Silkworms

Last Friday, we took a field trip to Utexwra, a textile plant in Kigali that specializes in silkworm farming! It was so fascinating! We were able to see the entire process of how a piece of silk is made, beginning from the eggs being hatched, all the way to the women who spin and weave it by hand into beautiful silk. We watched silkworms munch on their favorite food (their only food!) of mulberry leaves. We saw two worms mating, and watched the female lay eggs, over 300 in about 15 minutes! Wow! Sadly, then the female dies, but the male continues to mate with others. We discovered that only one tiny cocoon of silk can be stretched out for one kilometer! We also got to tour the spinning and weaving part of the factory, and the power mill plant as well. The kids loved wearing the surgical masks, and we left there with tons of cotton all over us. We walked up and down through the loud machinery and watched cotton being cleaned, and the fibers sorted, and eventually made into Army uniforms for the Rwandan army. Such a neat process to see! Here's a few pictures from our trip.


24 day old silkworms


Silkworm eggs that have just hatched

Norah, touching the silk on the machine

Watching the lady weave the silk together. It was such a neat, rythmic process to watch! It was all about timing for sure!

Putting the silk on spools