Rwanda. CRS Rwanda is accomplishing a lot of wonderful with programs ranging from Health, HIV/AIDS and Nutrition to Peace building, to Entrepreneurship and capacity building.

Over the course of the day, we were able to go through the Akazi Kanoze project that we have been working in more detail unlike in the past few weeks when we were limited by the teleconferences or emails. The session served to make further clarifications and ensure that all the teams involved were well aligned.

We received further information on the Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC), self run savings group run by members of the community. This will act as the source of funds for the income generating opportunities along the agriculture value chain that we will identify.

We refined a lot of the market research questions we will be asking during tomorrow’s visit to government officials and youth focus groups.

This is the moment when we discover new insights that lead to innovations.

Find out what we discover.