Our first day in Kigali presented us with a myriad of experiences, exposure to the local area, and learning more about the rich history Rwanda has to offer while having our first meetings with stakeholders from the private and public sectors. Starting from our morning, we had our first official meeting with stakeholders from RAB, ROBEEC, and E & E, this meeting introduced us to the case study we'll be working towards, as well as highlighting the issues that exist between the private and public sectors of beekeeping. As summarized, the meeting displayed a fundamental issue with the public sector, RAB, as it's primarily run by a one-man army, Willie, who tries to answer everything but finds himself in a myriad of conflicts trying to answer everything while not having every major resource to help answer. The conflicting interest present from the meeting is RAB wants to increase production through any means necessary to develop Rwanda, while private company stakeholders such as ROBEEC and E & E, want to increase the sustainability of beekeeping and the agriculture that surrounds the field. After our meeting, our team ventured off toward the Kigali Genocide Memorial where we saw the eternal flame (pictured below), images of the genocide, and texts on how the genocide occurred. From the trip, one quote struck me "Rwanda was dead" at the presentation of the height of the genocide. While this quote tries to describe the tragedy at a particular moment, it truly enveloped more about hope and what's to come. The way it said "was" during the height of all the worst things to happen in Rwanda, shows that although it was bad, the hope to make it better was still available. This principle of hope in disastrous times serves as a tool for the Rwandan people and is something we can learn from in our project when it comes to solving these issues of our project. But through any tough time, a concrete plan and a solid mind are what truly propel hope to something grand.
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