Our Story
“too make someone proud and to be positive about your local community”
Our journey started in January 2011 as we wanted to develop our community and ourselves. In Kinigi, many young adults are unemployed and struggle to contribute to their families and our community. Our idea was to meet this challenge by coming together, sharing the skill of guiding and offering our services to tourists, free of charge. We were hoping to show employers in the region our capability to do good work. Since then, we are proud to say that governmental and non-governmental organizations have employed 13 of our members who can now support livelihood and education for their families in Kinigi.
We want to welcome you to the mighty Virunga Mountains and to the everyday life of us local Rwandans. We want to show you, and help you understand, the links and relationships between our friendly people and our beautiful nature.
We want to acknowledge and thank these individuals and organizations for making our contribution to the community possible.
Achievements
Providing free guided tours to our visitors from foreign countries, builds understanding and curiosity for the Rwandan way of life. Many of our visitors have asked us how they can contribute to the development of the community. This has led to a number of projects improving the living conditions, health and education in Kinigi. Here are some of the achievements we have made together:
Fresh Water – New supply system for 6000 people
Through a generous donation from a visitor we were able to help facilitate the creation of a water supply system for 5000 people in a remote part of the community that has been without access to clean drinking water. This was done in collaboration with the Iteganyirize Cooperative of Ex-Poachers.
Fighting illiteracy – Education support for 50+ children
Education is the path away from poverty. Families in Kinigi work very hard, dreaming of giving their children the opportunity of going to school. With support from our clients, school fees are being covered for 10 children and necessary materials has been given to 57 pupils.
Infrastructure – Kinigi’s first Internet café
We have set up an internet café, connecting Kinigi to the world. With three computers and a copying machine people from the village have access to a world of information. Now they don’t need to travel for hours to Ruhengeri and back to conduct their computer errands.
Construction – Six houses and a hospital
Rwanda has a lot of good clay which is great for building houses. Since the start in 2011 Muhisimbi Volunteer Guides have been able to fund and build six residential houses for different families in Kinigi. In 2014 we got engaged in the construction of a new hospital.
