Kigali Rwanda

What can I say
It is a totally bewildering and beautiful place.  It is almost european in looks, set upon many hills.  There are few road names or adresses, interesting when you are trying to get to your accomodation on a moto taxi, but every thing is located by landmark as you can see for miles across the hills.  The roads and landscapes are very well maintained, better than London, and it is clean and green and in the middle of a building frenzy.  I hadn't appreciated that I had arrived in the genocide remembrance period which appears to last from 7th April for 100 days.
I set off to visit the Nyamata and Ntamara genocide memorials, two churches south of kigali.  I caught a local mini bus and got talking with a young agricultural student who was on his way to visit his family at Ntmara.  He very kindly, got me a bicylce and showed me the way.
It is the site of a massacre of hundreds, maybe thousands, of people who had gathered in the local church for safety, they were all killed with hand grenade, machete and what ever else was available.  The church and associated buildings have been preserved, including the clothing and books of the victims.  Many remains are still there awaiting burial in mass graves still being prepared by the government.  It is a peaceful site.  I later learned that a young lawyer I had met at my lodgings, was infact a survivor of this massacre, he was a baby and asleep and found underneath his parents.  My guide's family was also affected by the genocide.
I returned to Kigali and met another student, when asking for direction, as there are no road signs he kindly showed my the way again, we took shelter from the rain in a cafe.  We talked of many things, studies, politics, love, hopes for the future, music; he is another hip hop artist, and in fact knew the artist I had met on the lake, very spooky.  It wasn't until we got on to families that it emerged that he too lost both his parents in the genocide and was responsible for his three brothers.
What is amazing is that all these young men that I spoke with did not define themselves by this trauma, but by their present, which is working and studying hard to provide a safe and secure future for their families and their country.  They showed no anger or hate, although sadness in the loss of parents and family and the struggle to provide and education; but talked of love and trust in others and their country.
My accommodation was with Solace Ministries which provides anti-retroviral drugs and support for widows and orphans.  I met an engineer who is looking to provide small scale clean water systems and solar power.  He asked me to accompany him to some of the projects, one of which was at Ntamara.  Also a technical school specialising in solar technology supported by a german charity.  It has inspired me to consider going back to my technical roots and perhaps look at how to package and provide this technology in these poor rural communities, it should be transferable throughout the world, so more travelling opportunities for me.  Even in Rwanda promoting renewable energy is controlled my the multinationals.  However there are great opportunities in the provision of simple small scale solutions, which can be maintained and controlled directly by the users who have little access to the grid or fossil fuels. 
I also visited the national memorial centre in Kigali, which is so moving, they are still constructing the mass graves for those remains that are still being found.  Again there were many floral tributes from the families of those buried there,  It is a testimony to hope that this never happens again.  I hope that Rwanda's forward thinking approached with respect for the past and as western aid reduces as it must; the people have regained the strength and dignity to ensure this is the case for this beautiful place.