Humanitarian Thesis Trip to Rwanda

I am volunteering with Journeyman International (JI) to design a humanitarian agricultural training center for my thesis and I got to visit JI in Rwanda over winter break. Two other student volunteers from Cal Poly and one JI employee from San Luis Obispo went on the trip with me. It was a great experience to meet people I’m working with remotely, see projects that JI and has completed, and get a taste of African culture.

My favorite project we visited was the Sunzu library, pictured above, which Journeyman International finished a few years ago. The library has a lot of natural light from the clerestory windows and built-in benches for the kids to sit on and read or study. It was also inspiring how the building brought the community together and how proud they were of it. I hope that my thesis building will also help its local community come together and feel empowered by the design.

Even though we weren’t able to visit my site in Zimbabwe, this trip was so helpful for my thesis. I know that African cultures are very diverse and shouldn’t be generalized, but Zimbabwean culture is a lot closer to Rwandan culture than anything else I’ve experienced. This trip gave me a deeper understanding of their sense of time and their use of space and materials.

If walls could dream… they’d dream of empowering local communities through design!