Inzozi Nziza translates to "Sweet Dreams", and is Rwanda’s first ever local ice cream shop located in Butare (Huye). Try saying that three times fast! Inzozi Nziza, Inzozi Nziza, Inzozi zzzzzzz....! :-) We stopped here on the way back from the King's palace and museum. This one-of-a-kind icecream shop is a first for Rwanda, and there's a really great story behind it that I want to share with you. You all know how I love icecream, and it's also something near and dear to my family's heart (and stomachs!) Even though it's not Dairy Queen, it was pretty darn delicious!
Blue Marble Dreams is an icecream shop in Brooklyn, New York, that has used the power of icecream and entrepreneurship to bring happiness and prosperity to people all around the world.
Can ice cream really do all that?
It all started when Blue Marble’s founders, Jennie and Alexis, met a Rwandan, Odile Gakire Katese (better known as Kiki), at the Sundance Institute. Hearing about their work, Kiki approached Jennie and Alexis with an idea. She explained that while conventional development initiatives are vital to Rwanda’s physical wellbeing, there remains a need for efforts that boost the spirit of its people. Just as much as they need nutritious food and clean water, Kiki asserted, Rwandans need fun, joy, pleasure and laughter, as these are the ingredients of a life truly lived. And what better way to meet this need than through the sweet, symbolic magic of ice cream?
In her own words, this is why Kiki believes in Blue Marble:
“Because we struggle most of the time, we also find ourselves aggressive against happiness, love, joy, life. When we have children, we teach them that happiness doesn’t exist, that there is no pure love and, as legacy, we give them our despair, our debts, our doubts, our tears, our failures. Rwandan women … want to reshape life in its simple and sweetest form. We want to share moments that are not embossed by despair and death… We want to create a space where poverty, disease, illiteracy… are not obstacles to happiness and barriers between human beings… We have to, for the sake of the health of our soul. The ice cream will have the power to reconcile people with life by providing privileged moments when life reminds them that it is also sweet.”
That was Kiki, Jennie and Alexis's dream, and now it’s a reality! Inzozi Nziza, a non-profit venture, opened in June of this year, and is an amazing little place! All the women workers are part shareholders of the shop, and they are also the only all-women drumming corp in Rwanda. I wish we could have seen them perform....maybe another time. Inozi Nziza also supports other women in the community by training them in English, hospitality, and computing. The menu is diverse and affordable. You can enjoy passion, mango, strawberry and coffee icecream, and chocolate on most days. They also offer freshly baked bagels, sambusas, cookies, granola, and even fruit salad. They use fresh milk delivered straight from the local farmers to make their icecream. And they roast Rwandan coffee at their shop as well. Check out their menu below. And a couple other pictures from their website...
Great menu!
Delicious coffee icecream with granola on top
Teta, a happy worker!
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| Leontine's famous sambusas |
http://www.bluemarbledreams.org/
http://www.bluemarbleicecream.com/
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