The Kigali Genocide Memorial Center runs two social enterprises; the Café du Memorial and Souvenir Shop (located at the memorial in Gisozi), and the more popular Discover Rwanda Youth Hostel, in Kacyiru.

Stepping into the Discover Rwanda Youth Hostel in Kacyiru is like walking into a small, compact tropical jungle in the middle of a bigger concrete jungle.

The hostel exudes a soft and homely ambience that is accentuated by the comfy lounge sofas and their soft, fluffy cushions that one walks through before getting to the reception. The reception also doubles as a souvenir shop, with neatly displayed crafts, books, oil paintings, and trinkets.

The facility is known to play host to back-to-back meetings, get-togethers, home-comings, cultural performances, among other social activities.

But the hostel’s real claim to fame is the solid reputation it has built as a place of solace and comfort to international visitors –ranging from volunteers, tourists, back-packers, student groups, and young interns new in the country, and who may not bear the thought of the solitude and sense of detachment that usually come with conventional hotel stay. They come here seeking value accommodation and a bit of the local vibe.

For such people on short stay, the hostel basically relieves them of the burden of having to commute from home to town every day.

Following a recent expansion and rehabilitation drive, the hostel now has capacity to take in up to 60 live-in guests per night. Apart from the rooms, they have a camping section with a splattering of tents, for those that can’t resist the urge for the outdoor experience.

Most of the employees are lively young Rwandans in their early twenties, further enhancing the hostel’s distinctly youthful ambience. You get the feeling they’re not just here for the pay cheque, but the training and networking opportunities that come with working here.  

Income generated from the hostel is not for private profit, but is instead ploughed back to support the social mission of Aegis Trust, a genocide prevention and education organisation that also extends support to some survivors of the genocide.