We are a fully staffed program here in Rwanda with 17 full-time employees. Two staff are Americans (the country director and myself), two are Kenyan, and 13 are Rwandese. Our program layout consists of 4 teams: a drilling team, a pump installation team, health & hygiene / evangelism team, and an operations & maintenance team.
We currently have around 240 projects completed. Almost half of our projects are in the Western part of the country. Some are in the Southern and Central provinces. The remaining portion are in the Eastern province where we are currently drilling.
LWI’s presence in Rwanda began in 2007 and met a difficult success rate for drilling. The first year consisted of 22 boreholes. In 2008 the Lord gave us favor and the program achieved 42 boreholes. 2009 showed an increase as well with 49. The guys pulled up their socks and tightened their belts in 2010 with an amazing 75 boreholes. This year we will finish with around 70 or so. Rwanda has three drilling organizations and LWI-Rwanda holds a reputation across the country as by far the best. Our guys have their act together, know the routine, and are skilled. Many of them speak English (a rarity here in Rwanda) and most speak Swahili very well.
The Rwandan culture is a bit of a different taste than the rest of East Africa. Amongst the EA community they are the only ones who do not strive to speak the swahili language. They take pride in speaking only Kinyarwanda, the native tongue. After the genocide they experienced an influx of international financial support and that has boosted the economy and esteem of this landlocked country. Their resources are limited and thus they thrive on political leverage for keeping their economy stimulated. For instance, the first most expensive place to ship a container in the world is Antarctica. The second… Rwanda. The taxes they place on imported items is a large avenue for staying afloat on the economic canvas of the world.
The people of Rwanda are still getting over their past and have a ways to go, but are making leaps and bounds. Much of the country consists of a Catholic presence and shortly behind them is a Protestant influence. People here live a simple African life. For the less fortunate, a day consists of gathering firewood and fetching water for the children. Farming takes the majority of men’s roles here as well as herding cattle. Mothers are with the children and keep the home.
We hope that by supplying water and the communicating the gospel through everything we do, Rwandans will prosper as people of faith and mission in their communities. We believe that by giving back their time and health through clean water, quality life will be laid before them with new hope and opportunities that didn’t exist before.
We are so thankful that you’ve partnered in this mission with us. Don’t minimize the longevity of your impact through giving. The progress we’ve made so far is evidence alone that God has much greater plans than we could ever hope or imagine.
-Jack
Jack Beach is Living Water International’s Assistant Country Director in Rwanda.
