Student Field Trip to Nyanza

Agashya Factory - 2009
Every year our students take a class field trip to a different location in Rwanda. Last year I accompanied the S1 (7th grade) students on a field trip to a factory and plantation where fruit (passion, pineapple, banana, strawberry, papaya) and vegetables (carrot, green pepper, onion, cabbage) are harvested for the production and domestic distribution of juices, beers and wines. The founder of this business, which features the popular Agaysha passion juice concentrate, is a respected self-made Rwandan entrepreneur called Gerard Sina. He has used his successful business to employ thousands of Rwandans and has also started a primary school near the major plantations to educate the workers’ children free of charge.


King's Palace - 2010
This year, I accompanied the now S2 (8th grade) students on their class field trip to Nyanza, a city south of Kigali which had been capital of the Kingdom of Rwanda in years past. The main reason to visit is to see the King’s Palace. The traditional ancient palace of the king (mwami in Kinyarwanda) is reconstructed on the grounds of the more modern palace built for Mwami Rudahigwa Mutara III by the Belgians in 1932. The ancient palace, which represents the way of life of kings before the colonial invasion, is a tall, sturdy grass hut with interior wood columns, a spacious main room with small stools for sitting, and an adjacent bedroom. The guide informed us that the king, queen and his concubines each had separate entrances to the palace and even the bedroom; no man was permitted to use the same entrance as the king.

The modern palace, built for the last monarch prior to Rwandan independence (Mwami Mutara III), was less interesting to me than the ancient palace. Built in the Western Style and situated on a hill, it featured a main sitting room, a dining area, several bedrooms, a kitchen with an underground storeroom to keep things cool, and an elaborate front patio area with a beautiful view. There was also a cement room on the far end of the house akin to a garage, with a large berth in the ground for mechanics to enter in case the King’s car needed maintenance performed underneath. For more information on the history of Rwanda, please refer to my 3/12/09 entry, “Brief Political History”.

Rwesero Art Museum
In addition to visiting the King’s Palace, we also visited a beautiful house on a nearby hillside that Mutara III had built for him and his wife’s retirement. Unfortunately, Mutara III was killed by Belgians officials in 1959 during a state-sanctioned visit to Burundi. The beautiful structure, which his wife occupied until her 1994 death, now been transformed into an outstanding art museum. Photos of some of the artwork that struck me due to their social implications are pictured below:

"Rwanda, progressive country in contemporary development" (2009)/Leon Kofi Kankolongo

"Behold 2006"/Jean Claude Sekijege