Rural Experience Days

Community-based cultural Experience days in rural Rwanda

“We had an amazing experience! Best day in Rwanda. Everyone was so welcoming. I enjoyed being a part of a day in the lives of the ladies and their children…. Could not have had a better or more impactful experience.” – Linda R. USA

Join a local hostess on her hillside, working, feasting, creating and laughing together in a day of rural Rwandan life. It really is an amazing thing to do. Designed and hosted by artisans and artists, our Experience Days are a truly wonderful way to get a taste of the beauty and rigor of rural life and Rwandan culture. Explore the options below! Come for just a day, or create a multiple-day Experience. We’ll work with you to arrange all the details. Azizi Life specializes in hosting families, missions teams and school groups. Contact our team below to customize your Experience. Please note that all our Experiences start from our main office and boutique in Byimana, Ruhango in the Southern Province about a one hour and thirty minute drive from Kigali.

Directions to get there

A Day in the Life of an Artisan

Become part of a weaving cooperative for the day.

The Artisan Day is the very first Experience created by the artisans, and is the heart of Azizi Life Experiences.

Join your artisan hostesses in their village for a morning of family chores, a simple, home-cooked lunch, and an afternoon of learning how to craft. With your translator alongside, you will love sharing life, work, conversation and laughter with the artisans and their families.

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Traditional Pottery

Have you ever wondered how they used to make pots and plates before the introduction of modern methods and kilns? Join us for a Traditional Pottery Experience and take a step back in time.

Your day starts by going out into the fields to dig up and gather all the different materials you will need. You will then be guided by expert artisans on how to clean, prepare and mould the clay into your own creation before firing it in the traditional way.

Photos by Jennifer Sophie.

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Traditional Coffee Experience

Join us for coffee season between March and August!

Take a step back in time to learn and taste coffee picked, washed, roasted and ground by hand. The Azizi Life Experience morning begins with a drive to a nearby village, where you and your Azizi Life facilitator will be welcomed by the ladies of the cooperative.

After introductions from your hostess, you help out in the kitchen to get lunch underway. Then it is off to the field to check on the coffee plants and harvest some of the cherries and being the process of turning those into a beautiful cup of Rwandan Coffee.

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Imigongo (cow dung art) Experience

Years ago in the time of the Rwandan Kings, there once was a prince who decided to decorate his house by carving geometric shapes directly into the wall of his hut. In time this technique was developed into a popular form of Traditional Rwandan art call “Imigongo.” During your experience you will learn the history, the method and then make your own art to take away with you.

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Traditional Construction

You may have seen the high rise buildings in Kigali, but this Azizi Life Experience is your chance to learn something about the traditional building techniques, some of them used since the times of the King.

In the morning you will collect water and soil, which you will then be taught how to make into mud bricks. After making your own bricks, you will dig the foundations and learn how to lay the bricks in a way to ensure the building will be strong. By this point, you will have built up a bit of an appetite and so everyone will stop work and share a simple home-cooked lunch with your host family.

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Banana Juice Making

Traditionally shared during weddings and other celebrations, banana juice (and beer!) has long been a central part of Rwandan parties. Although nowadays banana juice can be easily bought from the local store, the traditional technique for making your own brew is a much greater labor of love.

In the morning of your Azizi Life Experience, you will work with your rural host to collect the green bananas and the leaves needed to begin the process. Next you’ll dig a hole and bury the bananas to ripen over time.

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Traditional Cooking Day

Select from a simple variety of seasonal dishes for your custom traditional cooking Experience with a rural mama! Your day begins not in the kitchen but in the fields as you learn seasonal planting or harvesting of fresh ingredients for your meal.

Once the ingredients and water have been collected, food preparation begins with washing, peeling, pounding, and grinding the ingredients using traditional methods and tools.

Photo by Claire Elyse Photography

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Traditional Drumming & Dancing

Whether you have natural rhythm or not, with our expert instructors everyone can enjoy learning traditional drumming and dancing. Your Azizi Life Musical Experience begins with a mini-performance from a small troupe of traditional performers.

Next, it’s your turn to put on a traditional costume and give it a try. You’ll have fun as the dancers teach you some basic dance steps and share a bit of the history of Rwandan dance.

Photo by World Fusion Art.

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Candle Dipping and Hive Making

Learn from local beekeepers how to weave a traditional beehive, prepare beeswax and dip your own pair of candles. The candles are yours to take home with you. Experience rural life and share a meal with your host family.

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Home Stay Experience

An overnight Experience is a unique opportunity to participate in the life of a rural artisan and her family. Home Stay hostesses live in homes made of mud brick, which usually have one larger front room for receiving visitors and a few smaller bedrooms for the family. In the enclosed area behind the house, there is an outdoor kitchen, enclosed pit latrine and bathing outhouse, animal stalls and family workspace. Most host families have about four children at home. In Rwandan culture, guests are considered a blessing!

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Crafting Workshop Experiences

Short on time or looking for a more focused crafting experience? (or working with a tight budget?) Looking for a short, fun holiday or weekend activity for the whole family?
We have created our Craft Workshop Experiences just for you!

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Azizi Life Pathways

Thanks to Rwanda’s lush green hills, beautiful valleys and welcoming people, it may be one of the easiest and most exciting places in East Africa to explore by foot.

All around the rural communities, there is already a vast network of paths ready and waiting for you to explore.

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Guest Reviews

“Just exactly what I always look for in a holiday but seldom find – friendly people sharing their daily life, answering all those questions I’d been dying to ask, even showing an interest in where I come from.”

Julia G, UK

“My daughter and I spent 4 days with Azizi Life and it was the best thing we did in Rwanda.”

Senior Trip Advisor Reviewer kikidee95, UAE

“For travelers who have a passion for learning about local life, Azizi is the perfect experience.”

Rachel C, Kigali Rwanda

“I’ve been to 25 countries and outside of living in someone’s home, this is the most that I ever learned/experience about a different culture in one day. I would highly recommend this experience for anybody who wants to see the life of a real Rwandan.”

Mark J, USA

Starting point for all Experiences

Azizi Life Byimana, Ruhango Boutique

8am to 5pm, Monday – Friday

You are welcome to visit us at our main office in Byimana Ruhango. Stop by and meet our team and explore our widest range of Azizi Life products, including new products in development! We will be happy to share all about our work. Often artisans are delivering products and so you have a chance to meet and chat with the person who made your crafts.

Click the map and use google for directions or you can also email expereinces@azizilife.com or call/whatsapp +250785781146 for more detail.

Contact

To book an Experience simply add it to your basket or give us a call or whatsapp on +250 78578 1146 or email experiences@azizilife.com and we will arrange everything for you.

Ange

Experiences Manager

Our Facilitators

Azizi Life Experience Facilitators will guide you through the day with your rural artisan hostesses.

Our Artisan
Partners

Across the hills of Rwanda, groups of rural artisans are working to bring hope to their families through skillfully handcrafted goods. Azizi Life partners with over 60 independent groups- a total of over 760 artisan partners. Rising from the horrors of genocide, artisans from all backgrounds have joined together once again through their craft. Each artisan cooperative specializes in hand crafting products using specific techniques and raw materials. Azizi Life is honored to partner with these women and men, collaborating to connect makers, designers, and customers around the world.

Our
Products

We love serving your vision for beauty and meaning in the gifts you give, what you wear, and how you decorate. Azizi Life serves as a bridge, partnering with artisans and designers to offer high quality, ethically-sourced goods for life and gifting. Products are crafted by hand using local, natural, and renewable materials. Our modern and traditional collections include baskets, woven bowls, home décor, tabletop, woven jewelry, and bags. Azizi Life offers products to US customers from our warehouse in Exton, Pennsylvania, as well as FOB sales directly from Rwanda.

Our
Mission

Azizi Life is a fair trade organization which partners with Rwandan artisans to bring beautifully designed, hand crafted goods to the world. As a not-for-profit organization, Azizi Life is dedicated to the wellbeing of our artisan partners and their families. In addition to opening economic opportunity through fair trade, Azizi Life invests in a range of community impact projects. Our Rwandan-led team facilitates adult literacy classes and offers other practical resources for personal, spiritual, and economic growth.

Community-based cultural Experience days in rural Rwanda

A Day in the Life of an Artisan

Traditional Pottery

Traditional Coffee Experience

Imigongo (cow dung art) Experience

Traditional Construction

Banana Juice Making

Traditional Cooking Day

Traditional Drumming & Dancing

Candle Dipping and Hive Making

Home Stay Experience

Crafting Workshop Experiences

Azizi Life Pathways

Guest Reviews

Starting point for all Experiences

Azizi Life Byimana, Ruhango Boutique

Contact

Ange

Our Facilitators

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