Population pressure

Rasano School is one of the clearest examples we have seen of the problems of the birth rate in Rwanda. The road is tricky, curling through the forest around the sides of very steep hills. There is no public transport here, nor commercial traffic either and the road beyond Rasano, leading to Bweyeye, is currently closed in several places for repair.
The land is difficult. Apart from the slopes, it is hard to cultivate and is limited. On one side is the forest, a protected National Park. On the other side is a deep valley with a river at the bottom marking the border with Burundi.
As you walk round the area, it is hard to see where the 1200 children come from. The houses are small and scattered, and there is no obvious centre of population. Normal family size is 6-10 children in 2-3 bedrooms. Many of the children have a very long walk to school, because the catchment area is wide.
It is hard to avoid the conclusion that this land in this location cannot sustain even the population it has now, let alone in the future as many more young people enter adulthood and start their own families. While Rwanda as a whole faces the same issue, it is in areas like this where the pressure is greatest and the effects are already obvious and severe.