For someone who saw Kinigi in Musanze District five years ago, visiting the place today could put them in awe.

And it’s not just the growing number of high-end hotels and Inns boosted by the tourism hotspot that lies at the feet of the Volcanoes National Park; it is also the infrastructure and other public facilities that have turned the place into a livelier town.

Kinigi is a booming small town. Roads have been paved, and new ones are under construction to ease mobility.

In particular, residents of Kinigi model village say their lives have changed for the better.

Kinigi model village hosts over 140 families, some of whom used to lived in risky areas or were homeless.

Pascal Kajyambere and his family own a house in the model village, which was unveiled last year to mark the 27th anniversary of Rwanda’s Liberation.

Today, 144 families, some of whom used to live in risky zones or were homeless, now own three-bedroom houses with two bathrooms and a kitchen.

Kajyambere, 58, who heads a family of six, says grouped settlement units reflect Rwanda’s vision of a developed country.

Before moving into the new village, Kajyambere used to make furniture in a remote place. Today, he has a plot in a crafts’ production centre (better known as agakiriro), which was built as part of the Rwf26 billion model village project.

"Working at this centre gives me an opportunity to learn new things from other carpenters, there’s more security and it’s also better for customers because they find what they want in one place,” Kajyambere says.

In a good season, a farm of 7,200 chickens can sell 30,000 eggs per week. Residents of the model village also get eggs for domestic consumption. 

Besides the agakiriro, a chicken farm, a nursery and secondary school were also built to supplement the model village. The Kinigi Health Centre also got new buildings and more services.

Clarisse Umutesi, another resident of the model village, works as an accountant for Ubumwe Jyambere Kinigi Cooperative, which runs the chicken farm. With over 7500 layer chickens, Umutesi says the investment has started to yield profits. 

"In a good season we can sell 30,000 eggs per week,” she says. Most of the production is sold to the Democratic Republic of Congo - a major export market for Rwandan chicken production.

"At least 80 per cent of the residents of this village own shares in our cooperative and each of the 144 families get eggs for domestic consumption,” Umutesi says.

However, with the rise in commodity prices and the cost of animal feed, Umutesi says their sales and profits have gone down.

Jean Baptiste Uwimana, president of the cooperative says despite the increase in egg prices, the profit margin remains very small.

"If the government subsidised animal feeds, our cooperative would get more revenues, which are shared by the people who live in this village,” Uwimana said.

Although some of the residents have not yet bought shares in the cooperative, he says they will be encouraged to join when shareholders get returns later this year.

This year’s liberation celebration was marked by unveiling development projects, such as model villages.

Thanks to good leadership, Uwimana says, these projects change the living conditions of Rwandans. "I thank the president of our country and the RPF Inkotanyi who liberated Rwanda and now we can live decently.”