The flights went flawlessly and we landed in Kigali just after midnight on Sunday June 11th. During our layover in Toronto, we left the airport and ate at a delicious Chinese restaurant. We were not able to leave the airport in Turkey, but we did breath Turkish air when we descended the open air stairs to the airport, so we are counting it! Once in Kigali, we got our bags and Wally was nice enough to meet us and take us in a taxi to our hotel. The next morning we found Meze Fresh and had lunch there. Sam was able to take almost a whole burrito with her for the rest of the trip! After that, we had the wonderful experience of riding a Moto, a small motorcycle that is used as a taxi in Rwanda. We each rode a Moto to the mall where we bought minutes for our phones and exchanged cash. We stopped for coffee and realized that Max is an amateur magician, quite impressive!
Later that night, we took a bus to Kigali. The taxi park was overwhelming. Our taxi driver clipped a guy walking in front of us. When getting out of the car, Travis warned us to not let people take our bags because they will ask for money, but as he said that, two people walked away with our bags. Luckily, they took it to the right bus and after squishing everybody in, we were on our way to Musanze. The bus made a few pitstops along the way, one of which was to get roasted corn, which was delicious!
Once in Musanze, we walked to Fatima, our hotel. The hotel is attached to a prominent church in town so it is a very nice place to stay. We had dinner at the hotel and discussed our plan for the week. The beds all were covered in mosquito nets which was a helpful and cool experience.
The next morning, Tuesday June 14th, we woke up early to grab breakfast at the hotel, complete with regional fruit and Rwandan tea.
Wally met us in the morning and we hopped in a bus to Cyanika. We met Hassan along the way, who is our translator. Once in the city center, we met with the Community Vision Board. This is a group of chiefs and executive secretaries from the surrounding communities that discuss the problems with our current systems and decide where we will build our next system.
During the meeting they brought up a few concerns: the new tanks are not sturdy enough or large enough to clean, Nyrotosho has glue problems and filter issues, and water is overflowing the gutters in some systems. They also expressed their want for the butterfly roof design that we implemented in Ntarama. The last complaint is slightly out of our hands; with the changing global climate, there has just been less rain this season, depleting the water supply.
After the meeting, we visited all four systems and briefly walked through them to fully understand what the problems were. We had a small army of children following us around and a lot of them remembered Xilal and Travis and thanked them for the system. Once back in Musanze, we visited the open air market and the new mall, which has an amazing view from the upper floor. We had three locals following us throughout the mall, just wanting to practice their English. That night, Wally took us to a buffet restaurant, where Max spilled boiling African tea on himself and Sam found out that not all buffets are all you can eat. Tomorrow, we will be visiting Munini and meeting with the Chief there.
This trip has been successful and easy thus far. We are hoping to help the community fix some of the smaller issues with the systems in the upcoming week, and are excited to continue building community relationships!
My favorite part so far has been meeting the Chiefs and speaking with the locals and trying out some kinyarwanda!
Later that night, we took a bus to Kigali. The taxi park was overwhelming. Our taxi driver clipped a guy walking in front of us. When getting out of the car, Travis warned us to not let people take our bags because they will ask for money, but as he said that, two people walked away with our bags. Luckily, they took it to the right bus and after squishing everybody in, we were on our way to Musanze. The bus made a few pitstops along the way, one of which was to get roasted corn, which was delicious!
Once in Musanze, we walked to Fatima, our hotel. The hotel is attached to a prominent church in town so it is a very nice place to stay. We had dinner at the hotel and discussed our plan for the week. The beds all were covered in mosquito nets which was a helpful and cool experience.
The next morning, Tuesday June 14th, we woke up early to grab breakfast at the hotel, complete with regional fruit and Rwandan tea.
Wally met us in the morning and we hopped in a bus to Cyanika. We met Hassan along the way, who is our translator. Once in the city center, we met with the Community Vision Board. This is a group of chiefs and executive secretaries from the surrounding communities that discuss the problems with our current systems and decide where we will build our next system.
During the meeting they brought up a few concerns: the new tanks are not sturdy enough or large enough to clean, Nyrotosho has glue problems and filter issues, and water is overflowing the gutters in some systems. They also expressed their want for the butterfly roof design that we implemented in Ntarama. The last complaint is slightly out of our hands; with the changing global climate, there has just been less rain this season, depleting the water supply.
After the meeting, we visited all four systems and briefly walked through them to fully understand what the problems were. We had a small army of children following us around and a lot of them remembered Xilal and Travis and thanked them for the system. Once back in Musanze, we visited the open air market and the new mall, which has an amazing view from the upper floor. We had three locals following us throughout the mall, just wanting to practice their English. That night, Wally took us to a buffet restaurant, where Max spilled boiling African tea on himself and Sam found out that not all buffets are all you can eat. Tomorrow, we will be visiting Munini and meeting with the Chief there.
My favorite part so far has been meeting the Chiefs and speaking with the locals and trying out some kinyarwanda!
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