WHO WE ARE
NEW DAWN ASSOCIATES
Where Tourism Builds Peace
Our Story
New Dawn Associates pioneered community-based tourism in Rwanda and has trained Rwanda's guides in thematic interpretation since 2006. We shaped the interpretive experience at the Kigali Genocide Memorial and created the framework and experiences for how Rwanda's transformation is shared.
As a social enterprise, we hold exclusive access to reconciliation villages and Villages of Hope. We are the only experience provider entrusted to facilitate conversations with survivors, perpetrators, and communities rebuilding after the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.
What We've Built
Over two decades, we've created Rwanda's most sought-after community-based tourism experiences—now offered across the country, but designed and developed by New Dawn Associates:
Nyamirambo Women's Center Tours
Young women from Kigali's vibrant multi-cultural suburb guide visitors through hair salons, West African tailors, the Muslim quarter, local markets, and into their homes for cooking lessons and intriguing conversations over lunch.
- Impact: 25 direct beneficiaries | 50 indirect beneficiaries | 70% profit sharing
- Partners: Nyamirambo Women's Center, Mirovni Peace Institute (Slovenia), European Commission, Rwanda Association of University Women, City of Kigali
Millennium Village Experience
The only tour introducing UN Millennium Villages Project interventions in southeastern Rwanda. Visitors learn hands-on about agriculture, education, healthcare, infrastructure, and micro-enterprise development—presented by community members themselves through their own eyes.
- Impact: 200 cooperative members | 50,000 community beneficiaries | 70% profit sharing
- Community benefits: 50 rotating income opportunities, community development fund, education fund, health fund, handicraft sale
- Partners: UN Millennium Villages Project (MVP), Rwanda Community Works (RCW), Rwanda Nziza Tourism Cooperative, local authorities
Humure Refugee Community
Introduction to entrepreneurial Rwandan returnees resettled near Akagera National Park after being displaced from Tanzania in 2006. Visitors participate in daily life, cultural customs, and experience extraordinary hospitality from a community with rich history and forward-looking spirit.
- Impact: 500 direct beneficiaries | 35,000 indirect beneficiaries (3 communities) | 70% profit sharing
- Community benefits: 30 rotating income opportunities, community development fund, handicraft sales
- Partners: DED, Rwanda Private Sector Federation, ORTPN, Humure tourism cooperative, local authorities
From Crop to Cup (Lake Kivu)
Coffee cooperative members teach the entire production chain against Lake Kivu's stunning scenery. Visitors pick coffee cherries, follow them through washing stations, and enjoy hand-ground, traditionally roasted coffee with their hosts.
- Impact: 350 cooperative members | 2,000 dependents | 70% profit sharing
- Community benefits: 11 rotating income opportunities, community development fund, coffee sales
- Partners: Ingoboka coffee cooperative
Dancing Pots (Batwa Community)
Settled Batwa community near Gisenyi showcases traditional pottery and performing arts skills. An exemplary model of integration, Abatigayubuke cooperative members share their culture while building sustainable livelihoods.
- Impact: 35 direct beneficiaries | 140 indirect beneficiaries | 70% profit sharing
- Community benefits: 35 income opportunities, community development fund, education fund, agriculture fund, pottery product sales
- Partners: Abatigayubuke cooperative, local authorities
Reconciliation Villages & Villages of Hope
Our most profound work: exclusive access to facilitate conversations with survivors, perpetrators, and communities rebuilding after the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. This access cannot be bought, only earned through decades of trust.
- Partners: Mayange sector, Dufatanye Organization, Prison Fellowship, Rwanda Nziza Cooperative, Ministry of Unity & Reconciliation
What Makes Us Different
We answer the question nobody else does: How do victims and perpetrators become neighbors, friends, and partners?
Your journey centers on conversations that shouldn't be possible—between genocide survivors and those who harmed them, now rebuilding together. This access can't be bought, only earned through trust. We created Rwanda's most sought-after experiences through two decades of community partnership. Everyone else sells them—we're the source.
Witness the unbearable and the beautiful: the capacity for evil and resilience we all carry, and the transformative power of forgiveness. Part of every booking generates income for host families and supports the community projects where former enemies work side by side—so you're not just witnessing reconciliation, you're contributing to it.
Who We Serve
As a social enterprise, we design enlightening experiences for those seeking depth over sightseeing. Our clients include leading international organizations, government institutions, universities, philanthropic foundations, educational travelers, and special interest groups.
We tailor-make unique programs based on individual interests with a strong intellectual focus—from reconciliation and transitional justice to conservation models, sustainable development, coffee production, indigenous culture, and refugee resilience.
Whether you're an individual traveler, an academic delegation, or an organization exploring Rwanda's transformation, we connect you with the practitioners, survivors, and innovators doing the work—not just explaining it.
Our Approach
Every experience we offer goes behind the scenes. From exclusive conversations in reconciliation villages to meeting the conservationists who brought Akagera's wildlife back after genocide, we connect you with the people building Rwanda—not just the sites they've created.
Whether you're tracking mountain gorillas with the rangers protecting them, learning coffee production from cooperative members, visiting pottery workshops with Batwa artisans, or exploring Nyamirambo with young women entrepreneurs, you'll understand how transformation happens through the voices of those making it real.
Our Impact
Since 2006, our community-based tourism model has generated sustainable impact across Rwanda:
- Total Direct Beneficiaries: 1,300+ cooperative and community members
- Total Indirect Beneficiaries: 87,000+ community members
Our Model:
- Minimum 70% profit sharing across all projects
- 150+ rotating income-generating opportunities created
- Community development, education, health, and agriculture funds established
- Sustainable handicraft, coffee, and pottery enterprises supported
Major Partnerships:
- UN Millennium Villages Project (MVP)
- European Commission
- Rwanda Community Works (RCW)
- Multiple community cooperatives
- Local government authorities across Rwanda
- UNWTO Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Our Values
Peace Through Tourism
We align with the International Institute for Peace through Tourism, using travel as a vehicle for reconciliation, sustainable development, and contributing to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.
Community Partnership
Access earned through trust, not transactions. We work alongside communities as long-term partners, not extractors.
Authentic Storytelling
Rwanda's transformation told by those who lived it—survivors, perpetrators, refugees, farmers, artisans, and conservationists.
Social Enterprise
Tourism as a tool for economic empowerment, poverty reduction, and dignified livelihoods—not charity.
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