On a chilly Tuesday morning, armed with just a notebook and a pen, I set off on a journey to Gikondo Transit Centre. 

In company of a photographer, it took us under 15 minutes before our driver came to a halt; next to a signpost with the inscription of Gikondo Transit Centre, located in the outskirts of the city centre.

The centre mainly receives people battling drug abuse before taking them through intensive rehabilitation provided by a team of experts. 

But the scene is not what I expected before setting off to this place for the first time. I expected a high wall fence and a heavily manned gate. At the entrance which is sealed off from unauthorized entry by a mere red tape are just two policemen. After exchanging pleasantries, we drive in only to find another gate manned by an unarmed security guard. He promptly opens the gate without any serious security checks and lets us in.

The first thing that catches my attention is the neatness of the place. Within the vicinity, a group of young men gracefully jump from left to right nodding their heads in circles as they rehearse the Rwandan warrior traditional dance known as "Guhamiriza.”

Behind the dancers, is a pile of wood which I later learn is used to make meals. Next to wood are big saucepans sizzling with a mixture of corn and beans; the most common meal here. A modern kitchen, whose construction is almost complete, stands out prominently.

The compound bustles with activity as new members are screened while others play different games punctuated with laughter; others are seen eating porridge.

I walk into one of the sleeping halls that I am later told is home to 155 members receiving rehab services.

If one has attended a public boarding school, this part of the centre evokes memories. Other than the fact that patients here sleep on mattresses; neatly lined up on rows on the floor, the only difference is that in boarding school, students sleep on beds.

It is at this ‘dormitory’ where I meet 21-year-old Khalie Gafaranga.

Clad in a pair of black jeans, a gray t-shirt and matching pair of sandals, the tall young man tells me that he was brought to the centre by his mother.

The talkative youngster has spent two months at the centre struggling with a problem of drug abuse. He admits that the drug had taken a toll on his life. He would disappear from home to indulge in drug binges. His worried mother devised a plan and before long, Gafaranga was at the centre.

"I didn’t know that I was being brought to a rehabilitation centre . My mother told me that she wanted me to help her finalise a deal to buy land and the moment I entered the compound, I turned around and she was gone,” he says. As part of the routine, Gafaranga was screened and for hygiene purposes; he was immediately shaved.

Gafaranga says that the first few days at the centre were very difficult. At first, he cried himself to sleep, refused to eat and was very angry at his mother but in two weeks, he had gotten used to his surroundings and was ready for counseling.

Born in a family of four, Gafaranga is the oldest child. He says that he started smoking marijuana a few years ago but the use of the drug escalated to worrying levels when he lost his father last year.

"I was very close to my father and we used to talk a lot. When he died, I didn’t have someone to talk to that openly. I changed a lot and I was never at home. I would come home for holidays and they would only see me maybe once or twice. I was always with friends, smoking weed. I sometimes think that smoking weed was my way of dealing with the loss.” he says.

Looking back, Gafaranga says that he realizes that he was going down a very bad path at a very fast pace. He admits that he was smoking marijuana the "way normal cigarette smokers use cigarettes.”

Gafaranga says that when his mother finally came to visit him at the centre, it was a visit full of emotions and surprises.

"When she saw me, she burst into tears and I also started crying. It was very emotional. She said she was sorry and I found myself saying sorry too. I knew I had hurt her. She actually stopped crying for a few seconds and looked at me in shock. My mind was getting clear and I realized that my mother brought me here only because she truly loved me and wanted to help me. I think it’s then that we both realized that she had made the right decision to bring me here,” he says.

He says that the centre has been an eye opener because he has had an opportunity to re-evaluate his life with a clear mind.

"I think I now like my mind better,” he laughs "I was always in a haze and when I really think deeply about it, I think that after this experience, if I don’t change, then there is absolutely no way forward for me,” he says 

While others cook, sweep, play, Gafaranga uses his spare time to work in the administrator’s office as a data entry assistant.

Emmanuel Rukundo, 30, has become a regular at the rehabilitation centre. He has been brought there five times all because of stealing. He says that he usually spends a few days and is let go after two days. This time around, he says that he was caught after having stolen a techno phone which he sold at Rfw25,000.

When asked if he doesn’t see the error of his actions, he says that he is forced into the vice because of he is in dire need of money. He says that he is looking forward to being sent back to his hometown in Cyangungu where he hopes to start farming.

19-year-old Annette Uwiringiyimana was brought to the centre nine days ago from Kayonza; Eastern province. Uwiringiyimana says that she ended up at the centre after she went drinking with friends and got into a fight that saw them destroy the windscreen of a bus.

She was then taken to jail where she and her friends were ordered to pay Rwf400,000 to buy a new one or risk being put behind bars. She used her school fees and paid her part and decided not to go back home for over two months. When he brother finally asked authorities for help to trace her, Uwiringiyimana was brought to the centre for alcohol abuse rehabilitation.

"I am already at a point where I go to bed and wonder what had gotten into me. I have everything. My brother is paying for my education in Kampala, I have never lacked anything. I cannot believe that I let peer pressure get me here,” she says.

She is the youngest in a family of two and was raised by a single mother. When I asked her what her next plan was, she burst into tears.

After a few minutes, she explained that she was feeling emotional because the nine days that she had spent at the centre had so far made the pain that she has caused her mother a reality. She plans to go back home and apologise to her mother and her brother before going back to school.

Pontien Sindayigaya is the man at the helm of the rehab centre. Supported by the City of Kigali, he says that the centre employs six staff members who include two nurses, two social workers and an employee in charge of security and screening. The centre provides counseling and psychotherapy, among other things. 

He says that contrary to recent reports that the centre is a prison are not true. The centre receives drug addicts, prostitutes and petty thieves among others solely for purposes of rehabilitation. 

"I have heard reports that we beat up these people. There was a recent Human Rights Watch report that claimed this is a prison. They never came here to interview us or the people who are being helped by the centre. We are actually making a difference and we already have former members who come back often to talk to the current ones,” he said.

On the day we visited, the centre was home to 62 women and only one is a student while the rest are prostitutes.

He says that the centre is only a transit route where some cases are referred to Iwawa Rehabilitation and Vocational Centre, and also treats those that are mostly involved in drug abuse. As of recent, the Centre has sent 600 members to Iwawa in one take followed by 413.

For those who are discharged from the Gikondo Transit Centre, Sindayigaya says that they are being helped in different ways, citing Girubucuruzi Association in which many of them have been funded to start business especially in markets. 

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