THE LINK: OCTOBER 2023 27 to lead the team. (Jeff Baker is no relation to Michael Baker’s founder). The team spent two weeks in Kigusa, about four hours’ drive west of Rwanda’s capital, Kigali. Bridges for Prosperity has support staff in Rwanda, and the Kigusa bridge is just one of the projects they are building this year. Baker said his volunteer group was well looked after. Accommodations were basic — camp cots in a small concrete structure — but there was a small staff for meals, transportation, and security. The Kigusa bridge is a 246-foot suspended bridge, meaning its metal decking was suspended from cables attached to support structures on each side of the river. The metal decking for Kigusa and other foot bridges in Rwanda built by Bridges to Prosperity are now being manufactured in the country, Baker said. For local people, the metal decking is a major improvement over wood planks typically placed on foot bridges in the region. Manufacturing the decking locally gives Rwanda an ongoing capability to build safe foot bridges in a country where almost everyone walks. Baker said he was surprised at how many people walk and depend on very basic infrastructure that Bridges to Prosperity is helping improve. Rwanda’s major highways are few but are in good condition, but once away from the highways local roads are few and rough. In some ways Rwanda is advanced in its infrastructure, however. “The country has 4G wireless everywhere,” Baker said. “The people in Rwanda opened their community and hearts to us,” he said. “It was an incredibly fulfilling experience in that we helped people in need, learned new things ourselves and got to know a different part of the world. Bridges to Prosperity is a great organization doing great work.” “It was an incredibly fulfilling experience in that we helped people in need, learned new things ourselves and got to know a different part of the world. Bridges to Prosperity is a great organization doing great work.” — Jeff Baker, Senior Vice President at Michael Baker International
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