Late for work one early morning I hop on a moto taxi, the driver turns his head, gives me an endearing smile with his big coffee bean brown eyes and salutes: “Happy New Year, My Mother”
..and I know it’s a beautiful day. On my agenda for January is a visit to Duhumurizanye (= Let’s Comfort Each Other), a Cooperative for people with psycho-social illnesses in Rulindo
as well as yet another baby arrival celebratory home visit. On the latter topic, I regard this as my own useful dry run. NCPD staff are kept busy, as baby home visits seem to extend to current colleagues as well as ex- colleagues.
Being a bit of an OCD geek on documenting processes, I will outline as follows:
- Kick-off collection request = approximately 5000 RwF each (=£5)
- Nomination of gift acquisition committee
- 3 hour same day expedition in Government vehicle into Mu Mujyi (= town centre). Purchase of baby clothes, a bottle of whisky for new Papa (no, not a single malt), and baby card featuring pasty faced Scandinavian baby. I pray that one day a local entrepreneur will set up a greeting card business to reflect a more relevant Rwandan context. Why does the West keep on exporting all their rubbish to 3rd world countries?
- Friday afternoon: Visit to see new baby, scheduled for 4 p.m. although actual arrival more like 5 p.m.
- Introduction to friends, family and neighbours of new Papa, Mama and Baby who have been drafted in to cook meal for visitors and serve Fanta Citron, Fanta Cola, Fanta Orange and Fanta Fiesta (diet version not in fashion here).
- Signing by all of pasty faced baby card 5 minutes before intro to new baby (did I miss a trick in tackling this better late than never practice during my Project Management training?)
- Pass the parcel, sorry Baby. In spite of the many different faces, Rwandan baby does not cry.
- Buffet and fruit shared
- Speech by most senior NCPD person present
- Response by senior family member
- Speech by new Papa
- Thank you all round and goodbyes
- Departure planned 7 p.m. actual leaving time 8 p.m.
Rwandans could be regarded as somehow procreation experts with a birth rate of 4.6 children born/woman versus Denmark’s 1.7 and worryingly one of the lowest in Europe. Strategies are required to address both scenarios, one against a backdrop of rural villages where the dark sets in each night at 6.30 p.m. with little else to do than…… As Danes are rarely backward in coming forward and I myself would not want to be regarded as a parachuted-in pontificator, I will leave it to them to develop their own Viking relevant roadmap scenario.
For most of us our life and work in the Land of a Thousand Hills is all about its people, their culture, traditions, dignity, reconciliation and rebuilding efforts. Being here for a lengthy period of time no doubt enhances one’s credibility and knowledge of the local operating environment.
However, the country continues to face serious challenges being landlocked in the middle of the Great Lakes Region sub-region. We are all acutely aware of the precarious security situation along the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
In 2015, UNHCR’s Rwanda operation (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) will support five refugee camps with 50,000 refugees, who fled the DRC in the mid-1990s and over 30,000 new arrivals from eastern DRC since April 2012 escaping from armed clashes between government forces and non-state groups. The majority are Kinyarwanda speaking Congolese who dream of returning to their land one day if a realistic and lasting peace agreement can be reached between multiple partners with diverse interests in the huge mineral rich country. The figures are staggering, as the value of untapped deposits of raw mineral ores equates to the combined Gross Domestic Product of Europe and the United States, US$24 trillion. These deposits include the world’s largest reserves of cobalt and significant quantities of the world’s diamonds, gold and copper. The wealth does not benefit its citizens, as DRC is ranked as the world’s poorest country with only 400 dollars per capita Gross Domestic Product (IMF World Economic Outlook 2014).
The Rwandan Government knows it’s economy needs to become more competitive, diversified and less dependent on commodity exports, price swings and foreign aid. Where aid expenditure focuses on productive rather than consumptive aspects of economic activity, it can help drive economic growth upwards, ultimately allowing donors to exit (and rightly so).
However, we are encouraged by the visible progress in infrastructure improvements and investment in public works since our arrival in the summer of 2013. During our recent trip to Uganda with Joachim, part of the journey had us travel along the Northern Corridor which will link Rwanda’s roads to the Indian Ocean connecting Kigali via Kampala in Uganda to the Port of Mombasa in Kenya.
Back to the real reason for being here, the people – I know that one day I will leave Rwanda but Rwanda will never leave me.
Murakaza neza! 
It’s amazing that the things in Rwanda are made:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):
Great comment and thank you for following our life in Rwanda .