When I first stepped into Mutakara Village, the air was filled with voices of young people who carried dreams far larger than the opportunities around them. In every conversation, one idea kept returning like a refrain: passion fruit. To many, it sounded like a far-off dream, almost impossible to touch. Yet, it lingered in their eyes and their words, the longing to turn soil into promise.

With a small spark of support from CorpsAfrica, that dream found its first roots. The youth group, TWUZUZANYE, received funds to prepare a single hectare of land. Not long after, fortune smiled again when SAIP stepped in, placing 1,200 passion fruit seedlings into the hands of hopeful farmers. That moment was a turning point. Suddenly, their vision was not just talk, it was alive in the earth.

The group moved with determination. They saved together, invested together, and soon won the trust of another partner who invested 1,000,000 RWF to expand the farm. What began as a whisper of possibility now stretched across the hills of Mutakara, with 70 youth, 42 women and 29 men, nurturing vines, building trellises, and guarding their fields with pride. Beyond the farm itself, the project carried something deeper: unity, jobs, and a sense of dignity that spread through the community like the fragrance of ripening fruit.

But the story did not end in Mutakara. In my second year, in the village of Cyiri in Huye District, I found myself among adults in the Graduation Program, youth groups, and families who also dreamed of lasting change. Together, we explored solutions that could outlive today’s challenges, from livestock farming with pigs protected by insurance, to savings groups that promised resilience, to environmental efforts that safeguarded tomorrow.

Looking back at both Mutakara and Cyiri, one truth stands out: when people gather around a shared vision, they turn the impossible into the inevitable. What started as a dream of passion fruit became a harvest of hope, solidarity, and transformation. These communities taught me that change grows not just in fields, but in hearts willing to believe and work together.