The last Saturday of every month, Rwandan community members dedicate their mornings to Umuganda, or Travaux Communitaire. It’s a pretty incredible concept – the able-bodied members of a nation coming together on a monthly basis to improve the community. The flipside for visitors or others not participating is that public and private services are unavailable until after noon on umuganda days.
In Byumba, my current field location, this month’s umuganda was dedicated to providing materials for the foundations of a new classroom. Everyone in the umudugudu (the neighborhood), including me, went to a nearby site where men were hammering away stone from the mountain, and carried the stones up a steep incline to the school.
Here’s me on my first trip.
I was not looking so cavalier when I got back to the top of the mountain. The second time around, I chose a stone that was twice as big -- and walked twice as slowly -- after seeing what the others were transporting.
0 comments:
Post a Comment