Mayange Village and Nyamata Church Private Tour from Kigali

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Stop At: Nyamata Church, Kigali Rwanda

Nyamata is situated in the Bugesera district of Rwanda about 35km from the capital city of Kigali. From the beginning of the 1960s, Tutsis from different areas of Rwanda were forced to leave their homes and live in this region which was considered undesirable by others due to adverse climatic effects and high disease burdens. As a result, Bugesera became a region whose population was predominantly Tutsi.

When the genocide started in April 1994, many people from Nyamata and surrounding areas came to gather in the town center. The Catholic Church and nearby houses belonging to the priests and sisters became havens for the frightened people hoping to escape death. They used the church as a refuge, thinking the militia would not kill them in a place usually considered a sanctuary. However, according to the testimonies given by survivors, on April 10, 1994 about 10,000 people were killed in and around the area of the Catholic Church.

Today, this site is visited by many tourists who want to better understand the events of 1994 and who want to honor the victims and survivors of the genocide.

Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Mayange Sector Office, Rwanda

A number of exciting experiences with various MVP interventions await you in Bugesera at the reconciliation village, interrupted only by a locally served lunch either back in Nyamata or at the “Centre de Formation des Jeunes”. Here, it is also possible to learn about the tradition-al cuisine of the area.

Agriculture:

We selected the Kibenga cell to demonstrate the agricultural interventions because of its wide variety of agricultural products including cassava, maize and coffee. In the months prior to the project’s arrival, widespread famine caused by drought accounted for 30% of the children under the age of 5 to suffer from malnutrition. Prohibitive input costs prevented farmers from diversifying their crops. Today, the cell has become a major agricultural success story, as the introduction to a local farmer shows. After Kibenga, we proceed to Kagenge to visit another farmer where you can witness the fundamental changes in agricul-tural production. Frequently, maize production increased from 100kg per acre to over 1,800kg since the project started. Apart from the technical support, the MVP also instituted a partnership with a local micro-finance institution, Urwego Opportunity Bank, to provide seed and fertilizer loans to farmers.

Education:

Mayange B Primary School has 904 students, only 13 teachers and 13 class rooms, seven of which have electricity. The MVP has provided training in ICT and other subjects to 57 teachers in the district. Plans are underway to reduce the pupil to teacher ratio from 65:1 to 35:1 and construct additional class-rooms. Through a partnership with the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) as well as pri-vate philanthropists, computers were donated and various teachers received two-week training sessions. Also, relevant farming skills are now integrated in the curriculum. Children practice terracing, irrigating and planting perennial and non-perennial crops in the school nursery beds. Finally, the MVP has provided clean water to the school by constructing a 10m3 water tank to supplement the existing tank. Rain water gutters feed into these tanks.

Micro-enterprise development:

There are three recognized handicraft associations in Nyamata and Mayange sectors, which now form a centralized handicraft cooperative. Some of its members will introduce the complete basket weaving pro-cess to you and are glad to also teach their skills if you are interested. You further have the opportunity to support this valuable initiative by buying a few products on offer, and you will also receive a traditional gift from the women of the cooperative. Over 246 women between the ages of 19-76 directly benefit from this project by producing about 45 items per week.

Giti Cy’Umuvumu

As final highlight of the excursion, you will enjoy a traditional ubusabane or “get together” ceremony together with numerous members of the community, their local leaders, and their cultural troupes. What makes this experience particularly remarkable is the location: In the settlement we chose, there are 120 households and 540 residents. 30 of the houses were constructed by the government for genocide reset-tlers in an exemplary effort of reconciliation. Today, 15 of them are inhabited by survivors, 12 by perpe-trators and 3 by returnees. To make this more tangible for you, members of these groups are happy to give testimony as to how they manage to live and work together in harmony. In addition, you will enjoy traditional dancing and local food and drinks. And, since this is a very welcome form of local entertainment, you will be joined by numerous community members who celebrate with you.


Duration: 4 hours