The Country of a Thousand Hills

Early morning on a Rwandan hillside - the view from my platform at the Sorwathe guest house

It’s not long after 6am and I’m sitting on an area of wooden decking outside our guesthouse, high on a Rwandan hillside 

The air is trying to be fresh, but as I inhale I sense a denseness that hints to a scorching day waiting in the wings.

Down in the bowl of the valley I can hear goats crying, cockerels calling, the occasional insistent bellowing of cows and some hearty wood-chopping. But above, around and encompassing all these sounds there is birdsong, filling in all the gaps; like the backdrop of a thousand choir voices, they create a rich cacophony of an impromptu symphony.

As I focus my gaze, pathway-tracks can easily be picked out, some running like contours on a map, others traversing hairily up the steep sides of hills, through rough scrub or tea bushes, to reach tin shacks or tiny hamlets. 

Around each dwelling can be seen stumpy banana trees and a few scratty crops, often on terraced plots.

This is the country of a thousand lush hills and any Rwandan living in rural parts (that’s 95% of the population), needs to be built of sturdy stuff and have the aptitude of a mountain goat. But more than that....they must have an iron will and deep resilience to survive here.

None of the homes below me have running water, toilets or electricity. The focus for these families centres around one thing....keeping body and soul together and making it through another day.

‘Wealthy' homes in the valley with coffee beans drying

I’ve tried to imaging what it’s like to wake at first light, cold and hungry to face another day of hardship and struggle. 

As I write I watch a man carrying a 20 litre jerry can on his head, ascending a steep escarpment through a wood of eucalyptus trees. I don’t know where he has come from or where he is going, but I know instinctively that he does this every single day. 

Near-by a gaggle of cheery construction workers have arrived to work on an extension to the Tea Factory to my right, where we’ve been training. 

Mr Peiris the Sorwathe manager, a pack of prize tea and us

 Sorwathe Tea has an impressive reputation world wide for producing a pukka-cuppa. Last week we trained an eager group of 75 managers, supervisors and cooperative leaders (even the 3 Bosses attended).

I wondered before the training started if we would really be able to connect with this group in a way that would change their lives and make a tangible difference or was I in LaLa land? We were in a country that had suffered such mind-boggling trauma and atrocities during the genocide of ‘94, what did we have to offer? 

At the end of the 3 day training they gave us their verdict...
“Yes”, they said, “This is the most useful training we have ever had”
“Why?”, we asked. “Because you have shown us that it is our THINKING that is keeping us small and keeping our potential from growing...It is the poverty of our mindsets that keeps us in actual poverty and we can see that if we can Change our thinking we will Change our lives for the better” 

Trevor is full swing with our translator Freddy

I heard their words and reflected on the massive mental challenges that threaten to swamp and overwhelm them every day - and this group were ‘wealthy’ compared to the thousands who live in aching poverty, picking tea leaves every day for £10 per month.

I wondered what was needed most to bring about Mindset Change in us all. 

My observations of the group prompted me to think that they didn’t so much need to be taught ‘WHAT’ to think (the collection and digestion of knowledge), over the 3 days, but rather to learn ‘HOW’ to think.

It was very noticeable that they didn’t find it easy to....
- think creatively
- problem solve
- activate their curiosity
- stick with a problem
- use Focus and be Proactive around addressing difficulties
- awaken their imagination
- or have an, “Ok, well what else can I try?” attitude

All these attributes will be needed if they’re going to LEAD themselves out of poverty and onto a road that will change their world and the world around them for the better.

Leadership requires CREATIVITY, CURIOSITY and a never ending commitment to living in a mental ‘stretch zone’; the place where COURAGE is forged.

And this is what I hope for them all....to become courageous leaders....because there is no sustainable change anywhere in the world without good, strong and effective LEADERSHIP. 





- JB