Heart, energy, force for good: Tourism and sustainable development in Rwanda

Emma Raissa Isheja is not only pas­sion­ate about her Nyak­i­n­ama vil­lage com­munity but is also keen to har­ness the heart and energy of its women and young people to advance sus­tain­able devel­op­ment in Rwanda.

The volun­teer, tour guide, and elec­tric­al engin­eer­ing gradu­ate is a believ­er in tour­is­m’s poten­tial to be a force for good.

It’s a “Good Tour­ism” Insight. (You too can write a “GT” Insight.)

In the heart of Nyak­i­n­ama vil­lage, Rwanda, stands the Red Rocks Cul­tur­al Cen­ter; a haven of inspir­a­tion, empower­ment, and change. I am proud to work here. 

Through this “Good Tour­ism” Insight, I am hon­oured to share with you how I feel we can and do make a dif­fer­ence at Red Rocks; how tour­ism can be a force for good in Nyak­i­n­ama and beyond.

My name is Emma Raissa ISHEJA. I am a 23-year-old young woman born and raised in Rwanda. I grew up pas­sion­ate about art and cul­ture and enthu­si­ast­ic about being a voice for my community.

I am a recent gradu­ate in elec­tric­al engin­eer­ing at the loc­al uni­ver­sity here in Nyak­i­n­ama where I have lived since 2018. 

One Sat­urday I took a walk around the beau­ti­ful vil­lage. Dur­ing my walk I heard tra­di­tion­al drums. I fol­lowed the sound and rhythm and it led me to the Red Rocks Cul­tur­al Camp­site where they were host­ing their annu­al cul­tur­al festival. 

I entered and I loved everything I saw: Cul­tur­al dances, live art, and see­ing loc­al people, espe­cially women, inter­act­ing with tour­ists and oth­er guests from dif­fer­ent parts. I admired their confidence. 

Don’t miss oth­er “Good Tour­ism” posts tagged with ‘Cul­ture, cul­tur­al her­it­age, & his­tory tourism’

Later that day I learned that I could volun­teer; to con­trib­ute to the dif­fer­ent pro­jects they had that were pro­mot­ing loc­als and keep­ing their her­it­age alive. 

I decided to spe­cific­ally work with the women and youth. I per­son­ally believe that women are the heart of devel­op­ment while the youth provide the energy.

I feel empowered work­ing with the women from the loc­al cooper­at­ives. They are of dif­fer­ent age groups and dif­fer­ent back­grounds and I enjoy see­ing them express­ing them­selves, learn­ing new skills, and work­ing togeth­er in teams.

Red Rocks also gave me an oppor­tun­ity to be trained as a tour guide, which is what I am cur­rently doing. 

At Red Rocks we have a pur­pose that res­on­ates far bey­ond Nyak­i­n­ama village. 

Our mis­sion is to cata­lyse trans­form­a­tion, ignit­ing the flame of cul­tur­al pre­ser­va­tion, com­munity pro­gress, and envir­on­ment­al pro­tec­tion through our ini­ti­at­ives for sus­tain­able development.

Culture and community

Closest to my heart are our ini­ti­at­ives that uplift women and youth. 

At Red Rocks we recog­nise that women are not just essen­tial con­trib­ut­ors to our com­munity but also rep­res­ent its heart. The youth, full of untamed energy and fresh per­spect­ives, are a driv­ing force behind change and growth. The Cen­ter embraces these truths about women and youth and tries to har­ness them in every project.

Among our efforts is job cre­ation, which goes bey­ond mere employ­ment. It’s a cel­eb­ra­tion of cul­tur­al her­it­age, crafts­man­ship, and cre­at­ive flair. 

Tour­ists, drawn by whis­pers of our remark­able place, arrive eager to engage with the loc­al cul­ture and its offer­ings. These vis­it­ors have the priv­ilege of pur­chas­ing products dir­ectly from the hands that craf­ted them at our arts and crafts gallery. 

It is a very authen­t­ic con­nec­tion; one that not only res­on­ates deeply but also becomes a sus­tain­able source of income for the community.

Thus art and cul­ture thrive with­in Red Rocks’ camp­site and lodge. The rhythm of drums and the fluid­ity of dance are ves­sels for con­serving the very soul of the community. 

Cre­at­ive storytelling breathes life into ancient tales, passing down wis­dom from gen­er­a­tion to gen­er­a­tion. Every step, every beat, and every word is a brush­stroke on the can­vas of time.

Red Rocks is not solely focussed on tra­di­tion. We also offer a plat­form for the acquis­i­tion of con­tem­por­ary skills, adding new and excit­ing fla­vours to our community. 

Our culin­ary arts pro­gram, for example, quite lit­er­ally does this. 

Our barista pro­gram brews not just cof­fee but also opportunities. 

Sew­ing and tail­or­ing work­shops stitch dreams into real­ity for many. 

All these efforts har­mon­ise into a sym­phony of sus­tain­able devel­op­ment, res­on­at­ing far bey­ond Nyak­i­n­ama village.

Conservation

Amidst the breath­tak­ing rur­al land­scapes of our place, with the Vir­unga mas­sif as a dra­mat­ic back­drop, Red Rocks also empowers the com­munity through pro­jects that cel­eb­rate and con­serve the environment. 

Vil­la­gers ingeni­ously trans­form loc­al mater­i­als into eco-friendly treas­ures like banana-fibre bags, bridging the gap between tra­di­tion and modernity.

Recyc­ling and upcyc­ling are also encour­aged, such as the pro­duc­tion of dur­able slip­pers and san­dals from used tyres. 

Tourism for sustainable development in Rwanda

We integ­rate a lot of what we do at Red Rocks into inter­act­ive experiences.

These are not just for tour­ists but also for the mem­bers of our com­munity who enjoy the enrich­ing inter­cul­tur­al exchanges just as much.

Vis­it­ors don’t merely skim the sur­face; they can immerse them­selves as much as they and their com­munity hosts are com­fort­able with; in the vibrant stor­ies woven into every thread and etched into every step.

Don’t miss oth­er “Good Tour­ism” posts tagged with ‘Women’ or ‘Youth’

I believe Red Rocks stands as a test­a­ment to the incred­ible trans­form­a­tion that occurs when pas­sion meets pur­pose; a ves­sel of change, a sanc­tu­ary for dreams, and a guard­i­an of heritage. 

Through our unwaver­ing ded­ic­a­tion to women, youth, cul­ture, and sus­tain­able pro­gress, I’m proud to say that my work­place is a beacon of hope that will be seen, felt, and cher­ished for gen­er­a­tions to come.

What do you think? Share a short anec­dote or com­ment below. Or write a deep­er “GT” Insight. The “Good Tour­ism” Blog wel­comes diversity of opin­ion and per­spect­ive about travel & tour­ism because travel & tour­ism is everyone’s business.

Fea­tured image (top of post): Dan­cers, sing­ers, and drum­mers from a loc­al women’s cooper­at­ive wel­come vis­it­ors to the Red Rocks Cul­tur­al Cen­ter in Nyak­i­n­ama vil­lage, Rwanda. Pic by Dav­id Gillbanks.

About the author

Emma Raissa Isheja has volun­teered and then trained and worked as a guide with Red Rocks Ini­ti­at­ives for Sus­tain­able Devel­op­ment and Red Rocks Rwanda since 2018. Through it all she stud­ied elec­tric­al engineering.