Millennium Village Tours An innovative tourism product at the crossroads of development, education and community-based t

1. Millennium Village ToursAn innovative tourism product at the crossroads of development, education and community-based tourism New Dawn Associatesinfo@newdawnassociates.comwww.newdawnassociates.com

2. List of contents • Millennium Village Tours • Contents: • Intro NDA • Intro MVP • Mayange • MV Tours • Introduction to NDA • Introduction to the Millennium Villages Project • Mayange – the Rwandan Millennium Village • Millennium Village Tours

3. Introduction to NDA • Millennium Village Tours • Contents: • Intro NDA • Intro MVP • Mayange • MV Tours • New Dawn Associates Ltd: • East African service provider, headquarters in Kigali (Rwanda) • Rwandan-European partnership • Responsible tourism – consulting services – event management • Tourism focus: Educational travel in Rwanda, community-based tourism, project tourism, responsible volunteering, special interest travel, general tourism services • Consulting work: Several innovative community-based tourism projects in four Rwandan provinces

4. Introduction to the Millennium Villages Project • Millennium Village Tours • Contents: • Intro NDA • Intro MVP • Mayange • MV Tours • Background: • Goal: “To end extreme poverty by working with the poorest of the poor throughout Africa, providing affordable and science-based solutions to help people lift themselves out of extreme poverty.” • Millennium Villages Project: Partnership of Earth Institute (Columbia University), UNDP, Millennium Promise, national/local governments, country-specific partners (like NDA in Rwanda) • Currently 12 clusters of villages in 10 African countries (400,000 people) • Target: To achieve the MDGs within 5 years.

5. Introduction to the Millennium Villages Project • Millennium Village Tours • Contents: • Intro NDA • Intro MVP • Mayange • MV Tours • Concepts: • Set of interventions based on the recommendations of the UN Millennium Project: Food production, nutrition, education, health services, roads, energy, communications, water, sanitation, enterprise diversification, environmental management • Participatory community decision-making • Use of improved science-based technologies and techniques

6. Mayange – the Rwandan Millennium Village • Millennium Village Tours • Contents: • Intro NDA • Intro MVP • Mayange • MV Tours • “If it can be done here, it means it can be done elsewhere.”(Gaspard Musonera, Mayor) • Mayange: Community created after the 1994 genocide, half the households live in settlement housing (imidugudu) built by the government for survivors and returnees • Very dry area with severe water shortages and frequent periods of hunger • Pilot efforts since January 2006 (5,000 people), considerable scale-up to 50,000 people in December 2006

7. Mayange – the Rwandan Millennium Village • Millennium Village Tours • Contents: • Intro NDA • Intro MVP • Mayange • MV Tours • Interventions: • Community mobilization: Creation of committees (water, agriculture, health), mass sensitization campaigns (use of fertilizer, micro-finance loan schemes) • Agriculture and water: Use of fertilizer and fast-maturing seeds, micro-finance loan schemes, terracing, extensive training • Health: Permanent doctors, trust, 100% health insurance, distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets, education on family planning • Education: Kindergarten, school garden, computer training for teachers • Business development: Basket weaving (training programs, micro-finance loan schemes, formation of associations), orchards • Infrastructure: Repair water infrastructure, electricity and water tanks for health center and school, study on use of cook stoves

8. Millennium Village Tours • Millennium Village Tours • Contents: • Intro NDA • Intro MVP • Mayange • MV Tours • Concept: • Educational and experiential excursions with small groups of interested visitors who want to learn about the development challenges and successful interventions of the MVP • MOU between NDA and the MVP: • NDA engages in developing micro-enterprise opportunities through community-based tourism • NDA becomes the exclusive agency to operate Millennium Village Tours in Rwanda • Official start: April 2007

9. Millennium Village Tours • Millennium Village Tours • Contents: • Intro NDA • Intro MVP • Mayange • MV Tours • Tour: • Welcome: Guide at MVP headquarters in Nyamata, introduction • Visit to Nyamata church (genocide memorial) • Fields of intervention: Health, education, agriculture, water, energy, fuel-saving cook stoves, etc • Women‘s cooperative for lunch • Weaver association, including gift • Final interaction with community leaders in a traditional way (ubusabane), cultural experience (dancing), refreshment (fresh fruits and juice, corn on the cob)

10. Millennium Village Tours • Millennium Village Tours • Contents: • Intro NDA • Intro MVP • Mayange • MV Tours • Implementation issues and key success factors: • Mobilization and awareness raising • Institution building: Tourism cooperative • Capacity building: Formal and informal guides, cooks, weavers, dancers etc • Product development at the various intervention stations • Quality control: Interpretation, hygiene etc • Market research • Major obstacles: • Understanding about and attitude towards tourism • Inadequate entrepreneurial skills • Language barriers • Mentality (e.g. food)

11. Millennium Village Tours • Millennium Village Tours • Contents: • Intro NDA • Intro MVP • Mayange • MV Tours • Contribution to an African agenda for peace through tourism: • Improving the standard of living (“poor minds think of evil”) • Creating micro-enterprise opportunities for 155 people directly (and benefiting their entire families), including formal and informal guides, cooks, weavers and dancers • Building a Rwandan identity through the interaction with foreigners • Supporting reconciliation • Educating visitors and raising awareness in their home nations about development challenges and best-practice solutions

12. Thank you for your attention. Murakoze.