David's travels for Rewrite the Future

by Rewrite the Future Director, David Skinner

. Children, Chickens and Income Generation in Wulungo
. Blog by David: A Journey from DRC to Rwanda
. Blog by David: Children Catching Up in Uganda

A journey from DRC to Rwanda...

 The greatest excitements on field visits come from talking to children in the projects, but sometimes the journey itself can be memorable. Getting from Bukavu to Kigali, for example, made for an interesting two days.

The Save the Children Office in Bukavu, DRC, on the southern shore of Lake Kivu, has one of the best views from any Save the Children office (well pretty much any office) that I have visited. Kigali is also beautiful. It‘s the capital of Rwanda and while it's not beside a lake, it certainly has the hills (the infamous radio station during the 1994 genocide was called Les Mille Colines).

The journey started with a short journey from the Save the Children Office in Kivu down the hill, through the crowds, potholes and puddles to the jetty from where the boats leave. There are two parts to the jetty: one that is crowded with people, animals and goods waiting for a rickety slow boat and another that is crowded with officials, NGO staff and business people waiting for the fast boat.

The bureaucracy to get onto the ferry was extensive. Not only is your ticket checked, but so is your passport, your Ordre de Mission and your yellow fever certificate. And then of course there's a fairly long wait. The boat is small - 45 people, orange and comfortable. It moves fast and the crew put on a loud video that it is impossible to escape. I chose my seat badly. I got a window, but only discovered after departure that the water thrown up by the engines meant that I could see little except for spray. This combination drove me on deck where for the last hour or so of the journey I stood exhilarated watching the view and getting sun burnt.

Goma, the capital of North Kivu is on the north side of the lake under the volcano that erupted a few years ago smothering the town in lava. Many of the apparently single storey houses are in fact two or three storeys high, but have been buried in the lava.

The Office was busy and focussed on the emergency. The DRC forces were 20 km to the north, the UN Peace Keepers 22 km and Nkunda's militia 24 km. The sense of activity was heightened by the airplanes that took off regularly from the airstrip and passed over the Office interrupting conversation every so often.

The following morning I joined Steve Morgan - who had been in the DRC as interim Country Director and we walked over the order into Rwanda. The walk between border posts was about fifty yards. The sun was shining. As Steve pointed out it was a theatrical moment.

We were met on the Rwandan side of the border by a car from Save the Children's operations in Kigali. The journey was three hours or so. The scenery was spectacular: switch back mountains, extensive views, exotic birds, models of gorillas. Although the development indicators are not too different, the roads are. Those in the Rwanda are paved; those in the DRC are not.