On Monday April 25, 2022, PDN had the honor and privilege of hosting Canada Food Grains Bank (CFGB) Executive Director Andy Harrington. He joined us in Burera to see the progress and hear the testimonies of some of our participants involved in Farmer Field Schools (FFS’s) and Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA’s).
PDN is a network of five peacebuilding organizations that joined together in 2014 to compound their impact in fighting food security. As part of this project, PDN trains rural farmers in Conservation Agriculture and Good Agronomic Practices, improves their access to capital through VSLA’s, and provides capacity building in the form of gender, nutrition, and peacebuilding training. Each of these efforts works together to create holistic change in communities vulnerable to climate change, food insecurity, and poverty. The success of these activities can be seen in the joy of PDN participants, their improved yields, and through their personal testimonies.
We were not only inspired by his presence in the field (physically walking among the beans!) and his willingness to learn more about CA in Rwanda, we were also captivated by his speech of encouragement to the farmers.
“When I arrived [at the field] you gave me a lovely clap. It made me feel very important and made my head very large,” Mr. Harrington stated – enthusiastically imitating the clapping rhythm that was used to greet him at the begining of the day, “But the truth is, I am the least important person here. You are the most important people here.”
“But the Truth is, I am the least important person here. You are the most important people here.”
-Andy Harrington
After pausing for translation he continued, “So, allow me to move from here,” gesturing to where he stood at the front of the group, “to here” moving to sit among project participants.
Mr. Harrington was greeted by cheers from group members and smiles were exchanged all around. Truly, I don’t think any of us have ever seen an Executive Director demonstrate such an act of humility and respect for participants as we saw on Monday.
Going forward we are looking forward to our continued partnership with CFGB, who provide the funding and backstopping necessary to make this project possible. Once again, a huge thanks to Mr. Harrington for bringing such encouragement and kindness to group members, it is a visit none of us will soon forget.