This is a guest post from Claire Le Hur who is cycling to China with her fiancé Stuart Block. The couple will start their journey in East Africa where they will follow new ‘silk roads’ charting the journey of key natural resources as part of an exciting new education project. Claire will be riding a bamboo bike, built by an African social enterprise and Stuart will ride a tandem, keeping the back seat free for those they meet en route. They will also be raising money and awareness for two great educational charities. Find out more about Claire’s big adventure here.
In my last post I talked about the genocide memorial and this atrocity is still what many people think of when they think of Rwanda. And yet Rwanda is a beautiful and fertile country where 80 per cent of the children go to school and where littering is illegal. In fact people are so conscious of keeping their community clean that they spend the last Saturday of every month cleaning up their streets.
It is amazing how far Rwanda come in the last 20 years, but despite its progress there are still many big issues simmering beneath the surface that lead you to question if, and when, things might start to unravel again. For example:
- 80 per cent of the population live on less than $2 per day, and 65 per cent on less than $1
- freedom of speech is non-existent
- disabled people are often exiled and there are stories of a ‘prison’ on Lake Kivu
- despite the brilliant work by the Gacaca court to reconcile Tutsi and Hutu, many feel that there are still underlying tensions because most government and high paid jobs are now being taken by Tutsis and because many Tutsis still feel that revenge would be just.
- Allegedly Rwanda is supporting the rebels over the border in DRC and there are some dubious dealings going on concerning the export of minerals and weapons.
- President Kagame has worked wonders since the genocide, and while there is something to be said for a ‘benign dictatorship’, in 2017 he will stand for a third term – which is constitutionally illegal – and there is no opposition. Who knows what will happen at election time but hopefully the current climate in Burundi is not a hint of things to come.
Anyway, back to our travels and some of the fascinating people we met. Firstly Joy Beth, a lovely American, who works for Bridge2Rwanda. Bridge2Rwanda runs gap year programmes for school leavers to help them get to university (mainly in the US) and then return to their homelands to put their skills and education to use. This year there are 42 students, of which around 50 per cent were from Rwanda and the rest were from Burundi, South Sudan and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). We met them for lunch and so poke to them about Beyond the Bike and what an impressive group they are. They really do deserve to go far.
Then we had the pleasure of staying with the lovely Laure and Neil Beaufils. Laure is head of the Department for International Development in Rwanda and you can read more about her and the impact of aid on this small country here. Neil drove us up to Musanze to visit Team Rwanda (the national cycling team) where the three of us set off to do the mountain bike course with Nathan, the national champion. I lasted about 100m before flying over the handlebars. Neil and Nathan continued but poor Stu had to help me back.
Team Rwanda
Stu and I stayed in the team Rwanda compound and really enjoyed talking to the coach, Sterling, and many other cyclists at dinner. It can only be a matter of time before some of them make it big in the tough world of professional cycling. Stu and I were especially interested to hear about Jeanne D’Arc, Rwanda’s top female cyclist. She’s currently on a scholarship programme training in Switzerland so sadly we didn’t get to meet her but apparently she’s competing against some of the best females in the world, getting better and better and is definitely one to watch.
Me cycling with team Rwanda
After visiting Team Rwanda Stu and I got the bus to Gisenyi on the border of DRC – where we were staying for a couple of nights and climbing the Nyrigongo Volcano. We crossed the border to Goma easily, and without having to bribe anyone as we were told we might have to. Goma is an interesting, yet bizarre place. It’s primitive, poverty-stricken and dirty. Everywhere you looked people we riding wooden Congolese bikes and three out every four vehicles were UN or NGOs land-cruisers.
Congolese bikes
The next morning, under armed guard, we drove up to the ranger lodge. On the way our driver told us about the last volcanic eruption in 2002. Since then the residents have been reclaiming the land and building their own new homes, and it all looked very impressive. After passing the ‘welcome’ sign, which was peppered with bullet holes, our group of eight started our ascent up the mountain with three rangers.
The welcome sign with bullet holes
The walk took about five hours and it rained torrentially for three. I’ve ever been as wet! When we got to the top we were able to dry off in little huts and Stu managed to light a fire. Then we climbed up on the crater rim where we witnesssed the most amazing natural sight we have ever seen. The volcano was impressive when we arrived in the daylight and simply mesmerising at night. I have to say, the photos don’t do it justice.
The volcano by day
…and by night
The next morning we headed back down the volcano and said our goodbyes then our driver and armed guard took us back to the border. At first we didn’t understand why we needed a guard but it became clear when a fellow hiker told us that his friends were robbed at gunpoint on the road we were trailing down about an hour after we had passed.
After getting the bus back to Kigali it was back on our bikes. It was about 160 km to the Tanzanian border and we split the journey over two days. We spent the final night in Rwanda in a guest house run by Joseph, a man who had lived in England for a few years. He was very optimistic about the situation in Rwanda and totally disagrees with all the things I mentioned at the start of this post. He has the deepest respect, even adulation, for Kagame and believes that there is no reason why he can’t rule for a third term. “Roosevelt did a good job!?”, he reflected over a Heineken, “and there is still plenty of time to find his successor.”
Let’s hope Joseph is right as Rwanda is such an amazing country with such wonderful people. It would be devastating to see it suffer again.
