We were told that the people living in the village of Gibobo in the valley in Kibara Cell in Gikomero Sector are particularly isolated. There is no electricity and no running water. Internet access is only available, intermittently , in certain spots closer to the main road at the top of the valley. Even radio reception is cut off at the bottom of the valley. People walk for hours to get their mobile phone charged. When someone is sick and their mobile phone cannot be connected, they cannot even ask for help. There are clinics near the main road, but not in the valley.
In two weeks, we set up 5 solar electrical charging stations, and wired up 150 houses for electricity - for lighting, charging of mobile phones and radios. We helped the villagers set up 50 small vegetable gardens. We built 100+ purpose-designed stoves to improve fuel efficiency. We have pretty much covered the whole village of Kibobo in the valley in Kibara Cell.
At the end, the villagers and the local sector government decided to send us off with a closing ceremony. There were easily 200+ people there, with a lot of singing and dancing before the short speeches. The music was heavily rhythmic rather than melodic, and easy to join in, creating a very festive atmosphere.
One of the special gifts that they gave us and AEE is a big clump of cassava roots. It is part of the harvest produced from fields that were planted last year. It is given us to symbolise the produce they hope to present to us from the kitchen gardens planted this year. They also gave us traditional baskets weaved with fibres from grass, tea and coffee.
The village representative and the local government officer thanked us for the electricity, the improved stoves, and vegetable gardens. They also mentioned skills and hope that associate with the projects.
In response, I said to the gathering:
“We bring you greetings from Hong Kong, thousands of kilometres away. We have to fly in an airplane for 16 hours to get here.
Thank you for your generosity. My eldest daughter got married in April. As a wedding gift, my wife and I gave her a basket I bought in Rwanda. Just like those that you gave us today.
When we came here to this valley several years ago, we came down this road over there. When we saw the green fields, with bananas and other plants, the blue sky, the white clouds and the little stream, we thought to ourselves that we could live here.
But when we realized that there was no electricity, and no Internet, we thought we could not live here. At least not until there is electricity. That is partly why we have worked so hard in the past 5 years to bring electricity to Gikomero.
While we are working here with you, we are also learning a lot from you. For us city people it is very hard to walk up and down these steep slopes on both sides of the valley. Yet you, even the little kids, have no trouble running up and down. We admire you.
This morning, when we visited a family up the rim of the valley, they were drying fresh peanuts under the sun. They gave us a bunch of peanuts, fresh from the ground. I cracked the shells and ate the peanuts directly from the shell. This kind of experience is very hard to find in cities like Hong Kong.
We are learning from you how to live in harmony with nature.
We are learning from you how to live in harmony with nature.
We are going home soon. But we will remember you. We hope that you will also remember us.”
Every word came from my heart.
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