The welcome
You arrive to drumming and dancing. That is not a set piece arranged for tour groups — the performance skills are what these women are known for locally, and the pride in them is obvious from the moment you walk in. Children wave. It is a loud arrival and an effective one.
What they do
The cooperative works across several things at once: the traditional pottery and performing arts the group is best known for, alongside newer practice in weaving and waste recycling. During a visit some members demonstrate the pottery while others play and sing, so the craft and the performance run together rather than in sequence.
Two to three hours is the right length. Less and you get the welcome without the work.
Combining the visit
Urumuri sits on the Gatagara Trail, which also passes the HVP Gatagara orthopaedic centre — a facility with its own long history of work with people with disabilities in Rwanda. Doing the ride, the orthopaedic centre and the cooperative together makes a coherent day about how marginalised communities in this district have built standing and income for themselves, rather than three unconnected stops.
The Gatagara pottery workshop is nearby and covers the technical side of the craft in more depth.
Booking
Arrange through the visitor centre in Nyanza ahead of the day.