̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Rwanda

Innovative stadium will be the home of cricket in East Africa

ag236 — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 09:18:26 +0000

Some 1,500 people –including Rwandan president Paul Kagame— are expected to attend the opening of the country’s first international standard stadium on Saturday 28 October. ̽��ֱ��event will feature a match between teams led by former England captain Michael Vaughan and South African record-breaking cricketer Herschelle Gibbs.

Although cricket is one of the fastest growing sports in Rwanda, the country has not had, until now, a pitch that was appropriate for hosting international matches. Rwandan teams could only compete internationally by travelling to other countries, while Rwandan fans were unable to watch their own teams in action on home ground.

̽��ֱ��new cricket grounds in Gahanga, a southern suburb of the Rwandan capital, Kigali, are the result of a partnership between the Rwanda Cricket Stadium Foundation –a British charity—, the Rwanda Cricket Association, the Government of Rwanda, and architectural firm Light Earth Designs (LED), co-founded by Cambridge lecturer Dr. Michael Ramage.

One of the new grounds' most recognisable features is a pavilion consisting of three vaults constructed with 66,000 handmade tiles made by local workers using locally-sourced materials. ̽��ֱ��vaults’ shape mimics the parabolic geometry of a bouncing ball, and echoes Rwanda’s hilly topography.

These instantly recognisable vaults are the final product of research carried out by Dr. Ramage, from the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge’s Centre for Natural Material Innovation, with Ms Ana Gatóo and Mr Wesam Al Asali. They build on Dr. Ramage’s earlier work alongside Dr. Matt DeJong (Cambridge) and Prof. John Ochsendorf (MIT).

Dr. Ramage and Prof. Ochsendorf had pioneered the pavilion’s characteristic soil tiled vaulting with architect Peter Rich of LED, at the Mapungubwe Interpretative Centre in South Africa. Adapted for the Rwandan context with Mr Tim Hall, LED co-founder and project lead, the vaults rise out of the cut soil banking formed as the pitch was levelled, integrating seamlessly with the landscape. ̽��ֱ��banking creates a natural amphitheatre with views over the pitch and the wetland valley beyond.

̽��ֱ��project is part of a 5-year initiative led by Light Earth Designs to assist Rwandan development. It aims to encourage the use of home-grown, labour-intensive construction techniques, thereby lowering the carbon footprint of local building projects, enhancing local skills and helping to build the local economy.

Speaking ahead of the opening ceremony, Dr. Ramage said: “the Rwanda Cricket Stadium embodies not only the spirit of cricket in Rwanda, but also that of the men and women who crafted and constructed the building over the past few months.”

Cambridge architectural engineer is part of the team that has built Rwanda’s first international stadium

Light Earth Designs

View of Rwanda Cricket Stadium

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Opinion: Why Kagame’s bid to serve a third term makes sense for Rwanda

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 14:21:09 +0000

Rwandan president Paul Kagame recently confirmed that he will seek a third term in 2017 after more than 98% of Rwandans voted in a referendum to lift the presidential term limit.

Kagame’s decision not to step down has prompted a barrage of criticism. Western governments, media outlets and human rights groups have painted him with the same brush as other central African “strongmen”.

Attempts to extend presidential terms by Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso and Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi have led to instability and violence in these nations.

Other leaders in the region — such as Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo-Brassaville and Joseph Kabila of Congo-Kinshasa — are also considering changes to allow third-term extensions.

But Rwanda’s situation is unique. Unlike the third-term fever afflicting other countries in the region, Rwanda is not mired in corruption and economic stagnation.

During the past decade its economic growth has averaged around 7% per year, maternal and child mortality has fallen by more than 60% and near universal health insurance has been achieved. ̽��ֱ��country is also now considered one of the safest and least corrupt in sub-Saharan Africa. And in just the past three years, the percentage of people living in poverty has dropped from 44.9% in 2011 to 39.1% in 2014.

This remarkable list of achievements is attributed to the leadership of Kagame, who assumed the presidency in 2000.

Kagame’s agenda

Despite these accolades, Kagame is frequently criticised by human rights group over Rwanda’s tightly controlled political space.

He has sought to place a strong emphasis on developing a new Rwandan national identity. He has done this in an attempt to sever connections to the primordial categories of ethnic identification that provoked the tragic events of 1994. Ethnic politics and discrimination have thus been outlawed in the country.

With the genocide against the Tutsi still in recent memory, Kagame has committed to power-sharing only among parties that are firmly aligned against a revival of ethnic sectarianism. Within this political settlement, it is the pursuit of development — not negotiation — that is seen as the principal path to national reconciliation.

Understandably, this strategy is based on the fear that a more adversarial style of policy-making and debate — one that could fulfil the West’s more exacting standards of democratic participation — would give voice to extremists.

This foremost includes the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, the eastern Congo-based rebel group led by former genocidaires. Indeed, it was largely multilateral Western agencies that thrust multiparty democratic institutions onto Rwanda in the early 1990s. This, it could be argued, provided a platform for extremist views held in the country.

Kagame has always claimed that Rwandans would decide on what they want to become. Not the UK, US or any other nation. Many Rwandans were fearful and anxious about what might happen after 2017. For them, Kagame is seen as a stabilising force for the country and its best chance for continued socio-economic progress.

His supporters have embraced his third term to ensure he is able to finish some important projects, recognising that such a capable leader is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. They see Rwanda as following the lead of successful late industrialisers like Singapore, where significant socio-economic progress was achieved under the long-term leadership of Lee Kuan Yew.

Why striking a balance is important

Where a society is ethnically divided, it is difficult to ignore the need to strike a balance between the protection of the wider minority interests and the power of the central state authority.

It is clear that Rwandans require a constitution that can accommodate their fears of ethnic divisions, persecution and impunity. They also require one that would consolidate the socio-economic gains made thus far. Certainly, a path Rwanda would not want to follow is that of Kenya, where an ethnopolitical calculus plays out each election cycle and reinforces deep ethnic divisions.

For Kagame’s supporters, the controversy over a third term is a preoccupation of Western observers, not Rwandans. ̽��ֱ��terms of the debate, they argue, should instead focus on what the leader has already achieved for the country — the evidence of which is unequivocal for Kagame — and what his vision is for the future.

It takes time for any society to recover from conflict, especially a genocide. Two decades ago, Rwanda was a failed state. Kagame himself commanded the rebel force that ended the genocide. But the violence had decimated people and infrastructure.

Kagame then placed national reconciliation at the top of the political agenda, instead of ethnic exclusion. Under his stewardship, Rwandans have been given a taste of what peace, stability and development feel like - regardless of ethnicity.

For the people of Rwanda, Kagame’s record inspires trust in an otherwise uncertain future. For this reason, he may be the only person who can hold the country together. His vision to turn Rwanda into a middle-income country is on track. And it is a boat that most Rwandans do not want to rock.

Given the contextual and developmental realities faced by Rwanda, Western concerns over two, three, four, or more presidential terms appear obtuse. What matters for Rwandans is progress, stability, quality of life, good governance, and capable leadership. In short, when it comes to Rwanda, the West may not know best.

Thomas Stubbs, Research associate, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge

This article was originally published on ̽��ֱ��Conversation. Read the original article.

̽��ֱ��opinions expressed in this article are those of the individual author(s) and do not represent the views of the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge.

Thomas Stubbs (Centre for Business Research) discusses why, when it comes to Rwanda, the West may not know best.

Veni

Rwandan President Paul Kagame

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Gates scholars suggest way forward for Rwanda's leading hospital

bjb42 — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0000

It says that improvements in planning and capital allocation to an operational fund which can subsidise patient use of equipment could help the hospital become a regional centre of excellence.

̽��ֱ��report, Hospital Financial Improvement Project, is the result of a six-week intensive study over the summer by Gates Cambridge Scholars Julia Fan Li and Hannah Pincham and Kristal Fung from the ̽��ֱ�� of British Columbia and has been presented to the hospital authorities who are considering action.

̽��ֱ��students became involved in the project after President Paul Kagame delivered the Dr S.T. Lee Public Policy Lecture at Wolfson College, Cambridge, in December on the subject of "Building viable medical research communities in Africa: policy challenges".

After the lecture Julia, who has a background in accounting and Bioscience Enterprise and is now studying for a PhD in Engineering, was standing with a friend beside one of the President's advisers and the two mentioned that they were biotech students looking for a topic for their MPhil thesis. He put them in touch with Dr Clet Niyikiza, chairman of King Faisal Hospital in Kigali.

After various discussions, a number of projects were identified, but the two students did not get the project agreed for their MPhil theses. However, Julia never forgot it and looked around for other ways to carry it out. She found Hannah and Kristal and, with funding from the Gates Cambridge Trust for Hannah and Julia, they headed out to Rwanda in the summer.

Hannah, who is now doing a PhD in Education, had experience of working in Africa, having worked on several volunteer projects dealing with how education can reduce poverty. Kristal's background was in accounting and biology.

They were in Kigali for six weeks, living very close to the hospital and had access to all the senior managers in the hospital. They decided to focus on what they thought could be achieved in a short period and could benefit the hospital most. "We didn't want our report to sit on the shelf," said Hannah. They picked two areas: medical stock outs and capital funding projects, specifically, how MRI and hemodialysis were used at the hospital.

They found that, although the hospital had good capital funding to purchase MRI and hemodialysis equipment, there was little money available to pay for using it. Most Rwandese patients could not afford the full cost of treatment.

̽��ֱ��report suggested that some of the capital money should be put into a fund to generate profits to subsidise use of such equipment and that it consider that only those patients who met certain criteria could receive subsidised treatment.

It could also offer its services to patients in neighbouring countries based on competitive pricing.

̽��ֱ��students also found that there had been no patient demand studies done that year before medicines and supplies were ordered and suggested ways of improving hospital planning.

̽��ֱ��report has been given to the hospital's Director of Finance, Director General and CEO and has received much positive feedback and the students say they are hopeful that many of its recommendations will be followed through.

In addition, word about the project has been spread internationally as the students established an international board of experts. As a result, the ̽��ֱ�� of Michigan plans to send more students to Rwanda to continue project work there and Hannah and Julia believe a lasting relationship can also be established with Gates scholars.

Julia is also looking to set up a student enterprise competition in Rwanda with the Kigali School of Science and Technology to encourage technological entrepreneurship.

She commented: "Cambridge has an amazing ability to draw in leaders and speakers to facilitate global learning. President Kagame's one talk last year encouraged a research project that will hopefully make a long-term positive impact."

Expensive medical equipment is lying unused in Rwanda's leading hospital because it costs too much to use it, a report by enterprising students has found.

We didn't want our report to sit on the shelf.

Hannah Pincham

jpoyston from Flickr

King Faisal Hospital, Kigali

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