I am Habiyaremye Clément Ernest, and I have come to Torino from the North Province of Rwanda where I live with my two brothers. I am 22 years old, and I am here learning about farming and sustainability; I hope to bring back to my country what I have learned here. I am currently studying rural development at university, which I think I will finish in 2009.

In the meantime, I am studying both theories and practice. We students go into the mountains, where there are fields, to help the farmers there and show people how to do everything. The thing farmers do there is called Isombe; it is a kind of food from a tree that grows in Rwanda. They take the leaves from this tree and crush them, afterwards putting them on the fire, but before that people who have some money can go to the market and get salt, tomatoes, or meat to go with it. It’s my favorite food.

I visit people in the mountains; I’ve seen that Rwandans have a problem with technology. It’s difficult to show them how to plant more efficiently, because they very much prize their traditions. For example, we are trying to teach them to plant selectively, because we know that you can’t plant potatoes, beans and corn in the same field. But it is hard to convince them of this.

I’ve been here since Tuesday, and yesterday I carried the Rwandan flag in the opening session. I liked the speeches and found them very interesting, especially the speech from the President and from the African woman, Aminata Traoré.

Though I am here for the conference, I don’t know very much about Slow Food, only that it is a community that does good things for agriculture. At lunch the other day, I sat with an Italian who taught me how to make spaghetti and macaroni.

I have some of my own fields where I grow beans and maize, but it is sometimes hard to find food, because my parents have passed away and I and both of my brothers are always in school. We have some uncles who try to help us find food.