Sylvie, one of our Rwandan Associates, owns and operates an amusement park in Kigali. Bpeacer Sabra Richardson once rhetorically asked, "After the genocide saw 900,000 people killed in 90 days, where in her mind did Sylvie come up with the idea of an amusement park?"The trade magazine Funworld reveals the backstory. "I realized that in our society, it is the men who attend most recreation activities," Sylvie explained. "The women and children are left at home. Even when they were taken along, children were mere spectators; they were not provided for. This void had to be filled. I had an idea of a family outing in my mind as I embarked on expanding my business."
Today Sylvie's Bambino Super City has 100 employees, rides for children, picnic areas for families, a large swimming pool, and no competitors. As you will read in Funworld, she is also struggling with repaying her bank loan, though the trade magazine has the amount wrong. It's not $181 million, but rather $181,000 (that's a relief).
What's next for Sylvie? She is planning an adjacent botanical garden and perhaps a mobile amusement park. Sylvie also runs a successful beauty salon. Together with another Bpeace Associate--Jeanne--they are the founding partners of the Rwanda Beauty Vocational School that Bpeace is helping them launch. (Above, Sylvie is giving Bpeacer Barbara Bylenga the hug of a lifetime during the September Bpeace mission.)
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