Eight Lessons from Rwanda, a Supermodel of Sustainable Development

1. The National Plastic Bag Ban keeps a beautiful country beautiful and safe for wildlife.













2. Sustainable health care looks like Partners in Health or these smiling Rwandan sisters waiting at the clinic, one wearing a t-shirt that says: "Your Body. Your Health. You're Worth It." PIH partners Harvard University Medical School with two Rwandan healthcare clinics serving vulnerable communities. They provide family and reproductive healthcare services and work to fight the spread of AIDS, tuberculosis and other communicable diseases.



2. Bio gas, the poop and manure kind, that fuels cook stoves, and basically makes sustainable development possible. See uenergy's excellent blog post "Domestic Bio Gas Program in Rwanda" for more about anaerobic digesters in Rwanda's schools and prisons.

3. Homesteads where farmers can choose to live in new houses in tighter communities with easy access to health care, veterinarian care, schools, micro-loan banks, the market and energy production. Where farmers can easily access expertise about sustainable farming and entrepreneurship.

4. Joseph Karama, Conservation Educator at the Bisate Schools in northeast Rwanda teaches local ecological literacy through citizen science to 2000 elementary and secondary school students so both the human and the mountain gorilla families can thrive and co-exist. International partnerships with the Dian Fossey Foundation and funding from Disney and American Zoos make his work possible.









5. FAWE middle school students learn study invertebrates and bee ecology in their school.





6.Eco-tourism protects bio-diversity and brings in profits that go to supporting local communities surrounding the parks.








7. Penda Kusoma's children's books inspire multi-cultural and ecological literacy. Indigenous animals serve as model characters. Other books by the same publisher depict happy children living in sustainable communities with relatives and neighbors growing vegetables for their families and mothers nursing and carrying their babies.



8. Food security for all. Rwanda produces enough food to avoid dependence on importing food. The One Cow Per Family government policy gives each family a cow. 60% of families in Rwanda now have cows provided by the government. Strict rules on over-grazing keep livestock from causing soil erosion. Farming collectives help farmers use sustainable farming methods to increase crop yields.



photos by Rich Leherer and Sue Campbell