The story
Flood recovery becomes a plan for safer, more connected village life.
After severe flooding destroyed homes in northern Rwanda, East African Power rebuilt ten houses and asked Journeyman International to help organize the settlement around long-term resilience. The Shyira Relief Master Plan treats drainage as civic infrastructure: channels follow houses and pathways, directing water away from living areas while making the system legible and maintainable. An identifiable entrance, trees, seating, and a central outdoor gathering place give the new cluster more than technical protection. They create a setting for ceremonies, conversation, play, and collective decisions as families reestablish daily life.
The surviving site plan is conceptual and the archive confirms the ten replacement houses through the project record, but it does not verify construction of every landscape and drainage element. The master plan should therefore be presented as a recovery framework rather than a fully completed village. Its central lesson is that rebuilding after disaster can address immediate shelter while also investing in safer circulation, shared identity, and the relationships that help a community prepare for future events.