1. Millennium Village Tours An innovative tourism product at the crossroads of development, education and community-based tourism New Dawn Associates info@newdawnassociates.com www.newdawnassociates.com

2. List of contents Introduction to NDA Introduction to the Millennium Villages Project Mayange – the Rwandan Millennium Village Millennium Village Tours Contents: Intro NDA Intro MVP Mayange MV Tours

3. Introduction to NDA New Dawn Associates Ltd: East African service provider, headquarters in Kigali (Rwanda) Rwandan-European partnership Responsible tourism – consulting services – event management Tourism focus: Educational travel in Rwanda, community-based tourism, project tourism, responsible volunteering, special interest travel, general tourism services Consulting work: Several innovative community-based tourism projects in four Rwandan provinces Millennium Village Tours Contents: Intro NDA Intro MVP Mayange MV Tours

4. Introduction to the Millennium Villages Project Background: Goal: “To end extreme poverty by working with the poorest of the poor throughout Africa, providing affordable and science-based solutions to help people lift themselves out of extreme poverty.” Millennium Villages Project: Partnership of Earth Institute (Columbia University), UNDP, Millennium Promise, national/local governments, country-specific partners (like NDA in Rwanda) Currently 12 clusters of villages in 10 African countries (400,000 people) Target: To achieve the MDGs within 5 years. Millennium Village Tours Contents: Intro NDA Intro MVP Mayange MV Tours

5. Introduction to the Millennium Villages Project Concepts: Set of interventions based on the recommendations of the UN Millennium Project: Food production, nutrition, education, health services, roads, energy, communications, water, sanitation, enterprise diversification, environmental management Participatory community decision-making Use of improved science-based technologies and techniques Millennium Village Tours Contents: Intro NDA Intro MVP Mayange MV Tours

6. Mayange – the Rwandan Millennium Village “If it can be done here, it means it can be done elsewhere.” (Gaspard Musonera, Mayor) Mayange: Community created after the 1994 genocide, half the households live in settlement housing (imidugudu) built by the government for survivors and returnees Very dry area with severe water shortages and frequent periods of hunger Pilot efforts since January 2006 (5,000 people), considerable scale-up to 50,000 people in December 2006 Millennium Village Tours Contents: Intro NDA Intro MVP Mayange MV Tours

7. Mayange – the Rwandan Millennium Village Interventions: Community mobilization: Creation of committees (water, agriculture, health), mass sensitization campaigns (use of fertilizer, micro-finance loan schemes) Agriculture and water: Use of fertilizer and fast-maturing seeds, micro-finance loan schemes, terracing, extensive training Health: Permanent doctors, trust, 100% health insurance, distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets, education on family planning Education: Kindergarten, school garden, computer training for teachers Business development: Basket weaving (training programs, micro-finance loan schemes, formation of associations), orchards Infrastructure: Repair water infrastructure, electricity and water tanks for health center and school, study on use of cook stoves Millennium Village Tours Contents: Intro NDA Intro MVP Mayange MV Tours

8. Millennium Village Tours Concept: Educational and experiential excursions with small groups of interested visitors who want to learn about the development challenges and successful interventions of the MVP MOU between NDA and the MVP: NDA engages in developing micro-enterprise opportunities through community-based tourism NDA becomes the exclusive agency to operate Millennium Village Tours in Rwanda Official start: April 2007 Millennium Village Tours Contents: Intro NDA Intro MVP Mayange MV Tours

9. Millennium Village Tours Tour: Welcome: Guide at MVP headquarters in Nyamata, introduction Visit to Nyamata church (genocide memorial) Fields of intervention: Health, education, agriculture, water, energy, fuel-saving cook stoves, etc Women‘s cooperative for lunch Weaver association, including gift Final interaction with community leaders in a traditional way (ubusabane), cultural experience (dancing), refreshment (fresh fruits and juice, corn on the cob) Millennium Village Tours Contents: Intro NDA Intro MVP Mayange MV Tours

10. Millennium Village Tours Implementation issues and key success factors: Mobilization and awareness raising Institution building: Tourism cooperative Capacity building: Formal and informal guides, cooks, weavers, dancers etc Product development at the various intervention stations Quality control: Interpretation, hygiene etc Market research Major obstacles: Understanding about and attitude towards tourism Inadequate entrepreneurial skills Language barriers Mentality (e.g. food) Millennium Village Tours Contents: Intro NDA Intro MVP Mayange MV Tours

11. Millennium Village Tours Contribution to an African agenda for peace through tourism: Improving the standard of living (“poor minds think of evil”) Creating micro-enterprise opportunities for 155 people directly (and benefiting their entire families), including formal and informal guides, cooks, weavers and dancers Building a Rwandan identity through the interaction with foreigners Supporting reconciliation Educating visitors and raising awareness in their home nations about development challenges and best-practice solutions Millennium Village Tours Contents: Intro NDA Intro MVP Mayange MV Tours

12. Thank you for your attention. Murakoze.