Nyamirambo Women’s Center is a women’s organization that was started in 2007 by a group of 18 women. These women saw a vacuum in the livelihood of their fellow women in the community and started this center to empower women with different skills. The NWC or Nyamirambo Women’s Center is located in Nyamirambo a small town in the heart of Kigali city. This town is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city. The main aim of the Nyamirambo Women’s Center was to combat the problems that women in the Nyamirambo town faced. These problems included gender-based violence which was a huge factor problem that affected women and hindered their progress. Inequality and prejudice also caused a lot of problems for the women in this community where they were overlooked. Over the years, the Nyamirambo Women’s Center has empowered women with education and skilling. The center has developed an educational center to educate the women on different topics like languages such as English and French. There is also a vocational-technical center that helps to skill the women in various ways like tailoring. The Nyamirambo Women’s Center has expanded its influence from women to now include children.
The Nyamirambo Women’s Center has also created employment opportunities for the women in the community. It employed women as seamstresses who created traditional clothes for the community. The NWC started the “Umutima” campaign meaning heart in Kinyarwanda and it was a product line that produced many women’s and children’s accessories and home decorations. The Umutima product line is the Nyamirambo Women’s Center’s financial body that helps finance all its programs such as workshops.
The Nyamirambo Women’s Center is involved in community tourism where travelers visit the center and learn the traditional ways of the local Rwandan women. They organize cooking classes for cooking local dishes and visits can observe and learn. The money collected from these initiatives finances the center and has also led to the opening of a library in the town. It was opened in 2014 to promote a reading habit in the child thus widening the knowledge. The library has a variety of language books from English and French to Kinyarwanda.
Other activities to do in Kigali
The capital city of Rwanda Kigali is a tourism hub due to the many tourism, cultural, and historical sites it harbors. These sites have attracted many tourists from far and wide to the city. Some of the activities to engage in while in Kigali include the following.
Kigali city tour
Kigali city is considered the cleanest city and most organized in Africa. Kigali is a luxury city well planned and strategically located on a hill. Rwandans are welcoming and friendly people and the city’s natural beauty of endless rolling hills that touch the horizon offers beautiful views. Kigali city is very safe hence visitors can freely move and tour the city without any problems.
Gorilla trekking
Gorilla trekking in Rwanda is offered at the Volcanoes National Park in the Musanze province about 2 hours from Kigali. What better way to finish your Nyamirambo Women’s Center tour in Kigali than embarking on a gorilla trekking safari? A gorilla trekking safari will introduce the visitors to one-on-one interaction with the endangered mountain gorillas in Volcanoes National Park. This gorilla trekking safari can take the visitors about 4 hours including an hour with the gorillas.
Visit the Genocide sites.
While in Kigali city visits can check out the different genocide sites. In 1994, a dark cloud fell on Rwanda for over 100 days. These 100 days of bloodshed and terror saw over 800,000 Tutsi people brutally murdered in cold blood by their brothers the Hutu majority. After that dark period ended by the current government, genocide sites were established to commemorate the lives of those who died. The Kigali Genocide Memorial Center is one of those sites where about 250,000 Tutsi were buried. This museum has three sections, one for the children who were killed, the adults, and another for different genocides that occurred across the world. The Nyamata church is also another genocide site worth visiting. Over 1,000 sought refuge in the church thinking they would not be found however, the Interahamwe busted the doors open with grenades and killed them all. Some of their remains and clothes are still in the church to date. These genocide sites are a reminder of what happened and why it should never occur anywhere in the world again.
Cultural tours
Visitors can also take on cultural tours in Kigali after they visit the Nyamirambo Women’s Center. Kigali is rich in culture and heritage which can be explored by visitors. Visitors can visit the different cultural villages which insightfully take the visitors into the cultural traditions, norms, and values of the Rwandans. The Iby’iwacu cultural village located a few kilometers from Volcanoes National Park, is a perfect place for cultural tours. The village displays the rich traditional way of life of Rwanda through dress code, food, and cultural activities like cattle rearing, weaving baskets, and others.
