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Traditional Cooking Day

From: $70

Book your Experience Day below.
All are welcome- choose any day of the week! Groups of two or more adult guests: $90 per person; Children ages 5-15: visit for only $70 per child.  Young children under 5: visit for free!  Groups of 10 or more are eligible for a group discount.  We offer special East Africa Resident rates as well! To learn more, please email us at
experiences@azizilife.com.

Your visit makes a difference! In addition to a fair wage for your hosts, 5% of your entire payment is donated to Impact projects.

Select from a simple variety of seasonal dishes for your traditional cooking experience with a rural mama!

Your day begins not in the kitchen but in the fields as you learn seasonal planting or harvesting of fresh ingredients for your traditional meal. Once the ingredients and water have been collected, food preparation begins with washing, peeling, pounding, and grinding the ingredients using traditional methods and tools.

Throughout the process, your hostess and the ladies of the local cooperative will teach and guide you, always allowing you to experience the day at your own pace.

Once your meal has completed cooking in the outdoor kitchen, it will be time to enjoy! Choose to eat with a fork or with your fingers, as you taste the fruits of your labors.

Sitting in the home of host family, there will be plenty of time to chat and learn about each other’s lives. The day finishes back at the Azizi Life office, with a cold Fanta and a chance to think back over the highlights of the day.

There you can also browse through some of the beautiful crafts made by your hostess and other Azizi Life artisans and do a little fair trade shopping.

To book your own Experience and spend a day becoming a traditional Rwandan Chef:

  1. Who is Coming? Choose your adult guests.
  2. Choose the date you would like to visit.
  3. Choose the number of adult guests coming.
  4. Select Add to Cart.
  5. Repeat this process for each age group of guests.

Coming with young children?  Kids under 5 join in for free!  Just let us know in the Notes section of your checkout.  We love including toddlers and little ones in the day and even have specialist facilitators.

For discounts on groups of more than 9 guests, or if you would simply like a bit more information, please do not hesitate to email us on experiences@azizilife.com or call us in Rwanda on +250-7858-1146.  

This Experience starts from Azizi Life’s office & boutique in Muhanga Town (about a one hour drive from Kigali).  We would be happy to help arrange transport to Azizi Life Muhanga and so if you need that, just let us know.

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SKU: N/A Category: Experiences Tags: activities in Rwanda, cooking workshop, cultural activities, day trips, Muhanga, Rwanda tours, things to do, things to do in Kigali, things to do in rwanda, things to do near kigali, workshop
  • Description
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Description

Example Day

08.00Welcome & Introduction at Azizi Life in Muhanga.
08.10Depart Azizi Life
08.30Arrive in your rural host community.

Welcome by the artisan cooperative.

08.35Go to the family home of your artisan host, share introductions, and add a bit of local dress to your attire.
08.45Traditional Day Activities: Learn how to get crops from the field and prepare those to the stage that you grind flour using the traditional local tools (namely Urusyo, Ingasire, Isekuru n’Umuhini in Kinyarwanda) and make your own cassava bread and sorghum beer. The artisans will show you how to do the activity and will work alongside you.  They will encourage you to take a rest whenever you need to, or to sit out and watch if you prefer.
11.00Fetch water from the valley spring.  (You can choose to help with other activities if the hike is more than you are interested in.)
12.30Lunch:  Enjoy sharing the food that you cooked together in the morning!
This is a good time to ask your hosts about life in their community.  They may have questions for you too about life in your home country.
14.00Farewell & Departure from your host community.
14.15Arrive back at Azizi Life Muhanga for a cold drink and a chance to reflect on your Experience.
14.30Finally, there will be opportunity to peruse all of the beautiful, handcrafted goods on offer from our artisan partners- including your hostesses!  This is a wonderful way to gather gifts and souvenirs which you can be confident are fair trade and making an impact.

How to Prepare for Your Visit

  • Men may wear trousers or shorts. Women should wear trousers or a skirt that covers the knees, as Rwandan women usually don’t show their knees.
  • You might consider wearing or bringing a long-sleeved shirt in case you cut grass for animals, as this can irritate the skin.
  • We recommend that you wear closed-toed shoes: Walking shoes are useful on the paths, which can be steep and slippery. You might want to bring a spare pair of shoes, as one pair may get muddy if you work in the fields.
  • Be prepared to spend time in the sun.
  • Bring a camera or video camera if you wish; the artisans and their families won’t mind.
  • Bring reading glasses if you need them for craft work.
  • Don’t be anxious! The artisans cultivate their fields for six hours at a time, but they know you are from a different culture and are unlikely to be able to work so hard or for long. They won’t laugh if you don’t get the hang of an activity. Or rather, they may well laugh, because they take great pleasure in life, but they will be laughing with you, not at you. You can opt out of any activity at any point, and choose instead to sit and watch.
  • There will be a translator with you; feel free to ask as many questions as you wish.
  • Please let us know in advance if you have any food allergies. Food served may contain nuts.
  • Ensure that you have health insurance to cover your visit. We do all we can to ensure your safety during your visit. In the case of an accident, we will ensure you get appropriate medical attention. However, you must cover the costs through your insurance.

You Should Also Know That

  • Some of the paths are steep and can be slippery after rain, but you will be given a hand if you need it.
  • You will be supplied by Azizi Life with plenty of bottled drinking water.
  • The food is thoroughly cooked: no previous visitors have become ill after eating it. However, if you prefer not to eat, or to eat just a little, you will not offend your host.
  • Soap and water are available for washing your hands.
  • Each house has a pit latrine.
  • We will bring a first aid kit, hand sanitizer and toilet paper.
  • Never drink non-boiled juice. After making your juice, you’ll bring it back to the Azizi Life office where we will make sure that it gets boiled and you can it take it home with you.
  • Your hosts are a lovely group of women, young and older. They and their families will make you feel welcome, without making a fuss. They know that you are coming to gain an understanding of what rural life is like in Rwanda and will encourage you to join in with their daily routine.
  • Sometimes other members of the community come and stare at white visitors for a while, as white people are seldom seen in rural communities. They are simply curious.
  • Very occasionally, in the community, a neighbor may ask you for money. People often ask each other for money here, and are not offended by a refusal. They are all the more likely to ask a white visitor, as Rwandans often think that white people are fabulously rich. If asked for money, it is best to say no. Your visit is already benefiting the community: the artisan group earns a fair wage for your visit, often saving their payment in a joint account and then spending it on something substantial such as a cow. Their families benefit directly, and so does the wider community. This is because a host will often pay a neighbor to work her fields while she is busy hosting your visit. Additionally, we donate 5% of tourism revenues to our local nonprofit, Azizi Life Impact, for community development work.

Photo by Claire Elyse Photography

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Ingobokarugo Cooperative

The Ingabokarugo “Helping Our Homes” Cooperative is made up of more than twenty women who endeavor to contribute to the livelihoods of their families through weaving. These artisans also are much-loved hostesses of Azizi Life Experiences guests. Our financial independence has improved our relationships with our husbands and enabled us to contribute to our households.

Go to artisan's page

Meet the Artisan

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Our Artisan Partners

Our Artisan
Partners

Across the hills of Rwanda, groups of rural artisans are working to bring hope to their families through skillfully handcrafted goods. Azizi Life partners with over 30 independent groups- a total of over 500 artisan partners. Rising from the horrors of genocide, artisans from all backgrounds have joined together once again through their craft. Each artisan cooperative specializes in hand crafting products using specific techniques and raw materials. Azizi Life is honored to partner with these women and men, collaborating to connect makers, designers, and customers around the world.



Our Products

Our
Products

We love serving your vision for beauty and meaning in the gifts you give, what you wear, and how you decorate. Azizi Life serves as a bridge, partnering with artisans and designers to offer high quality, ethically-sourced goods for life and gifting. Products are crafted by hand using local, natural, and renewable materials. Our modern and traditional collections include baskets, woven bowls, home décor, tabletop, woven jewelry, and bags. Azizi Life offers products to US customers from our warehouse in Spokane, Washington, as well as FOB sales directly from Rwanda.



Our Mission

Our
Mission

Azizi Life is a fair trade organization which partners with Rwandan artisans to bring beautifully designed, hand crafted goods to the world. As a not-for-profit organization, Azizi Life is dedicated to the wellbeing of our artisan partners and their families. In addition to opening economic opportunity through fair trade, Azizi Life invests in a range of community impact projects. Our Rwandan-led team facilitates adult literacy classes and offers other practical resources for personal, spiritual, and economic growth.

 
  • Contact Us


    US Postal Address

    Azizi Life
    708 Pond View Drive
    Audubon, PA 19403-1710

    Rwanda Postal Address

    Azizi Life
    PO Box 146, Muhanga,
    Southern Province, Rwanda

    Email

    greetings@azizilife.com


    Returns Policy

    click here for details

    Rwanda Phone

    +250 785 781 146


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