ARC has an annual ideas competition we call the Changemakers Award, when we ask our 2,500 team members around the world – ‘what would you do to make the people you serve feel joyful, valued and powerful?’
A couple of years ago, our Partnerships Officer in Rwanda – Jacques Rumanyika – submitted an idea to create a green park space in Nyabiheke Refugee Camp. Jacques wanted a lush communal space, somewhere beautiful that residents could go to rest, relax and recenter.
So, while we had some labor provided by our U.S. visitors – including a 20-year Minneapolis Parks veteran – we decided to get started on Jacques’ brilliant idea. We selected a plot of land near the center of Nyabiheke and got right to work.
Before we could get started with anything, we needed to prepare the spot. That meant some trash collection was in order. Neighbors who lived nearby the spot joined our visitors, donning work gloves and filling garbage bags with bits of paper and plastic that had accumulated over the years. And they relocated old signposts and poles, to make sure the park could have a feeling of calm and serenity.
With the spot clean and clear, we’re ready tomorrow to begin bringing things back onto the plot and creating the green park Jacques imagined in his dreams.
