It may sound very exciting to work on developing a food product that no one has ever worked on before or tried to add probiotics to it. However, the process is very stressful and it requires so many trial and error rounds.
Specifically speaking, the probiotics bacteria has to be put in an enriching medium that ensures the successful growth of it. But does Igikoma as a food provides a good enriching environment for the bacteria? or should we add the bacteria to a different medium first then add both to the Igikoma? Would the latter change the taste and the physical properties of the Igikoma to the point that it can be problematic? The answer is: We still do not know. And that is the stressful part I am talking about. Working on something that does not have enough literature on it can be a daunting process.
I decided to explore both strategies. For the medium, I had to make sure that whatever medium I will choose to work on to add the bacteria to before adding both to the Igikoma, it has to be highly available in Rwanda and very affordable too. I reached out to the University of Rwanda students and they advised me to use pineapple juice and Agashya juice as they are the two most common juices. I will be working on parallel on adding the bacteria directly to the igikoma and see if it is a good medium so we can eliminate the need to add it to a medium first before adding it to the Igikoma (that produces higher efficiencies, less cost, and less labour)
It has been SO LONG since I last wrote here! As promised, I will continue working on my project after summer. The plan was to work on it full term (Sep-April), but due to lab availability issues, I am was only able to work on it during the winter term.
I am currently conducing bacterial viability tests to test the storage potential of Igikoma over 21-day period.
I am also performing this work under Dr. Hekmat’s supervision and her masters student is helping me in the lab as well. Also, I shadowed a researcher in the lab who is conducting similar project.
Here is a list that summarizes the internship objectives:
Complete the course: HE4402B – SUPERVISED RESEARCH Winter 2022. Supervised by Dr Shari Hekmat, completing the following requirements:
Literature Review 10%
Laboratory/Field work 20%
Data Analysis/Interpretation 20%
Final Report 50%
Continue with the new product development process with the Igikoma probiotic cereal
Igikoma samples will be evaluated and assessed for fermentation, shelf-life, acidity, and PH
Determine the probiotic potential of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 from Fiti sachets, to be consumed with Igikoma
Develop tentative next steps for the marketing strategies, business analysis, product development and test marketing, considering the community partner’s needs.
Work with the UR students and professors and NGO’s leaders for the implementation of the Igikoma probiotic product and provide the research information to make it sustainable.
I will be updating you biweekly with many exciting steps in my research. Stay tuned.
Every story has to come to an end. And even though my story in summer has officially come to an end; I am happy to share that I extended my internship to the fall-winter session 2021-2022!! So I will get to spend eight more months of developing my newly-developed Probiotic-based Igikoma that I was working on during the summer and taking it to a higher level. This was a suggestion made by Mr. Robert (Bob) Gough, the Director for International Internships, and Ms. Maria, Western Heads East coordinator, because they noticed the potential in my project that I was working on during this summer. I never expected that I will be enrolled in an official internship again during the fall-winter session 2021-2022, so I consider these exciting news! I am now at stage 3 of the New Product Development Process, which is Concept Development and Testing. The steps are: Idea generation , Idea screening, Concept development and testing, Marketing strategy, Business analysis, Product development , Test marketing, and Commercialization respectively. I am determined to advance my project to the higher steps of the New Food Product Development process during the fall-winter session 2021-2022.
Initially, one of the main goals of my next internship experience is to proceed in the project and do the viability tests — and all the other laboratory tests–for the end goal to have the Proposed Research Project Published in a scientific journal. Another goal is to continue the communications with the University Of Rwanda students given that that facilitate quick actions in order to explore with them the options for running the University Kitchen and the root causes that are hindering its running. As mentioned earlier, the students at the University of Rwanda accelerated so many actions and helped proceed the project at times when there was problems in communications with the Rwandan partners. There are definitely some goals that will come up down the road, but these ones are the most defined ones for now.
Here is a promotional poster that I created on CANVA that sums up some aspect of my newly developed Igikoma
Now I will sum up the summer internship outcomes:
In relation to the “New Product development- high protein probiotic-based non-dairy food product.” piece:
The trajectory of the project took a completely different path! The main goal was to continue what the past interns started in probiotic-based non-dairy products, such as legumes and pulses and to build on it. However, after many investigations and research with the Rwandan partners, we started developing a completely new product that no one of the interns worked on before.The rationale behind developing a probiotic-based non-dairy product is to provide a highly nutritious option for people suffering from milk allergy or lactose intolerance and can not consume the probiotic-based yogurt. Also, there is a need for a more readily-available product that people in Rwanda can consume and does not need any special conditions (Ex. refrigeration) to be preserved. Moreover, the newly developed product offers a very promising nutrition profile, with protein reaching 12 g per serving and fiber reaching 14 g per serving in addition to the whole other benefits, that can combat malnutrition, especially children malnutrition in Rwanda. In Rwanda, about 38 percent or 661,200 children under 5 years suffer from chronic malnutrition (stunting or low height-for-age), so the necessity of having this product there is very high. This product is Igikoma Porridge. Igikoma is a widely consumed cereal-like beverage in Rwanda and is a very preferred food item to consume between meals or, in some cases, as a main dish in meals. However, in this internship, I made so many modifications to it to prepare it for the probiotic introduction to it and to make it more palatable. Also, one of the outcomes was to modify it to be especially appealing to men who refrain from consuming it in public due to cultural reasons. The modifications made were targeted towards: modifying the consistency of Igikoma to be in a pudding form instead of liquid form; the introduction of new flavours (banana, chocolate, and banana chocolate); increasing the fiber profile by introducing inlun that also has a potential of microencapsulating the probiotics to increase its viability; increasing its protein content that can be further used as a marketing tool to men to consume Igikoma; the high-protein food as a post-workout snack; the elimination and/or reduction of the amount of added sugars; and increasing its convenience of consumption by making it in an instant form that can be consumed immediately.
Conducted Affective Sensory Testing on the newly-developed Igikoma in July and August in order to gain the consumers impression towards the new modifications mentioned above and which flavours are preferred. The Sensory panel consisted of 6 people, who are Aime and her children (Ingenzi Mugisha O’Neal, Kirangirire Ineza Louange Catherine, Kirenga Isimbi Loeiza de Gloriose, Kizigenza Ikuzo Loeva d’Angeline, Kiberinka Ishimwe Luella de Felicite). Please refer to Appendix for more information about the test and to Table () in Appendix for more information about the panelists and their ages.
The work on developing the business plan for the prospective non-dairy probiotic-based food product was put on hold because as mentioned above, the plan was to build on what others started, but with the development of new product, that made the process of business plan a very advanced step since I had to first follow all the initial steps of New Food Product Development.
Formulated a good understanding of the current political– relating to the 1994 genocide– and economic conditions that are influencing the yogurt production and the running of the community kitchen by holding several meetings with Clarisse. This helped me gain an accurate picture of how the Igikoma will be produced and marketed in Rwanda in the future.
Successfully reached Stage 3, which is Concept Development and Testing, in the New Food Product Development process. The steps are Idea generation , Idea screening, Concept development and testing, Marketing strategy, Business analysis, Product development , Test marketing, and Commercialization respectively. Refer to figure () that shows the full scheme of New Food Product Development.
In relation to the “Public health and community development ” piece:
Collaborate with the community volunteers and the students from University of Rwanda to organize training sessions about the benefits of the probiotics.
Communicated the research findings and the production process of my prospective probiotic based non-dairy food product with the Foods and Nutrition Students at University of Rwanda and the Kitchen Mamas (the women who work in the kitchen to support themselves economically) in order to make sure they can skillfully replicate my work in Rwanda. This was done by sharing with them a very comprehensive portfolio that includes all the steps of the new Igikoma production.
Created a media gallery document that includes links to the videos and pictures of my production steps of the new Igikoma in order to ease the replication of the Igikoma in Rwandan kitchens and to make the production process more tangible for them. This galley was shared with the University of Rwanda students.
Created health promotional materials and marketing materials about the health benefits of the newly developed Igikoma.
Created a children’s storybook about Igikoma to encourage children to consume Igikoma in the new flavours.
Did a nutritional analysis and developed the Nutrition Facts table of the probiotic-based Igikoma on ESHA software and shared them with the Rwandan partners.
In relation to the “Cultural Competence and communications ” piece:
Established strong communications grounds with University of Rwanda students in order to explore the possibility of running the University Kitchen(which is different from the community kitchen) to employ it to the production of yogurt and potentially the Igikoma.
Reached a satisfactory level regarding the relationship-building with the African Partners in Rwanda to help make long-lasting sustainable changes to the community.
Engaged in many visits to Aimee’s house in London to conduct the sensory analysis and connect deeply with her family which helped me further explore the Rwandan culture competently and have a good understanding of the culture which in turn supported my research. I also shared with them the intersecting/overlapping pieces in both of our cultures and invited them to my home to try common foods in my culture (middleeastern) in the hopes of establishing engaging and competent cross-cultural conversations.
At the end, I would love to say that no amount of thanks will ever be enough for Western Heads East and Bob and Maria and our Rwandan partners for giving me this once in a lifetime experience. I have learned a lot–and most importantly unlearned even more stuff too– and can not wait to see what the next experience is hiding to me.
Can you believe it is already August!! WOW! As promised, I will keep this post short.
The first Affective Sensory Test was so insightful and provided clear direction of what should be tested in the Second Affective Sensory Testing.
The panelist in this test was O’Neal only, unlike the first sensory test where all Aimee’s five children acted as panelists, including Aimee herself as well.
Preference tests and 9-point scale Hedonic tests were performed to rank the samples. The Banana chocolate flavor and the chocolate flavor ranked the highest among all samples. The exact amount of chocolate and banana and banana chocolate flavors that are added per serving are documented. Different amounts of flavors were administered in successions and in ascending order in order to spot the most preferred amount. For example, in one sample, the chocolate was 1 tablespoon per serving and in the second sample, there was 2 tablespoons per serving, and so on.
I created a 12-page Word Document that documents all these Affective Tests performed in July and August, withaccompanying media pieces such as videos showing the panelists impressions and photos as well.
I also sent O’Neal with a dry sample of the banana chocolate flavored Igikoma for the rest of the family to try at home as they were not able to attend.
Also, I considered the sensory tastings as a chance to connect with the panelists and have many cross-cultural conversations and engagements with them to explore our cultures. So I got the chance to share with O’Neal a famous Egyptian local fruit called Cactus Fruit and made them try it for the first time ever!! I attached a video of his impression about it. Also, I made Aimee and her family s special smoothie from imported Egyptian mangos.
I promise you this one, and probably the next one as well, will be a bit short.
This past period was crazy busy; joggling between drafting the Affective Sensory Tests forms that were administered to the panelists to take their feedback upon testing the newly developed Igikoma, and between perfecting the Igikoma’s flavors and consistency.
I had the chance to go to Aimee’s house and perform the Affective Sensory Test, with her and her five children being the Tests’ panelists. Normally, I would begin the Sensory Testing with the Descriptive Sensory Testing, rather than the Affective test to gain a quantitative sense and get more comprehensive insight on the Igikoma. However, the Descriptive Sensory Analysis requires training the panelists, unlike the Affective Sensory Testing, and requires access to the lab, which was not an option due to the COVID restrictions.
The sensory testing was performed successfully and the results were promising in terms of consistency, taste, and consumer acceptability about it being ” instant” mix. I can not share the exact scores that each sample scored or any detailed specifics, but the Igikoma chocolate flavor is scoring the highest among all samples. Also, they found that the sweetness level is very satisfying and that there is no need to add any table sugar. That was one of the goals- to have no added sugars. This is because the natural sweetness of chocolate and banana was enough. This is very important as the Rwandan citizens like to put up to 12 tablespoons of sugar in Igikoma, which makes it very unhealthy. But with this newly developed Igikoma, there will be no need to add this high amount of sugar. Refer back to my older blog to gain more context of my goals in regards to my newly developed Igikoma. However, a second sensory testing will be done later to test a new consistency, which is softer than this one and incorporates higher ratio of boiling water. Also, after the sensory testing, I sat down a got an idea of mixing the banana and chocolate–with chocolate encompassing the larger ratio– in one flavor. Sounds crazy, eh? But my initial impression is telling me it may work.
Also, we had a very engaging cross-cultural talk and I had the chance to connect with Aimee, one of our Rwandan partner and the legal representative of Living With Happiness women group, on a deeper level. Also, we discussed some topics related to the genocide in Rwanda, which helped me better form a clearer context of the economic and political atmospheres of the country.
I attached lovely photos of us during and after the Testing.
The University of Rwanda students, Belyse Uwase and Bonheur translated the promotional and educational materials that I created in English for Igikoma manufacturing and benefits. The University of Rwanda Students also helped me figure out the cost of manufacturing/replicating the Igikoma in Rwanda by sharing with me a document that includes the price points of the ingredients that go in the making of Igikoma.
The next August Sensory Test will be performed in my house–in the University’s Rez– and I am so excited for it already!
This past period was so exciting and I can not wait to share all the new updates with you regarding my newly developed formulation.
Just to recap, as you know, I have eight main goals; coming up with new ingredient ratios to make the product instant, coming up with new flavors(potentially the banana and the chocolate), incorporating the probiotics safely to the product, having no added sugar, make the product highly nutritious- especially in protein content, use the least amount of resources and energy, increase the fiber content to accommodate for the pregnant women needs, which is around 28g per day as per the Canadian recommendations, and change the men consumers’ impressions about it.
Every factor should be tested individually first to control for any confounding factors. So I begun the experiments with testing the new consistency after administering a new ingredients ratio. The Igikoma, after the new ingredient ratio modification, turned out to be near to a pudding form. The traditional Igikoma is beverage-like, which necessitates taking the consumer impression on the new consistency in product’s the sensory testing that will be done in the future. I attached a picture for my newly-developed Igikoma in the very first experiments done on it.
Also, the chocolate and banana flavors were explored and they turned out to be SUPER TASTY. I asked my friends in Rez in London to try it and they liked it. BUT, at the end of the day, the sensory testing will require the participants/panelists to be from Rwanda in order to be as accurate as possible. As mentioned earlier, Aimee and her five children from Rwanda are currently staying in Canada for Aimee’s Masters in Western. Luckily, Aimee lives only 10 minutes away from me — yaaay– which suggests she may agree on doing the sensory testing. Also, the fiber incorporated is inulin, and it is tasteless, so it does not add any flavor.
when it came to the probiotics incorporation stage– which is a pivotal point in the New Food Product Development project, there are two elements; the change in the product’s physical characteristics after the incorporation and the viability of the bacteria and all the other related chemical characteristics. An mentioned before, we are not granted access to Brescia’s –or western’s– labs due to the COVID restrictions, so I will not be able to do the viability tests. What I will be only able to do is the observations regarding the physical characteristics. For example, after I incorporated one probiotic sachet, which contains 1 g of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 bacteria, I observed that the Igikoma sample had more stable shelf-life than the non-probiotic counterpart that was prepared under the same conditions using the same ingredients. This will be an area to explore once the labs are open again and the proper tests are done to reveal the rationale behind it.
More exciting updates to come! The next steps will be doing the Affective Sensory Tests at Aimee’s house with her five children.
It is sunny nowadays so I hope you are enjoying your summer!
So, this whole past period was all about replicating the Igikoma to be exactly like the one made in Rwanda. Not because my probiotic-based Igikoma that I am developing has to necessarily be similar to it, but rather to know how the traditional Igikoma tastes like–and all the other physical properties are like– so I can have an idea about the flavors that can go well with it and so on.
I even tried in my experiments to use flours that are used to make Igikoma (sorghum, corn, and soya fours) similar to the ones consumed in Rwanda by asking Aimee where she gets those flours in London. And let me re-introduce Aimee again in case you haven’t read my previous articles: Aimee is one of our African Partners from Rwanda who happened to be currently pusuing her Masters in Canada. So in general, I tried to mimic all the conditions and the materials that goes in the manufacturing of Igikoma in Rwanda.
Luckily, I got my first experiment successfully done and the consistency was pretty similar to the traditional Igikoma commonly consumed in Rwanda. HOWEVER, the traditional Igikoma is usually cooked over the oven for 15 minutes, which made me think that what if someone does not have their own oven or if the oven is not available right at the moment, how can the Igikoma be consumed in that situation then? This led me to think about developing an instant Igikoma; the Igikoma powder is packaged and all what you need to do is pour hot water directly from an electric kettle or directly from a hot water source. Even if someone has an oven, all they need is to just boil the water separately–which takes less time and less resources than cooking the whole Igikoma, and pour it into the instant mix. BUT this requires tons of search and experiment to find the right formulation with the right ingredient ratios that can allow for this to happen. Would that dream come true? That’s something we will know soon….
So far, still the step of incorporating the probiotics is not done yet…
Now let’s talk about the potential flavors that can be incorporated to the newly developed Igikoma.
While doing the market research to explore the flavors commonly consumed in cereals in Rwanda, I found out that there is a company that sells Igikoma in different flavors and sells it in stores in Rwanda. Usually, the Rwandan people bring buy all the individual the ingredients and cook the plate from scratch, so this company increased the product’s convenience. This company is called African Improved Foods (AIF). The flavors they offer are vanilla and strawberry flavors, so I have to come up with different flavors that are new yet preferable to consume. I searched and found that in Rwanda, there is a kind of Beer called Banana Beer that is very liked and widely consumed in Rwanda, especially by men, and is most likely consumed in celebrations. This inspired me to develop Igikoma in banana flavor. Also, after doing an informal survey with Aimee’s five children, I found out that chocolate is very liked and very preferred for them. Also, my market research indicated that chocolate is one of the highly rated ingredients in Rwanda that are used in flavoring children’s and sometimes adult’s food. So I put chocolate into consideration too.
Let’s talk about the cultural acceptability piece.
Men are discouraged from consuming Igikoma in public in Rwanda because Igikoma is typically a children’s and pregnant women’s food, so they feel very ashamed of consuming it- that’s a cultural piece there. So one of the goals that came into the road is to actually market the Igikoma as a post-workout food as it is very high in protein and inroduce it to men, which might change their impressions. So the key is all about formulating the nutrition message to make Igikoma more appealing to men.
Things are staring to get super excited as you see ! Can’t wait to start testing the new formulation using a specific ingredients ratio that will allow for all of what is mentioned above to happen!
Whoever reads my blog and keeps up to date with what I post here, I wanna thank you so much from the bottom of my heart! Also, please feel free to reach out to me if you have any question. You will find my contact information in my very first blog post.
So this past period was all about having the very first meetings with the community partners in Rwanda, whether the NGO’s or the University of Rwanda students.
We had several meetings to decide on the internship’s goals, and even though it was expected that communications will be very hard due to the remote nature of the internship, it turned out to be WAY HARDER than I ever expected. Not necessarily because of the different time zones, but because some members of our Rwandan partners were going though personal issues/hurdles in their lives and that made communications hard. HOWEVER, I discovered that University of Rwanda students are very action-oriented and that the students do facilitate more action. Thanks to them, bunch of work has been done, such as translating the promotional documents I created, and many tasks were accomplished. In our last meeting, we went through all the challenges that the community kitchen is facing now, and it is mostly rooted in politics and the consequences of the genocide that happened in 1994. This conversation led us to the emphasis on having a non-dairy option that can be manufactured in the community kitchen– and hopefully the University Kitchen as well– as it will not need complicated conditions i.e., refrigeration in contrast to the yogurt. Also, it will be very highly nutritious and friendly for people who have milk allergies or lactose intolerance as the product does not contain dairy. The product that we agreed on incorporating probiotics to, and hopefully developing different flavors for to increase its palatability, is called IGIKOMA.
Igikoma is a cereal consumed widely in Rwanda and people from almost all age groups love it. Children consume it as a breakfast and the school lunch programs even include Igikoma as a free lunch item. However, Igikoma normally does not contain probiotics, that’s why the main goal of this internship is to incorporate probiotics to it to make it probiotic-based food product and also add to it some interesting flavors( such as banana and chocolate maybe? ) to make it more preferred.
Both the Rwandan partners from the NGO’s and the students from University of Rwanda LOVED the idea and I will begin to develop it in my kitchen as we do not have access to Brescia labs due to COVID restrictions (this is unfortunate , right?). Also, I live in the University Rez and we do not have proper kitchen; it is just a common area/lounge that we use to prep quick meals. So presents me with additional challenge in terms of equipment.
As shown in the photo below, I ordered all the supplies that I will need to develop the new Igikoma in my kitchen. So excited to share with you how it will turn out to be!!!
Hello! I will be writing my blog to share with you the updates of my internship from my home (Brescia’s Residence) in London, Ontario.
It is officially the first week in the internship and I it was exciting for me to know that Aimee, one of our Rwandan partners and the legal representative of the NGO Living With Happiness is currently in Canada completing her Masters!! Such a good luck, right? This means I will get the chance to meet her possibly (fingers crossed for that) and potentially have many cross-cultural activities and conversations with her. Yay!
We are now in the phase of agreeing on the communications means that are suitable for both parties. We are also in the goal-setting phase.
Even though the specific goals have not been set yet, my internship will be directed towards innovating a new probiotic-based non-dairy food product and exploring the solutions that can get the University of Rwanda ‘s kitchen running. The rationale behind developing a probiotic-based non-dairy product is to provide a highly nutritious option for people suffering from milk allergy or lactose intolerance and can not consume the probiotic-based yogurt. Also, we need a more readily-available product that people in Rwanda can consume and does not need any special conditions (Ex. refrigeration) to be preserved. And it goes without saying that this product has to be highly nutritious as the chronic malnutrition status of the population, especially children is very high. In fact, according to a recent report published by the National Institute of Statistics in Rwanda, 38 percent or 661,200 children under 5 years suffer from chronic malnutrition (stunting or low height-for-age).
My newly-developed product will be geared towards the past intern’s past work. I will be building on their past work. For example, one of the past interns developed probiotic-based legumes and pulses, and even though the viability tests were promising, the consumer impressions were not explored yet.
I, personally and professionally, prefer developing a new non-dairy product from scratch and advance it throughout the whole eight steps of the New Product Development process, but with COVID, we still do not know if that would be possible.
Hello! I am Esraa Hassan, a third-year student registered in the Honors Specialization in Nutrition and Dietetics program at Brescia University College. I enjoy exploring different cultures and learning about them for the end goal to be shape myself into a culturally competent and culturally sensitive professional. I have the black-belt degree in Karate, and I use it to teach Martial Art Therapy to the very sick kids at Kids Kicking Cancer organization in London. My top areas of interest are Gut Health, Diabetes management, Food Justice, Intuitive Eating, Community Development, Ethical Approaches in Health.
Internship Placement and Partners
I will be mainly working on innovating and introducing a high protein probiotic based non-dairy food product in the community probiotic yogurt kitchens in Rwanda, and on advancing the current work done on probiotics yogurt in the same community probiotic yogurt kitchens. I am doing this work in partnership with University of Rwanda, and two Rwandan Non-Governmental Organizations: Living with Happiness-Icyemezo (LWHI), and Rwandan Mothers-TEAM (RMT), with the former two founded and run by Western PhD student, Aimee Utuza and her sister, Clarisse Cechetto Mukashumbusho . Also, another important aspect of the project will be building on what the past interns accomplished and established in East Africa in Tanzania regarding non-dairy based probiotics food products, such as the non-dairy based legumes and pulses project. Also, much work will be done to seek grants to financially support the newly established campus kitchen in University of Rwanda that acts as the focal point that supports the community kitchens in Rwanda.
Note: I am doing this work remotely from London, Ontario, CA.
Internship Goals
New Product development- high protein probiotic-based non-dairy food product.
Innovate high protein probiotic based non-dairy food product that is compatible with the Rwandan context. The newly developed food product should align with the past intern’s work in probiotic based non-dairy food product and to specifically build on what the past interns accomplished and established in East Africa in Tanzania regarding probiotic based non-dairy food products , such as the non-dairy based legumes and pulses project.
Develop the business plan for the prospective non-dairy probiotic-based food product.
Public health and community development.
Collaborate with the community volunteers and the students from University of Rwanda to organize training sessions about the benefits of the probiotics.
Communicate the research findings and the production process of my prospective probiotic based non-dairy food product with the Foods and Nutrition Students at University of Rwanda and the Kitchen Mamas (the women who work in the kitchen to support themselves economically) in order to make sure they can skillfully replicate my work in Rwanda.
Modify the current health promotional materials about the benefits of probiotics, the general food safety guidelines, and ideas for combining the probiotic yogurt with other nutritious foods to make well-balanced meals. Also, create promotional materials about the health benefits of my prospective probiotic based non-dairy food product .
Do a nutritional analysis and develop the Nutrition Facts table of the probiotic yogurt on ESHA software and share it with the Rwandan partners.
Introduce different flavors to my prospective probiotic based non-dairy food product .
Cultural Competence.
Work on relationship-building with the African Partners in Rwanda to help make long-lasting sustainable changes to the community.
Explore the Rwandan culture competently as the good understanding of the culture and the Rwandan context will immensely support the Research and development, the scientific, and the business aspects of the project.
Comparative analysis and building on the current probiotic yogurt research.
Collaborate with the community volunteers into developing research in how the yogurt is consumed in the Rwanda context and how it could be included on their market.
Should you have any questions about the internship and my work, feel free to send me an email to enaguib@uwo.ca
Esraa Hassan– Western Heads East 