After a 1,5 hour drive (with taxi bus ;) we arrive in Nyabhu. Coopthega is another tea cooperative that is part of the union. Numerien introduces me to the agronomist and accountant. I am free to ask whatever I want and so the list begins. It took me about 2 hours to ask everything and I am starting to understand more and more the problems facing the union and why they brought me here. More and more ideas are rising to my head in order to help the union. It’s actually not a strategic plan they want but someone who thinks outside the box and can help them to become a reputable union.
Coopthega is part of the brand Rwandan Mountain Tea supported by the Belgian Development Cooperation.
After the immersion I get the opportunity to climb into the mountains and try to cut some tea leaves myself. Goodbye sedentary life this is going to be a lot of climbing and walking today. My physical therapist is Belgium must have a ball when she reads this because ‘Francine’ never walks.
It was worth the climb, these tea cutters conduct amazing work and an incredible speed. The average tea cutting is 50 kg a day. There is a story of a girl who could hand cut tea leaves 90 kg a day. She was sent to India to teach others how to manually cut so fast. Handcut leaves have superior quality. Machine cutting destroys the quality. In the tea factory boiling room section it smells like amazing tea. I still haven’t tasted the Rwandan premium quality tea!
