Living the Spirit of “Turi Kumwe”: We Are Together
Turi kumwe was one of the first Kinyarwanda sayings I learned when I started my Global Health Corps fellowship at Gardens for Health International (GHI). I noticed it in the written and spoken salutations of colleagues and heard it described as a core value of the organization. Turi kumwe means “we are together,” and it’s what I continue coming back to as I reflect on my fellowship year.
GHI is not the first nonprofit I’ve worked for. It’s not the first place I’ve worked abroad. And it’s not the first employer I’ve had with a set of organizational values. However, GHI is the first place I’ve worked where the organization’s values are truly the lived and breathed ethos of the staff, rather than existing alone in an onboarding manual, on a webpage, or in an email signature. The spirit of turi kumwe is found throughout GHI, and it’s what has set this organization and this year apart from the others for me.
Turi kumwe is found in the organization’s Turi Kumwe Fund, a staff-funded and staff-driven program that provides support to families facing urgent challenges that lie beyond what GHI can address through its core programming. Through the Turi Kumwe Fund, GHI staff serve hundreds of additional families each year, helping them surmount the shocks of life that threaten their health and wellbeing. Just recently, GHI staff joined hands with the community to fund the construction of a home for a local family in need.
Turi kumwe is also found in our community lunch, where each day our staff gather around the farm table to share a delicious meal with children and adults from the community and visitors from near and far. Although GHI has grown to operate in multiple locations in Rwanda, having this time each day at our farm reminds us of GHI’s roots. My favorite part of each day has grown to be watching this tradition unfold — the food cooked with love daily by our dedicated kitchen staff, the line of children marching to eat while precariously carrying their bowls of food, the laughs and conversations that carry around the table.
Turi kumwe is found in GHI’s monthly all-staff meeting, where senior leadership gathers with field educators, farm technicians, kitchen staff, fellows, and interns to share updates and concerns. Even with a growing portfolio of work, GHI has continued to prioritize this shared space for its staff. Each time we gather to face each other, we affirm that each of our voices matter, that one person’s successes or concerns are all of ours, and that we are all worthy of being heard. It’s here that we also celebrate our staff member of the month, putting the spotlight on the achievements of any one of us, emphasizing that each of our roles is integral to the organization’s success.
Most of all, Turi kumwe is found in GHI’s staff themselves, who are the heart of the organization.
It is the co-workers who showed up at my door one evening to drive me to the doctor and help me navigate a new healthcare system.
It is our staff rallying to action whenever a birth or death is experienced, showing up for those affected in any and every way.
It is stepping outside to see our Executive Director, who is always juggling a hectic schedule, sitting down to have a conversation with the kitchen staff while peeling potatoes alongside them.
It is the afternoon celebrations held whenever a coworker is moving on, taking time to acknowledge their contributions, even those of short-term interns, and not fretting if the conversation stretches past work hours.
And it was at one of these celebrations where I was particularly touched by the scene of person after person coming forward to share how their lives had been changed by their departing colleague — personal assistance with hospital bills, help securing home loans, accessing electricity, advocacy for employee contracts. Over the years, he had shown his coworkers time and time again in quiet but powerful ways that we are all together.
I think organizations the world over could learn from the spirit of turi kumwe at GHI, where relationships are built from the inside out, fostered as carefully with staff and the surrounding community as they are with the people directly receiving GHI’s services. The work GHI does in Rwanda is so important, but it is the humanizing way in which GHI works that truly sets it apart, and it’s what I will remember most. That is where real change begins.
Jillian Kenny was a 2017–2018 Global Health Corps fellow in Rwanda.
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