Millenium Village Project

On Wednesday I signed up with New Dawn Associates for their ‘Millenium Village Tour’. I’m always reluctant to go on organized tours, cause you often pay a lot of money to be rushed from one place to another. At first I wasn’t too enthusiastic to do this trip, but in the end I’m glad I did, despite some setbacks. The entire tour is based on the Millenium Development Goals, outlined by the UN, and shows how these goals are implemented in various activities throughout the communities at Mayange.

Late departure
To my surprise, my pick-up arrived exactly at 8am. We picked up a Canadian tourist from Serena Hotel and drove off to our meeting place where another guide gave us an elaborate briefing while we were awaiting a group of American tourists. Due to leave at 8am, we eventually left around 9am when we finally saw the many Mr. & Mrs McDonalds’ waddle up the stairs.

During our briefing, they ‘mentioned’ gently that half of the tour would not take place due to Genocide Memorial Week that ends on Thursday. I frankly don’t understand why they even organize the tour then during that week, but the Primary School visit, the many sustainable cropfields and a gathering together party would therefor not take place. Of course they only tell people after they made the reservation and paid for their trip. On top of that, my Canadian fellow and I had to pay extra for a taxi to get there, since the other car was full. Usually, transport is not even organized. You can book a trip, but you organize the transport yourself. I was very willing to take a bus then, but of course the guides need to get there as well and they need you to pay for them.

Millenium Development Goals (MDG)
Back in 2000, the UNDP, Columbia University Earth Institute and Millenium Promise set out guidelines for development on the African continent. Deadline of achieving these eight goals is 2015, which are:

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve Universal Primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6. Combat HIV/Aids, Malaria, Tuberculosis and other diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8. Develop a global partnership for development

In the course of 2003, the projectteam thought of activities in order to implement these goals and they came up with the idea of a Millenium Village. A Millenium Village would be a cluster of small towns where several projects are laid out that work on achieving at as many goals as possible. The first one was the Sauri village in Kenya. Soon, many others would follow and nowadays they have 14 clusters with 80 villages in Mali, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia and Malawi.

In Rwanda, they choose Mayange as it was one of the poorest regions in Rwanda. Back in the days, many Tutsis were sent there to rot and die basically. The place was infested with TseTse-flies, which would eventually infect cattle and kill humans. Because of the draught, agriculture was impossible and there were no schools or healthcenters. Through the Millenium Village Project (MVP), they invested in water supplies, a primary school, a health centre and agriculture. They organised income generating training such as farming and weaving. Farmers were taught to sow in rows, use fertilizer and sell their products. Women were trained in weaving baskets and sewing clothes. Nurses were trained to pass on information on birth control & family planning, HIV testing, sample taking, etc.

By the end of 2011 they will conclude phase one of this project, which was getting the basic outline of the project. Phase two will be: making sure that all the outlined activities are sustainable and can function on a long-term base. Today, there is change and some of it is visible, but there’s still a long way ahead. They’ll never get the whole country to achieve the outlined goals by 2015, but efforts are being made to get at least on the right track.

Fundraising is done by The Millenium Promise Fund who are getting money from various foreign donors such as the Japanese Government and a couple of American organisations. They calculated an estimated 120USD/pp/capita of which 60% is funded by the donor and 40% by the Rwandan Government. Phase two will be funded by the American Soros company, but while the villages are getting more self-reliant, the funding will decrease steadily until they’ve become fully independent.

Vision 2020
The Rwandan Government has its own plan of development which should be realised by 2020. They are starting similar projects throughout the country to achieve the same MDG. Currently, they’ve got 60 out of 416 villages set up.

On of the most important activities is investing in agriculture. Farmers need to be taught how to get the most profit out of their plot of land. In the beginning, the harvest would be for private use only, but slowly they’re starting to produce extra in order to export. Cassava is one of those products they are now selling all over Rwanda and little is being exported – as flour – to foreign countries. The aim is to increase the level of export. Apart from cassava, coffee & tea are still the main products exported from Rwanda.

(Information: Delphin Muhizi – Sr Business Development Technician – Millenium Village Projects Rwanda)

Nyamata Memorial
Our tour continued towards the Nyamata Genocide Memorial Center. During the massacres, many Tutsis sought refugee in this church, thinking they were safe in a sacred place. Up to 10 000 people gathered together in this small church, only to be killed and massacred little later. Some of the survivors hid under the dead bodies, but even they were given a final blow if not dead. The killers – random Hutus or Interahamwe militia - used guns, grenades and machetes.

Relics of the dead, such as clothes, are widespread throughout the church, piled up on the benches. The roof and walls still show signs of the gunfight and massacre: bulletholes perforated the roof and bloodstains cover the ceiling, tabernacle and pillars. Under the church floor they built a crypt with the remains of 30 people in there. Skulls are displayed side by side, showing signs of machete blows or bullet wounds. Underneath the row of skulls there’s a coffin. A 28-year old girl, not killed in church but found a bit further down the road, was buried there. She suffered a very violent death. While she was pregnant, a group of 20 men brutally raped her and then shoved sticks up her private parts, thus killed her unborn child. She was then finished off by machetes. It was a sickening thought and this was only one out of a million people. I still can’t imagine.

After the churchvisit we walked to the graveyard right behind it. It contained two massgraves where 50 000 people were buried. Every year, they dig up more bodies that are given a decent burial during memorial week. It’s crazy how they still find bodies after 17 years. We even went into the graves, which I found very creepy. The corridors were super small, dark and dusty and the skulls and bones are piled up like chopped wood. Many of them severely damaged by machetes or guns. It was more scary and horrific than the London Dungeon. Some were buried in coffins, which would carry up to 10 skeletons, usually from the same family. When I was moving out, some people came down there and started crying and screaming next to a coffin. I wanted to give them a big hug or say something appropriate, but what the hell can you say to someone who’s entire family was cut to pieces. It gave me goosebumps and I left.

Basket weaving cooperative
We moved on to a small cooperative where women were sitting in the garden making baskets, handbags and other woven articles. Each one of us had a go with it and the basic stuff was not that hard, but they’ve got such a variety on shapes and patterns. One of them was called Valeria (the Rwandan equivalent of Valerie) and therefor she insisted I sat next to her so she could show me how to weave... and buy. I did decide to get some souvenirs here as the profits go directly to these women instead of dodgy salesmen that rip you off. Each woman had her name pinned onto the basket and they kept a list of whom sold the most.

The rest of the tour lead us to a local Healthclinic, a Primary school – which was closed due to school holidays – and a local farmer. He received funding through the MVP to exploit his plot of land and grow beans, soy beans, bananas or plantains, cassava, oranges, guava avocado, mangoes and corn (or maiz like our ‘mais’). He’s also got some cattle, goats, chickens and turkeys. We did some sightseeing on his ‘farm’ and he showed us how cassava’s planted, how it grows and how to dig up a root. It only takes a stem to grow a new plant in less than three months and it’s easy to grow in tough conditions. The leaves are cooked like spinach, called sombe and the roots are soaked in water for three days and then dried in the sun to make flour out of them for cassava bread. The breadroll looks a bit like tapioca or polenta. Haven’t tried it yet, but they usually serve it with soup.

Kill or be killed
The most interesting or intriguing part of the tour was definitely the visit to the reconciliation-village. The place was founded by a pastor who’d lost his entire family in the genocide. Since they’re very Christian overhere, they do live by the Bible which tells them to forgive. The pastor decided to found this town that has killers and survivors live next to oneanother in peace. He even met the killer of his family and shook hands with the man. We didn’t see the pastor, but we did meet a former Hutu-killer and a Tutsi-survivor who each testified about what happened and what they did. It was very strange seeing this 64-year old man telling a story about how they just went out and killed everyone they met on their way. Then – side by side – there was a woman who had lost her father and five out of seven brothers and sisters. I asked politely if I could take their picture and before I could tell them each where to go, they gave hands and posed next to eachother. I was stunned. According to what I hear now and then, people do claim ‘it’s all ok, we live in peace, we forgave,’ but in reality the wounds are still too fresh. Killers feel guilty – or plead guilty in order to get their life back – and survivors have been scared every since the killers were released from prison. There is still fear, but people will never tell, cause they’re not allowed to say it out loud. I’m sure you want to know more about what they said, but I’m saving that part for the magazine.

On Friday, my Canadian tour-friend will join me on the ‘This Is Africa – experience’. A tour that will lead us to Nyamirambo, a very big suburb and muslim community here in Kigali. We’ll visit a hairdresser, a tailor, the local market, we’ll cook some typical Rwandan food and get a tour through the entire area. It’s a very vivid area, very popular for youth, with tons of clothing shops, bars, goodies, etc. I’m in doubt to have my hair braided once again. As some of you might remember, I had braids when I came back from SA. But, I might just be a little too old for that now… We’ll see!

By the way, I went to the tourism office – flashing my research permit – to get the gorilla permit. Now I need another letter, signed by the same guy who authorized the permit to get an extra authorization for a student discount! Can you freakin’ believe this? Also, in order to take pictures at the memorial sites, you need to obtain a form that allows you to take pics! I am ok to talk about it in a fairly decent way now, but no need to explain you how incredibly pissed-off I was. Feels like as if I’m in Belgium and it drives me bloody insane! Laura – think you really jinxed my trip by joking the day before I left;”Imagine you spend almost three months overthere and come back with nothing.” Oh my gosh… it is happening.

Wednesday April 12th – Kigali 26 degrees