The Mpazi River runs through some of the poorest parts of Kigali, from Nyamirambo through Nyakabanda, Cyahafi and Kimisagara on its way to Nyabugogo.

During heavy rains the river has carried away houses built too close to the banks.  Residents say the river used to be place of gangsters and thieves and drugs. 

People sometimes found dead bodies washing down the river.  In places where the river backed up, mosquitoes bred and spread malaria. Children swimming in some of the deeper pools sometimes drowned or became sick from the unclean water.

All of that is changing now, thanks to a river restoration project sponsored by the European Union and the Government of Rwanda.

Workers are lining both the sides and the bottom of the river with stones and cement.  This keeps the banks from collapsing and also keeps the river flowing smoothly. The completed project will make the river safer for local people.

"Last year my house fell into the river during a big rain,” said Therese Uwawe of Cyahafi. 

"After that I had to rebuild my house further from the river.”  

Uwawe also said that the river used to be very deep before the project. The new lining lets the river flow more smoothly and keeps the water from getting too deep. 

"It was very difficult to go from Cyahafi to Kimisagara, but now it’s no problem.”

Callixte Nkundabahiga owns a local boutique. During Nkundabahiga’s four years in the neighborhood he has sighted 10 bodies in the river. 

He notified local authorities, who retrieved the bodies but were unable to solve the murders. Each time locals found a body they called the local authorities who then called the police. 

The restored river, without marshy water, is no longer a favorable place to hide a body. The project also helps the local economy.

Nkundabahiga said that before the project started many people were begging in the streets. Now they have jobs and do not have to beg.

Families are also able to pay for their children to go to school. He also said his business is doing better because people have money to spend. 

"They come to buy rice, sugar and beans,” said Nkundabahiga. Many people buy on credit and then pay him when they receive their work pay.

Another local businessman is also doing well as a result of the project. John Bosco Gasana sells urwagwa, a kind of beer made from bananas. Like Nkundabahiga, Gasana sells on credit, and then collects on payday. 

"Before this project many of the men who drank my beer fell down in the river,” he said. 

"Now the river is safe and they don’t drown because the water is not deep.”

Narcisse Ngoga, a six-year resident of the area, said his neighbor was killed when the river overflowed.  He said that primary school children sometimes died while swimming in the river. 

"I can’t count the dead in this river,” he said.

"I know how to swim, so sometimes I had to go into the river to get the dead bodies, but sometimes I also saved them before they died,” said Azaria Imaniriho. 

"Now the river is not deep, so when they fall they can just stand up,” he said. Residents say they used to call the river the Nyamata Express. 

"People who fell in the river went straight to Nyamata,” said Theodore Niyirora.

Beatrice Mukamana, a forty-five-year-old mother, has mixed feelings about the river project. The construction project claimed some of her land, which she had already paid for. 

"When the project is completed, the riverside area will be safe for children,” she said. She is grateful for that, and wants to thank the government. 

"Please hurry up and finish the project!” she said.

"Before this project there were many thieves and gangsters, and we had a lot of malaria.  Now the people have jobs, there is less malaria, and we don’t find dead bodies anymore,” said Narcisse Habimana of Cyahafi. 

"I thank the government and the European Union for this work on the river. I hope they will hurry to finish the project.”

But now people feel safe around the river. They walk freely even at night. The drug dealers no longer have the privacy to do their business and other criminals have to take care.  The people of Cyahafi have also formed their own local security groups to patrol the area.

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