Another video and post from ONE’s Tom Gavin from last week’s trip to Rwanda.

Monday, July 21:

The U.S. launched PEPFAR – the American global AIDS strategy – at the Masaka Clinic in 2004, so it made for a good place for the ONE delegation to visit and assess how things are going. Our delegation met with doctors, nurses, local officials, and patients seeking treatment and counsel from the clinic’s staff. We heard, time and again, the difference that America’s partnership in health care was making in Rwanda and throughout Africa.

The DATA Report, which ONE released earlier this year, shows the progress being made. It points out that, across Africa, nearly 2.12 million people were on antiretroviral therapy by last December, a huge jump from the 50,000 people on treatment in 2002. That means 30 percent of Africans in need of treatment are receiving it. But there remains a major challenge ahead. An additional 1.7 million Africans became infected with the HIV virus in 2007.

After touring the Masaka Clinic, some of the ONE delegation discussed the site visit and the overall trip with reporters.

-Tom Gavin

Senator Bill Frist, MD:

“We’re at a specialty-coffee-washing station in Rwanda, Kigali,- just outside of Kigali, Rwanda. Why is it important? It is because of economic development. In a country that is mainly plagued by poverty, what you see behind me, the employment of over 200 women, women who double their income by working at this specialty-coffee-washing station will now have that opportunity to put their kids in school, to put a roof over their head, to empower their family to earn an income in the future that indeed can capture their dreams and translate their hopes and dreams into a reality.”

John Podesta:

“Rwanda has a “Rwanda 2020 Plan” to try to really make sure that growth is widespread and that it affects everyone. And you saw a real spirit of entrepreneurship here today. We saw women sorting coffee earning about 50% more than they were earning in their livelihood. Before that we saw a young Rwanda entrepreneur who had built that coffee-washing station. The focus in on specialty coffee. Rwanda has always produced a lot of coffee, but now they’re producing for the high-end, and that’s a team effort, but just there’s just a lot of spirit and optimism about the capacity to get this country really moving again. And get the kids in school. Get the people working. And get some income into people’s pockets.

“Our visit wrapped up with a long meeting with Rwandan President Paul Kagame. He talked about his development plan, called Vision 2020, that would result in strong steps forward in education, health, and business growth. At the end, many of our delegation members talked with Rwandan journalists about their meeting and the trip overall. – Tom Gavin”

In the clip:

Democratic strategist John Podesta calls Rwanda’s progress “very, very impressive,” citing the number of people now on ARVs (AIDS treatments), their success in bringing Rwandan citizens into the healthcare system, and the country’s remarkable reduction in child mortality rates.

And Republican strategist Jack Oliver tells the journalist: “We’ve been extraordinarily impressed by the people of Rwanda…[We're] just encouraged, excited and ready to be advocates on behalf of Rwanda.

July 19, 2 pm
Nyandugu Coffee Washing Station

How in the world can you take an economy in which over 50% of the population is under the poverty level, is landlocked, ranks somewhere around 160th out of 180 countries on the “Developmental Scale,” and even think about “making extreme poverty history?” as we in ONE like to say.

Answer: Establish viable, sustainable economic growth based on the resources that you have. And the resources that Rwanda naturally have are agriculture (even though it is the most densely populated country in Africa) and tourism (they showcase the upland or mountain gorilla, the magnificent cousins to the lowland gorillas—those whom I used to take care of in the National Zoo –– but more on that in a couple of days).

First, the ONE delegation went to see a fantastic partnership at a “Coffee Washing Station,” owned by the Alfred Nkubili. Our U.S. government, namely USAID, has partnered with the owner and manager to establish a coffee bean washing station. This station purchases coffee beans (”cherries” actually) from farmers (many peasant farmers) and then they process the bean through a washing cycle that separates the beans by quality. These beans become the specialty coffee beans that are sold to Starbucks and specialty coffee shops across America.

To accommodate the burgeoning specialty coffee market, these washing stations hire about 200 women to separate and process the beans. At these facilities, these women’s salaries are double to what they could make elsewhere. And a doubling of their salary means they make enough to pay for school for four children, feed their family, and put a roof (even a metal roof!) over their head. That is economic growth!! The old foreign aid way was a handout – no longer. By facilitating the creation of these washing stations through partnerships with USAID (that’s the US government, and that is your dollar), we are elevating people out of poverty, growing their income and the country’s GDP! It’s pretty remarkable: that’s not “aid”; that’s sustainable economic development.

Just adjacent the massive coffee bean sorting machine, Tim Shilling, a project manager for USAID and member of the Texas A&M Agricultural Research Center, presented to us an enthusiastic talk in a beautiful hillside setting. We learned a lot about the coffee industry here. For instance, Rwanda has grown coffee for the past 100 years (although no one in Rwanda drinks coffee!) because it has ideal climactic growing conditions and genetics. All the coffee is grown by small land holders. Believe it or not, coffee contributes 50% of the GDP!

In 2002, USAID introduced the “central processing” concept and a higher quality of beans were collected. Out of this concept emerged the first “specialty coffee.”

The Rwandan private sector invested $15 million in such partnerships. And today over 30 American/European roasting companies are buying this specialty coffee (note that there were none in 2002—they started from zero).Specialty coffee earnings have grown from $1 million in 2001 to $135 million in 2008. Today there are 75 such washing stations in Rwanda, and there is demand for double that amount. The old Rwandan coffee would garner prices 10 to 15% below average market prices, but today it’s the same or higher than the average. Mr. Nkubili has grown his small business to include five Washing Stations, generating gross sales of $865,000. His business injects revenues of $550,000 to coffee growers selling their coffee cherries (2,000 tons).

Assistance by donors like USAID (that’s you and me, the American taxpayer) has helped coffee farmers move up the value chain due to the education in washing, or “central processing” as well as the marketing techniques that make coffee beans more attractive to high-end buyers. It’s value creation.

That is a “hand up” and not a “hand out.” I wish my colleagues in the U.S. Senate could be here to more fully appreciate how good of an investment this is. We at ONE have to figure out someway to get this story about development out to the American people. It’s real; it’s measurable; it’s sustainable; and it’s lasting.

As John Podesta and I walked back up the hill, we reminded each other that we have a lot of work back at home to do in terms of communicating the empowering story we heard today. On the journey goes.

-Sen. Bill Frist, M.D.

Today was an emotional moment for me and for the rest of our delegation. There is so much pain in Rwanda’s past, and out of that pain has come a society that is committed to reconciliation. They are trying to move forward together. This was one of the most powerful experiences I have had in any place. Out of the pain has come great hope. The people are trying to build a new country, where people live together in peace.

It’s wonderful to see this. And it is bringing new hope for the future.

Rwanda has a 2020 plan, to have growth be widespread and successful by the year 2020. We’ve seen a spirit of entrepreneurship today. We saw women sorting coffee and farmers with their specialty crops. In talking with them, there is a lot of spirit and optimism. Grow new opportunities. Put kids in school. Move forward as one country.

The people of America ought to be proud of what’s happened here and our support for the people who have come so far so fast. We’ve helped through USAID with the development of new industry and new entrepreneurs. PEPFAR is making a major difference in fighting AIDS and HIV. There’s still a lot to do, and we can help.

-John Podesta, President of the Center for American Progress