In May, heavy rains swept across Rwanda, causing flooding and landslides that left 72 people dead. In the Nyabihu District in northern Rwanda alone, there was an estimated $132,000 worth of damages, including the loss of 325 homes. We reported on a fundraising effort by Raw Material done in collaboration with Muraho Trading Company to benefit the people at the Shyira and Vunga washing stations in the Nyabihu District, whose Phase 1 goal was to raise $41,000 to go towards immediate needs: food, water, clothing, clean-up efforts, risk isolation for future landslides, blankets, and basic hygiene items.
With Phase 1 funded and fully enacted, Raw Material and Muraho Trading Company have turned their attention to Phase 2. Looking to raise an additional $121,000, the two companies have created Nyabibrew Day to allow cafes and individuals a chance to help them reach that goal.
With the most urgent needs being met in Phase 1, Phase 2 turns an eye towards recovering and rebuilding what was lost in the landslides. Included in the efforts are rebuilding houses and other structures like silos and foot bridges, replanting coffee, banana, and other fruit trees as well as hectares of beans, maize, sweet potatoes, and cassava, and replacing all lost livestock, primarily cows, chickens, and goats.
As with previous efforts, Raw Material and Muraho have created a GoFundMe page where folks can give directly to support the goal, but new for Phase 2 is Nyabibrew Day. Taking place on November 25th, a global contingent of cafes are setting aside a portion of the day’s sales to go directly to the Phase 2 efforts. Cafes across the UK—including Bristol’s Full Court Press, Forts Cafe in Margate, and Communion Coffee in London—will be joined by Espresso Embassy in Budapest, Seam Coffee in Johannesburg, and The Snobby Collective in New Zealand in raising funds on Myabibrew Day.
And you can get involved too! If you are a cafe owner looking to pitch in, all you have to do is sign up via Nyabibrew’s official website, whereby you will commit to a donation of your choosing; it could be a set amount, a percentage of sales, or an amount per drink sold. Per Nyabibrew, most cafes are pledging 10% of the day’s sales, but what you choose to give is completely up to you. Then, once you’ve made the final tally, you donate that amount directly to the GoFundMe.
Any funds unused in Phase 2 will then roll over to Phase 3, which focuses on building resiliency and guarding against the deleterious effects of future natural disasters.
For more information, visit the Nyabibrew Day official website, and to donate directly to Phase 2 efforts, visit their GoFundMe page.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
