EWB-CU Rwanda Blog: Big Progress in Week 2!

Muraho! This is Cassidy with a quick recap of our last few days here in Rwanda.

We've been gaining valuable information about our future projects while having a great time connecting with the community and experiencing the joys of this beautiful country.

This week has been very informative so far. We started off with our second Community Vision Board meeting where we had the opportunity to speak with the chiefs of the five villages where we've already implemented, as well as one of the officials of the Cyanika sector where our team will continue to be working. We had the opportunity to introduce our mentor, Cole, and he was met with an incredibly warm welcome from the Community Vision Board.

One of the greatest parts of this trip has been seeing how grateful the community is for the work we've done. The village chiefs come up to us with smiles from ear to ear and look at us deeply as they express their gratitude for our work. This level of appreciation was something I never imagined while working on our projects back in Colorado, and I think it's important for all our members and supporters to understand how valued their work is. The four of us represent such a large team, and we wouldn't be able to do it all without each and every one of you back home, so thank you all!

We started the Community Vision Board by meeting discussing a future latrine project with one of the sector officials of Cyanika. He informed us that there is a need for public latrines in a playground where there are frequent soccer games and practices, as well as some government meetings. We are planning to check out the specific site tomorrow, as well as investigate more about what a good versus bad latrine would look like for this specific community. I think a latrine project offers a new challenge that will be fun to explore.

At the meeting, we also talked with the chiefs about what they need to have repaired and what they recommend we change about future designs. The information gained through this discussion will help us match our design to the community's specific needs and maximize our impact in the area. We learned that the tanks are dry a few months out of the year, and sometimes they overflow during the rainy season, so I hope that we can adjust our designs to better match the water storage capacity with the roof size.

After our meeting, we went down to visit Lake Burera, which is where members of the community are walking to fetch water if they are too far from a government tap stand or one of our rainwater catchment systems. The road leading to the lake is steep and rocky. It's hard for me to imagine carrying a 20L jerrycan for so many miles on that terrain. The lake was breathtaking, but the water near the shore was murky and filmy. Hasan described to us that people will typically pay someone to swim a little further out to get the fresh water, but little kids collecting water for their families will stay right on the shore. It was incredibly impactful to see the community's alternative with my own eyes. It really justifies the importance of our work back home.

Today, we spent some time visiting two of the potential sites for new rainwater catchment system implementation, Gasiza and Kavunda. Gary and Hasan worked on surveys with some of the community members to gain a better idea of the need in the community and their current methods for water collection. As always, Gary was making a lot of friends and forming a good connection with the community. Cole, Casey, and I worked on taking pictures and measurements of the sites for future designs. Unfortunately, Sonrisa was still recovering back at the hotel, working on survey data. We are grateful to have our mentor, Cole, around now, and we've been exploring different design options with him. I feel like I've learned a lot from these discussions, and I think that his input will be a great help as we start our next designs!

Gasiza and Kavunda are pretty far from the main area in Cyanika, but we were surprised to find a new road leading to Gasiza, which will really help us to get trucks and materials out there next year! We analyzed two plots at Gasiza, and one of them seems well-fit for a new system. It is one of the most densely-populated villages in the region, so it will be a new challenge for our team. The site at Kavunda is small, but we may be able to use the chief's home as our roof structure, adding tanks and gutters for a more simple design.

We ended the day today taking loads of pictures at the Kibaya site built last year.

The Kibaya system being put to good use.

One of the amazing women we interviewed
who thanks us for bringing the Kibaya system into her life.

It's incredibly rewarding to hear that our systems are impactful, and the connections we've made with the community have been truly life-changing. I have been amazed by how well people can communicate despite different languages and cultures: whether it be a giant smile, like the one we get every time we see Donatien, or giggles from the kids of Cyanika after I turn around and make a funny face. It's a good reminder of how well-connected we all are and how we can truly help each other.