{"id":20840,"date":"2015-10-26T10:34:18","date_gmt":"2015-10-26T10:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/rwandan-girls-discover-rare-plant-that-s-making\/"},"modified":"2015-10-26T10:33:52","modified_gmt":"2015-10-26T10:33:52","slug":"rwandan-girls-discover-rare-plant-that-s-making","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/rwandan-girls-discover-rare-plant-that-s-making\/","title":{"rendered":"Rwandan girls \u2018discover\u2019 rare plant that\u2019s making them rich"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Niyitegeka<\/figure>\n

Two Rwandan girls in their mid twenties from Ngoma district in Eastern province have suddenly become millionaires in the strangest way.<\/p>\n

On one Saturday morning in June last year, Marcella Niyitegeka, wandered around her village at Karembo sector and saw a unique grass.<\/p>\n

The grass had a dazzling look, especially its seeds. She moved along the swampy area to discover the plant\u2019s distribution; \u201cIt was a real tour of the day,\u201d she told KT Press.<\/p>\n

With much excitement about the miraclous plant, Niyitegeka took some of its seeds to her aunt, Sarah Nyiransabimana.<\/p>\n

Niyitegeka and her aunt both Agricultural Engineers, discussed about the plant and later shared news of their discovery with Euphrasie Yadufshije, a close friend and a teacher.<\/p>\n

Nyirahabimana advised that they conduct an extended research on the new type of grass and how it would be made useful. Niyitegeka tried making jewelry products such as necklaces, table mats, curtains and other handcrafted bracelets.<\/p>\n

They looked very beautiful. \u201cWe got surprised how the initial products we made got massive client\u00e8le,\u201d Niyitegeka said.<\/p>\n

A curtain is sold at Rwf15, 000 ($20), while necklaces and bangles cost between Rwf500 and Rwf1000. According to Niyitegeka, 2kg of seeds can make one curtain, while 2000 bangles and necklaces can be made out of 100kgs of seeds.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur first harvest generated 200kg of seeds. Out of these, we made 30 curtains and over 100 necklaces and bangles,\u201d she told KT Press. This means Niyitegeka and her friends earned Rwf550, 000 ($748) from curtains and necklaces.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were all sold. The only challenge was our capacity to make as many as we could,\u201d Yadufashije says. There\u2019s a huge market for the trio\u2019s products. However, they lack advanced technology in their new business.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe use our hands in making these curtains and necklaces. Our wish is to get trainings and equipment and ad value to access the international market,\u201d Yadufashije told KT Press.<\/p>\n

During an agriculture trade show in Eastern Province in August last year, their \u2019 business won the best prize in the \u2018outstanding innovation\u2019 section.<\/p>\n

Trade Minister, Francois Kanimba directed Eastern Province governor, Odette Uwamariya, to provide support and boost their innovation.<\/p>\n

Ngoma district mayor, Aphrodise Nambaje said, \u201cWe are planning to meet these girls and discuss how we can help them improve their business.\u201d<\/p>\n

The plant has been named \u201cUrusaro\u2019, or bead, but it it is probably the most hated plant in Ngoma. \u201cIt kills other crops. It is very dangerous,\u201d Janvier Kamari, a local farmer in the area told KT Press. The new plant needs to be conserved, though, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have started contracting farmers to grow the plant in their gardens but most of them hate it.<\/p>\n

But thats not how the business girls see it. They see money where others see curse. \u201cOur business can be a solution to unemployment and also tapping into the global jewelry market.\u201d<\/p>\n

KT PRESS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two Rwandan girls in their mid twenties from Ngoma district in Eastern province have suddenly become millionaires in the strangest way. On one Saturday morning in June last year, Marcella Niyitegeka, wandered around her village at Karembo sector and saw a unique grass. The grass had a dazzling look, especially its seeds. She moved along […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2000069842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-20840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000069842,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton20840.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton20840.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton20840.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton20840.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton20840.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton20840.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000069842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20840"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=20840"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=20840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}