Madalina cultivates tea on a bit of hill side land in the shadow of a large tea plantation in Nyabihu, Rwanda. "This used to be a place where people came to buy beer from our small shop.
Then we grew potatoes here.
I planted the tea five years ago.
Now the factory vehicles come to buy the tea from me at collection point.
With the tea we make money- if I weren’t sick I would grow even more.
I broke my arm and since I couldn’t afford the 3,000 francs ($4.50) needed for local insurance I went to a traditional healer. I’d go in the morning and he’d just talk to my shadow and in the evening I’d feel it like a massage.
And now I am ok. I can’t say I am really working because I only use one hand. But better to move than die.
Things are changing now.
When we were young we sat by the fire at night and talked to each other and told stories and shared knowledge. But today the kids are no longer staying home. They like to move. They go into the centers and watch films and TV. They don’t like to stay with parents and share wisdom." Photo by Brendan Bannon. Nyabihu, Rwanda. March 5, 2014