Sam’s journey – 4th of October

A new production location in Kigali, Rwanda (written by Sam)

During my first week in Rwanda, we visited the production centre of our Correctbooks. Robert, our partner in Rwanda, went with me. Since 2019 we have produced 50.000 Correctbooks in his production facility. When we arrived, I read a sign on the wall saying ‘Official Correctbook production center’. I thought Robert had been kind enough to mention our name on the building. But then he explained that he had actually invested in a whole new building and in better machines especially for the production of Correctbooks! 

I was overwhelmed. The factory is situated in one of the slums near Kigali. A production location in a slum was a dream that suddenly and unexpectedly became reality! The place is based so remotely, a sandy route with big potholes has to be taken. The ideal location for a factory? Not at all, but we want to create employment in the most rural areas and therefore we got used to transport our products on roads like these. The only mistake we made, because it was a surprise to us: we went with our passenger car and got stuck on the way back.

The lovely people there helped us immediately and pushed the car back up. They were laughing and enjoying it so much. Every time I am amazed by the level of happiness of the people living in Africa.

In three weeks’ time, the new factory had already produced 18.000 Correctbooks with only eight employees. I originally started Correctbook to fight poverty and to save the planet while doing so. Producing locally creates employment and avoids unnecessary (international) transport movements. Correctbook writing material is now available in seven African countries and it is produced locally in five of these countries.

This huge and wonderful surprise during my first week,  definitely made the start of my new adventure in Africa an unforgettable one!