Written by CorpsAfrica/Rwanda Volunteers MIGAMBI Jean and RURANGWA Alexander
 
Cyungo, Mukaka and Kariha villages are remote areas in Ngororero district where their populations’ daily activity is subsistence agriculture and to a small extent rearing of domestic animals like cows, pigs, goats, etc.  This community lives below the poverty line and also they don’t have enough food supply as a result of infertile soils caused by the terrain of their area. The topography of this district is mountainous and there is a lot of soil erosion during the rainy season. 
As CorpsAfrica Volunteers based in Ngororero District Kageyo Sector, Kageshi Cell, Cyungo, Mukaka, Kariha sites, we have reached there at the end of November after one month of training in KIGALI where we have learnt many things regarding how to help communities using CorpsAfrica approaches, which are ABCD and HCD and other basic knowledge such as how we could live in the villages. 
 
After reaching the sites we went to live with our host family where we spent two weeks helping them in daily activities such cooking, going to fetch water, cultivating, attending parties like weddings and other daily activities.
 
When we were at our host family, we attended Community Meetings (Inteko y'Abaturage) led by different local leaders like Executive Sector, Executive Cell and local leaders of our sites. We made our presentation to tell the community what we came to do and most of them were happy to see us.

At our host family we visited different sites, looking at different areas, meeting different people and chatting with them, helping them in their activities. We have attended also the dowry wedding of our host family and we shared food, drinks with the community we met at the event.

We met also with learners and other young people who don't study and we conversed on school drop-out. We gave them advice to make efforts in their studies, also those who are not at school try to return to school. We also played with kids in the street in the center where many people were happy to see us enjoying with those young people. We also tried to look for a house for rent as it was hard to get it. Finally we got it and we made it clean so that we can live in a good house.
After getting our own house, we have started visiting our communities and helping them to do different activities such as cultivating, cooking, harvesting different crops like Irish potatoes, tea.
 
We visited different families trying to make our presentation to those who don’t attend meetings and trying to converse about their daily life in order to know exactly their problems and try to give them different advice on how to overcome those issues if we work together. 
 
We also set a day where every week we meet the community in a weekly meeting in order to conduct different activities and share different ideas in what we are going to do together.
In meeting the community, we have done mapping in order to know exactly their assets, what they want, their problems and what are their priorities.
 
                   SOME ACTIVITIES WE HAVE DONE IN THE COMMUNITIES

• We have helped the community to build ten Kitchen Gardens and we are still building others.
• We have helped the community to build toilets and we are still doing it
• We have attended many community works such as helping the community to build the houses.
• We have attended a football competition called “UMURENGE KAGAME CUP” and we have played
• We have created savings groups in our community and they have started
• We have elected leaders of our community according to CorpsAfrica Project
• We have helped our communities in their daily activities such as harvesting crops

 
SOME PHOTOS OF THE ACTIVITIES DONE:

Written by CorpsAfrica/Rwanda Volunteer Mr. Isaac NDENGEJEHO
 
William Green once said, “I feel like I have a new life and I am going to take full advantage of it.” Even though it is William Green who said the above statement, it reflects how I felt the first day in my community. Prior to joining CorpsAfrica pre-service training, I though that nothing would be different in my country as long as we speak the same language, despite the fact that I studied geography at university and high school. 

My journey with CorpsAfrica has been amazing since day one up to date. Not because I am getting too much money from it, not because I am living in a skyscraper, not because any other thing else apart from how I feel when I am interacting with people in my community and how committed they are becoming in all activities undertaken towards their own well-being. 

Looking back to the beginning of the journey, none of my colleagues has ever believed that I will do another thing beyond teaching as it was my profession at university and they knew how much I was good at it. Nevertheless, I have come to realize that what people praised me to be good at was not only what would make me feel energized, satisfied and proud at all. Serving people in remote area of eastern province of my country is making me feel like I should have studied volunteerism as an option in school.  Just because it is an interesting journey that I wish every young African would undertake.

About new life, it was on 30 NOVEMBER 2019 when we concluded our pre-service training and departed to our sites that kept secret until the last day of training but mine ended up being a GIHINGA cell located in KAYONZA district eastern province of Rwanda. 

Spending four weeks in training equipped us with much theoretical and some practical packages about life in the community but after joining my particular community there was some special and different features that are not commonly found elsewhere.

Written by CorpsAfrica/Rwanda Volunteer Ms. Anny Benilde UWONKUNDA

There is no better exercise for your heart, than reaching down and helping to lift someone up.     
                                                                                                                         -- Bernard Meltzer

It was really a good day but a bit challenging as I was thinking about the site that I would be deployed. Despite the moments of learning and enjoying everything within PST (Pre-Service Training) where I had learnt different new important things, acquired new skills, meeting new friends and new experience as well. I really love the life we spent in PST with my colleagues through sharing ideas, life; I felt like we could keep staying together all the time although we had to prepare for being deployed to our respective sites. Sincerely speaking, "saying bye" was not easy to separate from my follow Volunteers and heading to my site at Bugesera District-Nyakayenzi Site due to the bond of friendship that have been built.

Since day one reaching my community it was a new experience and new lessons to learn, with significant help and skills acquired from PST. Staying with a host family was much safer and easier due to love, the way host parents welcomed me. I wished and felt like I could have that experience before; without being worried of where I should start to engage in domestic and integration activities. I find myself feeling at home in doing everything as part of the family however, host mother kept avoiding me from doing domestic activities and I was like no mom I have to but as days went on I fully get engaged.
 
After two weeks within host family I moved out and get installed in my  house within my community  as I  started integrating different activities together with my community.  It was a good experience and what I love most is how people feel for me. Most of them were asking how possible one can came in the remote areas live the same life, engaging with them daily; this is something that really touched my heart too much and made me realize that "love and kindness are never wasted, they always make a difference, they bless the one who receives them and they bless you as the giver.”

Another thing that took my attention most of community members were really in need of someone to talk to and listen to them. It made me realize door-to-door visiting has made significant impact to community psychology. I always engage in every activity that is organized within community. This helps strengthen trust and enables the community to be a conducive environment to work in. We always visited each other, which improves my level of confidence, empathy, my public speaking as way of communication, teamwork and I learn a lot from them.

I have even made new friends from my community and really helped so much at the time of being bored. These kids visited me like every day as we play together and life goes on, which really makes me happier, feel inclusive and alive.

So far life is good with my community and I am really thankful for the progress that is being made through finding solutions from grassroots and letting the community design the kind of development that is better for it by engaging in different activities together intended to help our fellow members. This is the joyful moment because everything we do keeps us together and leads to purpose.

As the saying goes, “Volunteers do not necessarily have time, they just have the heart; you make a living by what you get and you make a life by what you give.”

The most powerful thing that I observed within remote areas is that people have different gifts and talents even are really committed. It is a great opportunity for me to learn new things and meet people with different behaviors, expanding my perspective and becoming a part of a whole new community, that’s why I am still learning!!
 
“A person’s most useful asset is not a head full of knowledge, but a heart full of love, an ear ready to listen, and a hand willing to help others.”