Three years ago I told the original team members that it would be a dream come true of mine that each one of them had houses of their own.

This weekend we took a trip to the Rwandan outback countryside and visited Nathan, one of our original 5 Team Rwanda team members and his brother Nicodem who arrived on the team the following year.

I could not believe my eyes when I first saw what Nathan had been building with all the money he has saved over the last three years of racing on Team Rwanda. Not just a house but a BIG house.. a place where he can have a family, a yard, electricity and water… wow what a feat!

I am always in awe at the importance that these riders put on having us visit their homes, no matter how humble the abode they open their doors (well actually most don’t have doors) to host us like we are royalty. Nathan put that hospitality to a different level when we arrived with what he could show for the work on the bike over the last years. He was very proud of his new emerging home.. a place I will come and stay when it is finished, we even kidded that we could do a training camp from his home when it is done.

We headed just down the street to his mother’s house and found Nicodem building his own house too!! Another surprise, we had not even been told of this.. With Nathan at 29 years old and Nicodem at 22 this is a feat here in Rwanda. It also will give dreams to all the up and coming riders that are becoming part of the team.

We then headed to the outskirts of Kigali where we met Rafiki (Kiki) at his new home… another shocker that I found out about only a month ago. Still in construction but a new home where he too can raise a family and build a future.

I have always tried to instruct the riders to be good stewards of their race winnings and always fear that the money will be squandered away on temporary things and not for their futures, today these riders gave me an incredible gift to see that they are building a future for themselves. We now have 5 riders with real homes all because of Team Rwanda and what it has done for their lives.