A Rwandan who has lived many years abroad returned to his country. Upon his arrival, he realises: "But this is not Rwanda. This is another country!" A joke I heard at dinner with a journalist from the New Times. They are not known to be funny, Rwandans.

The elite looks to the future. It's too dangerous to look to the past. People are traumatised by the genocide that happened in 1994 and distinguish a Hutu from a Tutsi can be an explosive subject. The New Times - the only newspaper printed in Rwanda - is in this area at the forefront.

Sophie van Leeuwen

Sophie van Leeuwen is a journalist at RNW's Africa department. She is currently travelling through Rwanda and will be updating us on her stories in the weeks to come.

The newspaper is pro-government. The New Times reporter wants me to get the nuance: "We are independent, but we support the ambitions of President Kagame.”

Kagame as president! Rwanda, look ahead! If opposition members and journalists are muzzled when elections are around the corner means that  there are good reasons for it, according to the New Times.

Kigali is now a modern city, thanks to money from donors - and women who stay at the luxurious Hotel Mille Collines and drink Rwandan beer at the poolside. The famous role that the hotel played in the film Hotel Rwanda but also in reality has been carefully erased.

16 years ago, thousands of bodies were floating on the surface of Lake Kivu. During the civil war in the DRC (1996-2005), the region was the scene of rebels just coming and going. Today, the military makes sure that peace is maintained. The resort town of Gisenyi should become an international tourist attraction, a bit like the Cannes of Rwanda.

There is definitely no lack of ambitions here. Rwanda: land of a thousand possibilities.
 

Read more about my trip to Rwanda in the coming weeks.
Any questions? Something you’d like me to find out? Let me know via www.twitter.com/RNWAfrica