How I found Rwanda, two years later

After about 20 hours of flight from Washington DC to Rwanda, the long awaited announcement finally came. “We will soon begin our initial descent at Kigali airport,” the captain said. All my excitements bubbled to the thought of arriving home. I started imagining the beauty of waking up to the sounds of roosters and Muslim calling Hassan or the smell of eucalyptus after heavy rains. Although this may sound insignificant, believe me small things carry the most weight. It had been almost two years since my last visit. A lot has happened since. New buildings all over the city, looking over the hills as far as I could see; Kigali is greener than I remembered it. Downtown Kigali is vibrant with high rises, street naming and accurate GPS location, house numbering, and streetlights for comfort and so forth. Life seems to move pretty fast in Kigali. Rush hours and congested traffic can bring your patience to your knees. I had a fair share of this after too many scary moments of taximoto (commercial motorcyclist) swerving between cars on narrow roads. Despite all the obvious development down to individual level, from paved roads, to very modern residential neighbourhoods, poverty remains a major challenge. This is even as the very poor enjoy government programmes such as access to healthcare, education, clean water, communication and many more.On a positive note, my old friends, now young professionals, see hope in every stone that lay the foundation of Rwanda’s future. Most of them are established with jobs, family and career. The pride of Rwanda has never been so high as one asked: “How do you find our Rwanda?”Rwanda is an untapped well of opportunities, especially for those living abroad with access to products and ideas that are not available in the country. Like many people in the Diaspora, I used to think that investing in Rwanda required many thousands of dollars. Obviously what excites me may not mean anything to someone else but let’s try this: Service delivery in Rwanda has so much room for improvement. Education is in dire need for reform. Online services will soon be the next big thing in Rwanda. Engineering, whether electrical, chemical or mechanical— Rwanda is certainly miles down that path, the list goes on. Of all the things I noticed and commended, political participation was beyond what I expected. Two years ago most of my friends could not engage in a political conversation. Political participation is not limited to voting leaders in the office. Learning about policies, laws and political agendas is not enough either.Something very important is still missing in our society: Vibrant debates. Like it or not, it is very important for the well-being of the nation and needs to be encouraged. Twitter: @Lgakumba