What I’ve Learned: “In the land of thousand hills, a little kindness goes a long way.”

Rwanda proves to be much more than its dark history. It’s a country that teaches me that a little kindness along the way can make someone’s day.

From my first Umuganda, which is Rwanda’s monthly community cleanup held the last Saturday of each month, I witnessed more than 100 people coming together with their cleaning tools to take to the streets and beautify the community they call home.

Before attending my first Umuganda, I braved myself to meet Rwandans who would steer away from being questioned by an outsider. I wouldn’t be surprised if no one wanted to talk to me considering the international community’s failure to help the country 25 years ago.

But my perception all changed when I met Claudine Maharo during Umuganda.

Claudine, the chief of Impala village that consists of 500 people, directed her residents to either cut the grass, sweep the streets or dig up the dirt. She also helped coordinate seats, tables and a tent to create the space for a community meeting where residents and elected officials came together to discuss rising concerns in their community.

Amid her busy schedule, Claudine embraced my interview where she explained to me that through Umuganda, people have strived to make the community better.

From my first encounter, she made the country that was once foreign to me a bit more welcoming. She didn’t give me a dirty look when I asked her if I could record the interview or when I asked for her phone number to see if I can meet her again.

Days later, my classmate, Lindsey and I, visited her house to see if some of the houses in her village were damaged due to heavy rains on Christmas Eve.

With open arms, she welcomed us, the two foreigners whom she never met.

She showed and drove us to see the two houses that had damaged walls and fences caused by the flood.

She also let us meet her former primary school teacher, Marry, who also owned one of the damaged houses. Marry and Claudine showed us the cake bakery that Marry owned, and they also gave us two bags of Rwandan traditional cake to take home.

They cared about us for nothing in return.

And they told me that they could tell I have a passion for words and notepads and Lindsey has passion for photos and camera.

They also gave us a permission to video interview them about the erosion, the life of the village and their role as leaders.

“No problem,” Claudine said.

Their kindness was all we needed as Lindsey and I were struggling to find people who were willing to talk about their country.

But the kindness of Claudine and Marry changed our day.

Before we departed, Claudine told her that she could become our Rwanda auntie we never had.

And we told her, “No problem,” as we embraced her one more time.