Adam, John and I recently returned to Rwanda to speak in person with Godelieve, to jump start our conversation on how to focus the grant funds in support of SEVOTA, and the build of a sustainable relationship between the SEVOTA communities and TCU.

On our third day in conversation with her, Godelieve invited us to the SEVOTA Center that is part of her home in Rukoma (formerly Taba, Rwanda). There she had gathered scores of women from the Gitarama province. In this photograph, you can see that she had picked up a map of Rwanda in the meeting room, and was showing us the various provinces where SEVOTA centers are located. On the table, to the right, is the hand-blown glass globe that we presented to Godelieve in March of this year, as symbol of the TCU Global Innovator Award.

While we were there, in a speechlessly moving act, she acknowledged the award she had received from TCU, and presented it to the women present. As I watched the award travel around the room,  from one woman to the next, hand to hand, I realized I was witnessing a ritual claiming that had come from a genuinely collective authorship. It was a moving experience on the most profound of levels. The longer I am with Godelieve, the more I wonder at how I am so fortunate to have come to know her, and learn from her what it means to be a leader and active force in change.

For more information on the project, go into “older posts” at the bottom of the page.