Baraza Collective:
Stories that Nourish Change
Exploring how wellness, nutrition, and culture fuel sustainable development.
Each week, Lama Mugabo reflects on the work of Baraza Collective, sharing powerful stories and insights on how food, wellness, and creativity are transforming communities across Africa and the diaspora. These reflections spotlight visionary changemakers: farmers, artists, and innovators - who are shaping the Africa we want to live in.
At Baraza Collective, we believe that the roots of development begin with nourishment: foods that heal our bodies, strengthen our minds, and nurture our collective spirit. Through storytelling, we aim to inspire a deeper understanding of how local action and cultural wisdom can contribute to a more sustainable and equitable world.
Follow our journey.
Join the conversation, share your thoughts, and be part of a growing community committed to reimagining wellness and sustainability - one story at a time.
About Baraza
Building community through storytelling
Baraza Collective is a social enterprise that connects people locally and globally through the power of stories. Inspired by Lama Mugabo’s work as a community planner in Canada and a community builder in Rwanda, we bring people together to learn, reflect and act.
Through Baraza Conversations, we host weekly dialogues with change makers on wellness, nutrition and community development.
With Baraza Boutique, we sell beautiful handwoven Made-in-Rwanda products that transform challenges like invasive water hyacinth into sustainable livelihoods.
Through Baraza Collaboration, we engage communities with Hogan’ Alley walking tours in Vancouver and Reflection tours to Rwanda, uncovering hidden histories and imaging more inclusive futures together.
Baraza Collective invites you to connect, learn, and co-create pathways towards a resilience, equity, and belonging.
Reflection Tours to Rwanda:
The RR25 Legacy Project
In 2019, Building Bridges with Rwanda, Hogan’s Alley Society, and SFU’s Institute for Black and African Diaspora Research and Engagement launched the Remember Rwanda 25 Legacy Project (RR25). This powerful initiative was created to honor the resilience of the Rwandan people and to spark dialogue on sustainable development, justice, and reconciliation.
At the heart of RR25 are two goals:
1.Leading Reflection Tours to Rwanda – immersive journeys that allow participants to experience Rwanda’s transformation firsthand.
2.Hosting biannual conferences – gatherings that highlight Rwanda’s remarkable progress and explore lessons for global sustainable development.
In the summer of 2022, Dr. June Francis and Lama Mugabo traveled to Kigali to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM). While there, they engaged with Rwanda’s history, culture, and development strategies.
Their journey inspired a documentary, set to premiere during Black History Month 2026, that tells the story of Rwanda’s rebirth.
Looking ahead, we are thrilled to announce that in the summer of 2026, twelve participants will embark on a Reflection Tour to Rwanda. This journey will offer young leaders and community members the chance to witness the extraordinary progress Rwanda has made since the darkest chapter of its history—the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, when more than a million lives were lost in just 100 days as the world stood by.
Out of that devastation, Rwanda’s daughters and sons reclaimed their nation. Through vision, courage, and homegrown solutions, they rebuilt their society and laid the foundation for one of the most inspiring transformations in modern history.
The Reflection Tour is more than a trip—it is an opportunity to learn, grow, and be inspired by Rwanda’s renaissance. It invites participants to reflect on the meaning of resilience, to draw lessons from Rwanda’s path to peace and prosperity, and to carry those lessons home to strengthen our own communities.
Lama Mugabo
Lama Mugabo is a community planner who leverages storytelling engagement and change. In 2005, he co-founded Building Bridges with Rwanda (BBR), a non-profit fostering collaboration between international volunteers and Rwandan partners. As the host of Baraza Conversations, he engages change-makers in discussions about Africa's future on themes like nutrition, wellness, and community development for inspiring solutions.
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