Visiting Rwanda with Rwandan Adventures means supporting Kazungu

Kazungu was born Jean-Damascene in Nyamagabe, in the South Province of Rwanda, a light-skinned boy in a family of four daughters and two other sons.  Kazungu literally means ‘small white person’, and it’s a popular nickname for babies appearing to have lighter skin.  

When Kazungu first met Rwandan Adventures he had been working in construction.  We love having him on our team because he will turn his hand to anything: the beautiful garden you’ll see at our lakeside office is 100% his own creation, but it’s not unusual for him to be transferring guest luggage one minute, before rustling up a delicious picnic lunch for a hiking tour the next.  

For Kazungu, working for a social enterprise means that he has benefitted from a steady salary and medical insurance for the last four years. “When I worked in construction, I never knew how much I would earn from one month to the next because it would depend on whether I could find jobs.  Bosses were also not reliable so they could make us wait weeks without paying.” 

Kazungu now supports his younger brothers and sisters, paying their school fees and sending money for daily essentials such as electricity and food.  But he always has an eye on the future: using the money he has saved from his salary, he recently bought a parcel of land on the edge of lake Kivu. “The house is small and needs a lot of work, but owning land in a place like this is a great investment and it means I have somewhere to live.” 

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