On what is said to be the busiest day in the year we set off at Sparrow’s fart to Brisbane airport for our flight to Sydney. The city sparkled in bright sunlight. Our transit was short and we were soon or our way to SA. I graciously gave C the window seat only to be biffed quite firmly on the nose on his way out to have a pee. He was very apologetic. Our Qantas crew could have been awarded the most diverse faces ever. Our lovely attendant was no less than 74 years old bless his bald head, prone to dropping wine bottles and forgetting my lunch order but so charming and friendly.

Arriving in SA it was wonderful to hear the lilt of the South African accent and see all those beautiful faces. My last trip to Africa was 2017 for the marriage of my good friend Christine to Andrew in March 2017.

We caught our flight to Kigali early and watched the dawn through a dirty airplane window.

We were collected in a beautiful leaf green safari jeep and headed off with Moses our guide who told us that this day, Sat 30th is National Clean up day. As part of Rwanda’s reconstruction efforts after the genocide, President Paul Kagame mandated that every last Saturday of the month would be known as “umunsi w’umuganda” or “contribution made by the community”, during which all traffic would be stopped for three hours in the morning in order for Rwandans to clean up ..

It’s not a volunteer project. Police monitor the streets and can stop Rwandans who aren’t participating and make them clean up on the spot. Rwandans who don’t participate in the cleanup could be fined 5,000 francs, nearly $6, which is not a small sum when average income is about $150 a month.

The name of the event is a Kinyarwanda word that translates as “coming together in common purpose.” .  It contributes to environment protection through erosion control, tree planting, cleaning, construction and maintenance of public infrastructure. There is no trash or litter anywhere but also hardly any one around –

Greenery and flowers abound.