Bwiza village
A while ago John and I accompanied Rob to the village of Bwiza, a community of potters, to see his work there. Rob was over from the USA to work with HDI installing a better way for the villagers to secure water. The Community of Potters (COP) is an indigenous, minority population of 8,400 in Rwanda. In 1998 they were driven from their traditional way of life in Nyungwe by the creation of a national park, and from the Parc des Volcans by the creation of a sanctuary for the mountain gorillas. The village of Bwiza is a community of 120 of this group and HDI has a large project working with this village to improve life in a number of different areas. This trip was about water.
One of the families outside their home
For the villagers, who live on the mountainside, it is a long and steep walk to get water – a trip they take three times a day, scooping water with a cup from the tiny source. Rob came and installed a water collection method, slightly downhill from the water source to make collection faster and the water a little cleaner.
We were joined by many on our journey to the water source
Rob showing John the new water source
Finishing off
It worked and we celebrated (in a rain storm) and then we went to spend some time with the villagers. A good day!
A two year old little girl
Kids from the village