Editor, RE: “What has your being young and educated delivered to the people of Rwanda?” (The New Times, January 6). This is a very good analysis but a conceptual “cornerstone” factor is still missing in the proposed “Musanze Model”, even though most of other important inputs have been thought about. The base of it all, not alluded to in Solanges scheme, is the valuable question raised by Nicholas. Here I understand the concept of value as meaning appropriateness, or not, of the volcanic stone as house construction material, particularly in Musanze District. I think, rather far away from individual laypersons ideas and impressions, that it is upon results of exhaustive expert studies and practical experiments on this concept of Musanze volcanic stone as a human living shelter material in Rwanda, that the entire housing scheme should be based on and developed further. Do we, among the Rwandan youth (and elders like me), have readily available such needed and foundational expertise? And, if not, can we somehow start developing it? Or else, in the meantime, can we temporarily source it elsewhere at relatively affordable cost? Francois-Xavier Nziyonsenga
