FROM THE HAMMOCK:It’s now cool to live downtown

Wednesday, 19 August 2009 at 01:11 | Edit note | Delete

Upscale Nyarutarama

BY GEORGE KAGAME

Recently I announced to one of my friends that I had moved out of my outskirts suburb to down town Nyamirambo. The friend put her hand to her mouth and looked genuinely surprised. She said, “Urumoji?”

I wondered whether her reaction was based on the fact that she had never lived downtown, or in a neighbourhood as busy and diverse as Nyimirambo.

I never understood her reaction.

And yet because of the historical political economy of suburbs like Nyamirambo, it is right that the reputation is highly dubious.

The tiny business hub is also an enduring example of how diverse Kigali is. And for all the ugly past of Rwanda, the fanatical mistrust and hatred of Rwandans never invaded the social fabric of Nyamirambo, say like Kimiruhura.

Downtown suburbs in developed countries bring together a group of achievers instead of privileged kids living in the most affluent neighbourhoods in Kigali and other capitals in the region.

Apparently to many in Kigali, a neighbourhood like Nyamirambo and any other Kabagari is not expected to be a prospective choice of suburb to reside in, if you can afford rent elsewhere.

The story is similar across Africa. In many capitals neighbouring Kigali the pattern of settlement is identical. I say it smells and is an indicator of corruption.

If you happen to be a resident of Nairobi, you will notice that the residents of Karen, and Muthaiga-with the exception of Westlands, are not very different from each other.

If they are not heirs to a long fortune or establishment in the country, they are expatriates mostly from the same countries. Walk down to Kibera and all the various parts of the country are represented.

Muyenga and Kololo go for Kampala while Msanani and Oyster Bay in Dar Salaam, and clearly Kimiruhura and Nyarutarama represent Kigali.

The residents of these suburbs normally frown upon the dwellers of suburbs like Nyamirambo, their story and image is unanimously summed up in the term, ‘Ndagasqwi.’

I don’t know what Ndagasqwi means but I think it is not something flattering.

It is a term that residents of Kibagabaga, Remera, Kiyovu use while describing the lower part of Kacyiru, the former Kimikyanga and Nyamirambo.

The residents of the affluent neighbourhoods in our countries in all the major cities neighbouring Rwanda are usually similar, they could all be from the same home town or are working for the same company and therefore making these neighbourhoods a symbol of one thing or another.

Yet it is these neighbourhoods that normally identify the true picture of a city, usually they are more multi culturally mixed, more cosmopolitan, and diverse parts of the city, the most enduring identities of any city worth a name.

In very developed countries, living downtown is an achievement.

The closer an individual in a western country lives to downtown; the more independent, the more skilled and higher they are on the economic or intellectual ladder.

The rich run away from such suburbs as Black, Jewish, Italian, Asian suburbs and their trademarks to a more diverse downtown.

With more emphasis put to the words individual and ladder. Here you are discouraged as much as possible not to buy a vehicle.

And it is normal; to have a vehicle in the west is not a sign of “I have arrived” as it is in East Africa.

It is a burden. The city administrations and government ensure that the public transport is very efficient for those that can afford to pay for it.

The price is also fixed basing on the living standards of the lowest income earners of each city.

This way not everyone with a job is forced to buy a car to get them to work as his/her first priority upon being employed, the transport network is planned to reach all areas of the city with human settlement and services.

The price is affordable to anyone that has a reason to move from one part of the city to another.

In comparison, if you are a Jean Claude Safari, and happen to be living in Nairobi, Dar Salaam and especially Kigali, the first item to occupy your immediate attention upon getting a job is buying a personal car.

Then you need a fence and a security guard therefore a higher salary than those without vehicles. If your salary cannot cover these costs you have extra incentive to take a bribe. Enshrining and sustaining the vice of corruption.

This state of affairs will also continue the talk of capacity building. Because a few people with skills keep the money within themselves and the rest are left with none.

The areas where these same people reside are developed at the expense of the centres where many make their money from.

The Safaris of East Africa are in most cases related in many African countries, and as I indicated earlier it is hard to find new entrants if they are not related to the established circles or the expatriate communities.

Interestingly, Kigali is being rebuilt. The downtown centres of Nyamirambo, Kacyiru and Kimikyanga are all being redesigned, residents of Kimikyanga, Nyamirambo and Kacyiru being forced to vacate to create room for new structures in the city.

Kigali is now moving towards a real city worth of a beautiful country.

It remains to be seen that when the construction of the new structures in these suburbs is completed, the new residents of these once cultural hotspots in Kigali are as dynamic, more diverse and industrious as their former occupants.

And when I tell you that I stay in Nyamirambo you’ll not be shocked anymore.

Ends

Dark continent tag to be dispelled with launch of sea cable fibre optic connection

By GEORGE Kagame

One of the most fascinating stories I have had the pleasure of reading was written by Rwandan writer Rama Isibo for his blog sometime in 2007. Having saved money to buy his first personal computer, Isibo was bemused by the amount of information that the computer shop salesman gave him. I related to the story because my own attempt to secure a first computer were very testing.

Isibo's challenges were much different from mine in purchasing his first computer, as at that time I believed he was living in the UK and so he didnot have to clench his fist and gnash his teeth while saving up the money for a computer.
Nonetheless, his experience with the computer shops were quite hillarioius. In the end, Isibo signed off his article promising to keep the memories of his exercise to tell to his children.

As a budding journalist myself at the time, it was a basic necessity to have a personal computer. It remains todate as one of the most challenging battles of my life so far. I had to save my salary for two months and default on practically every other essential daily expenditure. When I believed I had the right amount I took a day long bus ride to a neighbouring country where computers were selling at cheaper price. At the end of the ordeal my roommate at the time evicted me from the house for failing contribute my share of the monthly rent.

At the time I was saving for my computer, government along with South Africa and other members of the EAC were in negotiations with SEACOM , a fibre optic cable firm to form a marine based cable connecting Cape Town to Cairo through Dar Salaam, Mombassa via Kigali Kampala, Ethiopia and then to Cairo. The cable would then link Africa to India through the Indian Ocean and Eurpe.

The attitudes to computers is just one of various challenges that government and other policy makers will have to address starting in October when Rwanda is slated to sign on to the sea cable submarine fibre optic network that is owned by SEACOM a South African private consortium that specializes in selling cheap bandwidth to internet subscribers. The operation of SEACOM was launched on Wednesday in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa and according to economists and ICT experts will go a very long way in removing the international infrastructure bottleneck and supporting East and South African economic growth.

Rwanda was not among the first countries to join the cable system because first the national fibre network roll out was still being constructed across the country and also the obvious factor for not being close to the ocean. Interesting, it is only Rwanda in the region that has embarked on a nationwide fibre optic cable rollout, and is also so far, the only country with a national policy framework for ICT in the region. Kigali city and its suburbs have already been connected by 77km of fibre optic cables, over 70 percent of the country according to the EDPRS framework is covered today.

Nevertheless, owning a computer remains a daunting challenge to a very large majority in the country. In fact it is a fair assumption to say that computers are only limited to a select few in the country. And this is not just because the gadgets are expensive or Rwandans are too unsophisticated to handle computers. Many of my colleagues have very expensive mobile phones that could buy two new sets of computers. Yet interestingly the owners of these phones have no ideal use for the features in these phones and most times our telephone service providers do not have the software to use these mobile phones. This is testimony that the purchasing knowledge of most consumers is tuned to bizarre attitudes that only a seasoned anthropologist would attempt to figure out.

If you like, the success of most development programmes in the country hinge on this fibre optic cable. Starting with the One Laptop Per Child Programme, which on top of increasing the quality of education that school going children will be able to access, will foster the delivery of health initiatives across the country as well. Already the Centre for Research and Treatment of HIV/Aids and other infectious diseases-TRAC-was using mobile telephones to connect patients to care professionals but the cost of airtime was an unnecessary hump in the process. High speed internet connection to health centres will ease this burden. A child whose computer is connected to the internet will help other family members that could be sick in accessing ARVs. The members are helped when they are easily connected to the specialists that TRAC has stationed in most health centre across the country to monitor the health of patients and the child would have learnt invaluable lessons in the process. In the long run the quality of life on the continent will improve and we shall leave the group of people that have a very short life expectancy.


The benefits of fibre networks cannot be overemphasized, online education will not only expand but it will also be a reality to many more people as will government's promise to make all its operations digital. The network will also reduce the slice of the national budget that was being diverted to the wallets and egos of public officials that have been handling such policies and fees that go with them.

The bigger picture is that the integration of Africa will be enhanced as SEACOM will attempt to complete Vasco Da Gama's dream of a connected triangle bringing together Europe, Africa and India, the cooperation of African countries will increase with faster internet and we might be the generation that casts away the image of a dark continent. For the new generation of wannabe Ga Gamas to Africa, the cable will make it easier for them to make travel arrangements faster online and this way seeing more of the continent.

As Seacom’s undersea cable project is the first of its kind to connect to East Africa to the rest of the world through links to India, the United Kingdom and France. This will open up unprecedented opportunities, at a fraction of the current cost, as government, business leaders and citizens can now use the network as the platform to compete globally, drive economic growth and enhance the quality of life across the continent.
Africa has been slow to catch up with bandwidth as most connections on the continent were by satellite which is quite expensive and unaffordable to many.

Yet for the fibre optic cable to make a real change to the lives of Rwandans other challenges on the continent will need to be dealt with faster. For example, expanding the electricity grid to all parts of the country will have to shift from EDPRS documents to all major trading centres across the nation. Most important is the general political stability of Africa will primarily be a responsibility of Africans as the recent pirate insurgency on the Somalian coastline demonstrates. The pirates apparently hindered the completion of the cable connection on time as they were operating in waters where the cable passes in February and March. Where Africa left the international community to deal with the pirates, now it will be upto to all of Africa to ensure that Somalia stabilizes.

This will not be a difficult task as it appears on paper. The stability of the East African coastline has in the past been achieved after serious insurgencies. It is said the Arabs and Da Gama first operated as a pirates on the coast before they each took turns at settling at Fort Jesus.

And then there was the internet, "don't speak or look at me!!"

BY GEORGE KAGAME


The social networking and online dating sites like this one are one of the latest inventions concepts in a consumer society. In this society, every aspect of life is geared towards making all of us into consumers and participants to a drama that has become our lives than actually living it.

Lets see, when you're out with friends on a trip or a night/day out, chances are that you will be more occupied with taking pictures of all the moments to upload on facebook than actually enjoying the time out or the company of our friends. When you get home, very carefully prepared adverts of the camera you're using the pictures await you on the television.
Two, Instead of speaking to somebody in a night club or bar, some marketing agency has done that for you. The club hoists its advert on the web and tells prospective patrons of the day that today they have a ladies night and therefore whoever is coming to the theme night needs no company. The advert will also give you pick up lines once you get inside the club, a prospective target for your advances would also have been propped up on what to expect. And so as you dance your way to the object of your desire on the dance floor or counter, everybody in the body club can tell what you're up to. The feeling between hunter and prey is amicable. It is possible that when you go dancing these days you'll end up between the legs and arms of someone whose name you don't even know and most certainly know nothing about other than the fact that your sexual appetite is at an all time low!

When you wake up the next morning, both of you are more concerned with where you dropped your pants and running away from each other's space as fast as you can. You get on the bus or train to your home early in the morning as if you worked the night shift the previous night. As you ride to your place you don't want any eye contact with a person seated next to you on the train or bus. After all he/she is from home to their job wand they're fresh for a new day while you're on the way to your home from your away romp and after a quick shower then to your work. You will report to work late on a monday and therefore start the week on a sour note and most probably end it that way. A life of stress, you'll spend the entire week watching watching adverts on how to fight stress and the any medicines to fight it.

The internet-which upon its creation in the late 1980s was said to make life so simple has instead complicated it and created machines out of human beings, robots. WE are tasteful,lazy, suspicious and choosy bunch, full of fear, uncreative and many assumptions about the person seated next to us on the bus and the cafe. Like the creation of our hands and minds, the internet has made human beings of our generation into commodities, especially the ones living in the west. But with the launching of the EASSY marine cable network in East and South Africa last week, even Africans are going this way soon.

As you head to your apartment in the morning after a night in the club and sleeping over at somebody's place-who picked you up in the club-you're torn between two worlds. On one hand you're happy that you were conquered and so will be planning on what to wear or say next time you're out so as to appear a more successful candidate to be picked up. As a result you will spend most of your time browsing askmen.com or Ivillage.com.

On the other hand you're regretting within, how cheap have you become? You're not much different from a prostitute, a gigolo, there's a price tag on your head. You're predictable,. You are a piece of auction, open to the highest bidder. While these things are taking place in your head, you don't somebody to speak to you. Once one actually does speak to you, you'll react like a bomb has dropped on your head! You're a machine, you're programmed. The internet has made us distrust ourselves so much and made us become best friends with computers than fellow human beings. Your computer can give you directions to where you're going without asking for directions, get you a boyfriend/girlffriend, your ideal restaurant and even get you a job. On top of this it can help you to order medicines from the pharmacy and doctor to heal whatever illnesses you secretly surfer from. What's the need of having people around you? In case you need any type of contact, the computer will connect you to a local pet shop where you'll order for a dog, duck, bird and cat. While we are still at it, you can go to the nearest endoscopy and fertility clinic to have a baby. Everything done on the internet.

In their method of control against the spread of STDs and abortion, the Catholic Church has been busy campaigning against stem cells development, cloning and condoms -in the process denying many of us in Sub Saharan Africa that grew up in the late 90s the opportunity to indulge in the blessings of youth for fear of STDs and pregnancies-but the Vatican has not addressed the real dangers of ICT to this generation.
The world today is fighting its most important battle as a result of the collapse of the credit economy and financial institutions. The credit crunch happened because people in Europe and North America switched on their computers, saw figures that were calculated by computers believed them bought shares that were not existent. Invested in projects that never really existed and ended up being fleeced by unscrupulous banks and investment agencies. Most of the transactions that led to the collapse of the world's financial set up took place in the comfort of their homes. On their computers.

The collapse of the international economy which happened as a result of ICT access to people that did not deserve or misused it has not been condemned by the Vatican. The Vatican is concerned only with its dogma than the realities of a changing world. As a result of this crisis immigrants in South Africa, Europe, North America and Japan are denied a chance to access services and jobs. Some have even been killed as they're a threat to employment opportunities and other services.

But the fear is not only to immigrants, citizens of the western world are have given up their rights to finding partners with whom to share their time and good life to the internet. Cue e harmony.
Coming soon. e Harmony>>>>>>




dating in the west is done on the computer-it is very easy to find someone to have sexual intercourse with and the next day each party acts as strangers

Internet dating conference due in September in London

From Hollywood’s box office now Rwanda’s story goes to the Prime Time with NBC

Danny Glover with fans in Kigali recently


By GEORGE KAGAME
All things prime have a new favourite home In Rwanda today. It is quite not surprising these days to find a photo of a Hollywood superstar with his fans-mostly curvaceous beautiful local girls posing in pictures taken in the streets of Kigali.

Even young tourist girls from western countries have had opportunities to have their pictures with Hollywood A list actors taken in the city’s backyards cue Bourbon Coffee.

(In my unofficial survey, this joint could rival Hollywood cafes in the statistics for hosting celebrities, but this another topic.)

The 2009 photo albums so far posted on facebook have appearances from Matt Damon, Edward Norton, Brian Lara-a cricket legend and many more.

It is possible that Damon was attracted to Rwanda by his close friend and former campus roommate Ben Affleck a frequent visitor to Rwanda.

To this cast you can add Ewan Mcgregor, Ashley Judd, Natalie Portman and so much more who have packed up and made the great trek to Kigali. And while you’re still talking movies, it is important to note that some from Europe’s major entertainment industry-soccer-have also visited-cum the All Europe star team that was at Amahoro just recently to make their contribution to the One Dollar Campaign including Samual Eto’o, Didier Drogba and others.

While each of these superstars has had very noble reasons for visiting, I cannot attempt here to have explanations for the pulling power of Rwanda.

After all, the county has been described as a model for rebuilding and stability from near annihilation and as one European journalist recently stated, “Kigali is the poor man’s version of a civilized city.”

For all these accolades, visitors have become a common feature, coming along with brief cases to start projects aimed at humanitarian work or better-still a video crew to make a play or documentary about reconciliation and or orphans of the Genocide.

And based on the ORTPN’s awards at Berlin’s tourism Rwanda could be one of the best summer destinations in Africa these days.

The most recent project coming out of such visits and inspiration is NBC’s prime time series The Wanted. The Wanted, which premiered on Monday in the US, is likely to resemble or attract the same audience as the once Kigali favourite Kigali The PrisonBreak.

The Wanted is about the work of investigative journalists from the US who follow international criminals wanted for committing crimes against humanity in their countries of origin but living well off in other countries mainly in the west.

Some of these alleged criminals are Rwandans, suspected and wanted for perpetrating and participating in the Genocide.

One such suspect set to appear in the series, a former lecturer in a major US college is currently under investigation.

Therefore, many of you adrenaline filled people hungry for some action in the mould of Michael Scoffield, will get that and the added advantage is that you will understand some of the script as it is about people and issues you understand very well.

The first two episodes will track fugitives living in Norway and Germany and even if the episodes are not about Rwandans, the two countries are reportedly harbouring or have in the past hosted wanted suspects of the Genocide in Rwanda.

It is ironical that the show premiered just a day after President Paul Kagame appeared on CNNs GPS and discussed the ‘selective’ and cheeky nature of international justice in pursuit of war criminals.

Don’t wish or count on the temptation that the show will improve or do better than a whole UN funded worldwide search for the same fugitives, but the power of commercial television will go a long way in exposing that it is easy to track these suspected criminals with less dollars than the Arusha based ICTR has done.

(On a separate note, I call for the privatization of the ICTR and hiring bounty hunters. This way, it will take less than a week to capture Felicien Kabuga.)

It is my opinion that the show will damage the public relations gibberish of the ICTR. It is possible that the hypocrisy and lies of the ICTR’s tracking team will need more public relations funds to cover up their incompetence.
Such is the irony of public relations that even if the movie Hotel Rwanda had flaws in its version of events in Rwanda during 1994 and thereafter, the interpretation of events in Rwanda under the leadership of Kagame by Paul Rusesabagina, it helped many in the west to get a glimpse of Rwanda and its story.

Rusesabagina then got over excited and sold his story in the west and actually attempted to accuse the RPF government of the genocide it prevented. This gave a background to the infamous French and Spanish arrest warrants.

A Hollywood picture now became a major influence on the political face of Rwanda. Such is the power of celebrity culture and television in the west.

Whatever fact or fiction history writers make of Rwanda 50 years from now, one thing that will stick out is that it is a beautiful and wonderful country tacked in the middle of Africa both physically and politically, on top of being at the cross section of Africa’s political economy of the past and new.

A combination of that and other factors have made Kigali an attraction for both touring and development work by international movers and shakers. We could have our prized gorillas, the supposed source of River Nile, a picturesque countryside and a clean city but our humble ability to attract major figures in the world to contribute to the country’s growth today.

It is very difficult to attract these people.

Ends

Cowboy 1

Stuff white people like by Christian Lander, a PhD drop out student at Indianapolis university

My own opinion-white people have a license to feel welcome in other countries and even choose to stay there once they have visited, bet other people are not necessarily welcomed by white people in their own countries. All the Canadian friends I had made before I came to Canada were so disappointed with me-even if I never asked anything from any of them- none kept any contact with me. its crazy, Stuff white people like is really a racist book, but it has got some insight in the beliefs of high economic class people really not just white.
I'll make sense with this later postings.......

Rwanda: Educating Children Crucial to Development

George Kagame17 June 2007
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Kigali — For want of quality education, black children in poverty stricken Soweto township of South Africa took to the streets in 1976 where they were met with hails of bullets. It is in honour of them that the Day of the African Child marked every June 16 exists today.


Education has improved greatly and taken centre stage not only in South Africa but in many other countries on the continent. Other child related issues, such as child trafficking which was the theme of this year's celebrations, have metamorphosed with time but education remains an essential priority for African children.

In an ideal world, children's education would be universal and publicly financed, and all children would be able to attend school regardless of their parents' ability or willingness to pay.

The reason is simple. When any child fails to acquire the basic skills needed to function as a productive, responsible member of society, society as a whole - not to mention the individual child - loses.

The cost of educating children far outweighs the cost of not educating them. Adults who lack basic skills have greater difficulty making gainful contributions and escaping poverty.

Education for girls has particularly striking social benefits: incomes are higher and maternal and infant mortality rates are lower for educated women, who also have more personal freedom in making choices.

In Rwanda, according to the Education Sector Review report, the net enrolment rate has been steadily increasing and is currently 74.5 percent for both girls and boys. However, the rates of drop out and repetition are still high at 31.8 percent and 14.5 percent respectively.


Both these rates are generally higher for girls, and the performance rate at the end of the primary cycle of education is higher for boys. The 2000 Households Living Conditions survey estimates the dropout rate at 15 percent for girls. This is mainly attributed to the fact that girls have relatively greater obligation in supporting their families.

The Gross Enrolment Rate has also been increasing and is now over 100 percent. This is because the high repetition rates keep children in classes which are incompatible with their actual age.

The teacher/pupil ratio is currently 1:56. This is too high, a fact which is reflected in the practice of double shifting where teachers teach one half of the class in the morning and the other half in the afternoon, effectively reducing time on task for pupils and increasing the workload for teachers. This cannot be good for quality. It should be noted that pupil/teacher ratios vary widely around the country from 1:47.7 in the capital Kigali, to 1:71.3 in say Kibungo.

Because basic education is a recognised entitlement and society benefits when children are educated, the state should bear the cost, especially for poor children. In many poor societies, however, the state does not fulfil this obligation.

In Rwanda, the government, with several development partners like UNDP, has subsidised and encouraged many children to join primary schools. This owes much to the political will to provide universal education. As education minister Dr. Jean d'Arc Mujawamariya says, her ministry is committed to giving quality education to Rwandans to ensure a great future.


Parents contribute a small charge that helps in school maintenance, covers teachers and administrative costs, materials like pencils and text books. In some cases as in Rusumo in Kirehe District, parents make payments in kind for example, providing food for the teachers, assisting in the classroom, or contributing their labour for school construction and/or maintenance.

But completion of primary school is no guarantee that children have acquired basic academic skills. Surveys in a number of low-income societies in Rwanda document that many adults who have received some schooling (five six years or less) are functionally illiterate and innumerate.

Equally disheartening are the disparities in educational attainment between different groups within the country and regions.

Sadly, but not surprisingly, in most low-income countries, children from poor families are much less likely to be in school than children from more affluent families. Therefore it can be argued that the problem is not only education accessibility but the problem could be poverty in families.

Given the evident benefits of a basic education, why do so many children in so many societies fail to get one?

According to economic theories, a lack or shortage of a good or service that is clearly desirable stems from either a failure of demand or a failure of supply.


Cost is one obvious reason why demand for education might be low, given that poor families must meet their essential needs - food and shelter - first. In addition to tuition, books, and school supplies, there may be expenses for transportation and clothing.

Demand for education may not be present because of the opportunity costs of educating children. Parents may prefer that their children work to supplement household income, do household chores, or care for sick family members.

In African countries afflicted by AIDS, children may stay out of school to care for sick parents or orphaned siblings. Opportunity costs make even free schooling unappealing for some families.

Also affecting demand for education is its perceived value. Parents may not have enough information to assess the return on an investment in their children's education accurately, or they may see the return - sometimes correctly - as too low to justify the cost, perhaps because of the poor quality of the education available to them.

They may believe that jobs in the local economy do not require academic skills or that getting a job depends more on personal connections than on skill. This is a very common feature in societies where getting jobs depends entirely on the system of patronage, which is very imminent in Rwanda.

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Corruption is another reason poor children in poor families may not have access to quality schools. Government officials may shun spending on schools in favour of big-ticket items such as defence or road construction, for example, since funding for them is easier to divert and such projects are likelier to involve kickbacks.

The experience of the Rwandan primary education however is that education cannot be achieved simply by abolishing high fees and opening classroom doors. Obstacles arise on both the demand and the supply sides.

Education can still be costly for the poor, thus discouraging enrolment, especially when maintaining quality is a problem. Maintaining quality, in turn, is not just a matter of increasing spending. Good planning, implementation, and monitoring are also necessary.

Achieving the goal of universal school attendance in the country will require measures to relieve poor parents of all education-related costs, perhaps through a system of reducing abject poverty in the country.

Rwanda: International Peace Cyclist in Rwanda

George Kagame21 June 2007
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Kigali — He started his worldwide ride in 2002 and hopes to end in 2010. After riding on his tandem bicycle across 36 countries, Jamie Bianchini arrived in Rwanda on Monday, still determined to accomplish his daunting mission.

The American entered the country from Ugandan via Musanze District, Northern Province.


As he rides through the countryside, he supplies free Coartem malaria doses in remote areas and other random acts of kindness as he calls them.

Rwanda is the ninth country in Africa that the native of California has ridden through.

Speaking to The New Times, Bianchini said he is inspired by cultural homogeneity of the world and his love for world peace and understanding.

He said he is in Rwanda to help increase awareness of the country's transition from the 1994 Genocide.

"I would like to inspire many more people to visit Rwanda as a safe place," he said.

The American added that with the coverage he gets through the internet and Peace Paddlers' (a group he chairs) newsletter, he would like to encourage many people to visit Rwanda "not to just see the gorillas and go but make friends and enjoy the beauty of the country."

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"Through [small] efforts like internet and newspaper articles, we can help promote cultural awareness and education, and reduce fear amongst people. You find the one part of the world is afraid of another because of misleading television news," he added.

Bianchini also offered to pay school fees for a Rwandan child in Musanze District. "I just paid tuition for a kid that rode with me from Ruhengeri (Musanze), and we will be sending his school fees for every school term."

He said his most trying moments were in Mozambique where he was attacked and beaten up by a person he had offered a ride. He also disclosed that Rwandair Express has sponsored "my air travel from Rwanda to Tanzania to film the Zanzibar International Film festival." He travels with cameras, computer and riding clothes.