The Rwandan Ice-Cream That Made Dreams Come True

    KIGALI, RWANDA, October 04, 2014 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Some time in 2008, Odile Gakire Katese, 38, whose nickname is Kiki, flew to USA from Kigali, Rwanda's Capital. A playwright, Kiki had been invited by Sundance Theatre Lab to a retreat on creation of work by playwrights, directors, composers etc. Kiki was the only Rwandan in a group of 80 artists from around the world. During her stay, one of the things that amazed her was the ice cream served, supplied by Jennie Dundas, a fellow participant.

Kiki admired the ice cream business and told Jennie about trying it back home. Jennie was enthusiastic. Kiki went back home with a burning idea and told her colleagues about a dream that would transform their lives.

In 2009, Jennie invited Kiki to New York City, with half a dozen other women, all traditional drummers. She arranged for a fund-raising tour, showcasing their performance. They raised about $100,000. This would become their starting capital. In 2010, Jennie with her Blue Marble Ice Cream team traveled to Rwanda and helped Kiki's team set up an ice-cream shop, which opened in June 2010.

Located in Butare town, southern Rwanda, Inzozi Nziza, or Sweet Dreams, is now a popular hangout spots for tourists and students.

Customers, foreigners and locals alike, get served this homemade ice cream, made from fresh, natural Rwandan fruits, milk, and honey, topped with either local coffee or peanuts. Pizzas, snacks, banana cakes, juices, and hot drinks are also served.

Clients sit on wooden benches, others on plastic chairs at the verandah, enjoying the blowing breeze from the nearby University of Rwanda's towering, 200-hectare eucalyptus, pine and mahogany arboretum forest. The shop employs up to 30 rural women, earning between Rwf 30,000 ($50) and Rwf 80,000 ($120) a month. Kiki and colleagues have formed a micro-finance cooperative from the shop's revenues. Alexis and Jennie are amazed by Inzozi Nziza's success and want to replicate it in Port au Prince, Haiti.

Meanwhile, Kiki and her colleagues are planning to expand with branches in other towns of the country. More often, university students find sanctuary at "Untie" Kiki's shop. For Kiki and friends, this is a dream come true.

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