V6 - KWITEZA IMBERE, By Avery Miles

Paving the Way to Progress
By Avery Miles
A year ago I attended a ceremony on the first day of Genocide Memorial Week. During the course of the service several speakers gave testimonials about the terrible events that occurred 16 years ago. Every single speaker, including the president whom I heard on a radio broad cast, mentioned the word "kwihuta." Afterwards when I asked a community member what this meant he explained that it refers to the word "progress" and literally means "to go quickly." As I heard this I had to pause and realize how appropriate that word is to the atmosphere here in Rwanda. Traveling around in this country illustrates this perfectly.

I live in the western province, in the district of Ngororero, where the Chinese are currently working on the main road which runs from Gitarama to Mukamira (a small town that meets the road to Gisenyi). Every time I leave my site I am excited to see the new work which has been done since the last time I ventured out onto the road. A couple of weeks ago when I returned home from a trip to Tanzania, I was astonished to see how far the blacktop had traveled in my absence. Whether a crater-sized hole has been filled, or the tunnel that allows water to flow from mountain to village has been completed; each time I travel I encounter some kind of improvement on the road.

In January 2010, when I first made the journey to my village of Muramba, located at the end of a mountain ridge, I thought my teeth were going to be jarred out of my skull from all of the bumps and dips in the wide, muddy path that had yet to take the shape of an actual road. To my surprise, I learned from other travelers (who had had a similar experience on the same pathway) that the conditions used to be much worse. My eyes bugged out. What could be worse than slushy mud cover-ing the entire expanse of the road?! But they enlightened me with tales that resembled a ride from a theme park- the one that jerks you back and forth to the point that you think you may lose your breakfast and you seriously question the safety of such a ride. Only, their story was reality and the idea of safety was probably something they did not want to contemplate until they were standing on two feet again. Fortunately, that image is now safely tucked away as fond nostalgia. Now, when I want to travel in the direction of Gitarama I can hardly imagine those stories having taken place only a few years ago, let alone a couple of months ago! That same path is increasingly flat and smooth, with only a few minor lumps along the way. As the bus, taxi (matatu), or car winds its way around the mountainous countryside, I love trying to guess where the road will next reach.

When I first arrived to Ngororero district last year, the tar stopped several kilometers from the center of Ngororero town (or roughly, the middle of the district). I knew that as the taxi descended from the solid feeling of compact road to the loose gravel strewn across sand I had entered a whole new dimension. Ngororero town is not very large but it does have a fairly substantial bus depot. In the past 19 months it has expanded to include some nicely decorated buildings which advertise restaurants and shops inside. Not only has access to and from this town been improved but there are also new and impressive walkways and stairwells lining its perimeters. And since my arrival to this district, the road has made its way up to the town center and beyond! Deep ravines that used to border the wide, dirt path have been filled in and covered with tar to construct a proper road. In ad-dition to easing the passage for the large Onatracom buses and smaller taxis that now rumble by the edge of my village, it alters the overall landscape. On my last trip, as I came round the last bend into town I noticed a latticework of grass etched into the hills beside the road. While this practice is used primarily to protect against erosion, it certainly makes the overall area look very smart also.

With all of this in mind, there is still much more work to be accomplished. In various sections of the road, there are sizeable gaps in the pavement and cars must make allowances for the drastic change from the sleek black top to gritty gravel and slushy mud. Passing through on a taxi the other day, I could not help but suck in my breath for the 2 foot deep trenches that have developed from heavy rains. As we skirted around the severe dips and anaconda-size ditches, I was reminded of off-roading with my friends back in the states. Then, we would actively seek out those rough and undeveloped trails in the wilderness; whereas, here in Rwanda this stands as the only means of transportation between otherwise isolated villages and towns.

And now, a year later, as I wind my way through the rolling hills of western Rwanda, I notice a country that, having decided to make something happen it does so with assiduous determination. Only yesterday there was a dirt path that served as a main road and now there is a long stretch of pavement that continues north, carrying people and goods with ease and success. It‘s already starting to become more and more convenient; instead of paying 2,500 RWF for a moto ride home today I climbed into a matatu taxi for 500 RWF!! In such a short time, the road has become something that one could only dream about a year ago when it was no more than an idea of the future. In the 16 months I have lived in this area, I have observed the rapid progress that has taken place, finally under-standing the full meaning of kwihuta.

Photo: A view of the road under construction Courtesy of Avery Miles