Doria Igiraneza

PassportTripAmsterdam and The Hague, NetherlandsOctober 2022

Bicycles, big skies and a pier at sunset

The Young Expert Programmes took me to the Netherlands for nine days of programme sessions, new friends and more bicycles than I knew existed.

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, with evening light doing most of the work.
The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, with evening light doing most of the work.

In October 2022 I went to the Netherlands as a YEPper, one of the young professionals in the Young Expert Programmes. The days were full of sessions with people from several countries working in agrifood and water. The evenings were for walking, because in the Netherlands everyone else is on a bicycle and somebody has to keep the pavements company.

Amsterdam gave me the Rijksmuseum at golden hour. The Hague gave me Scheveningen, a pier and a sunset over the North Sea. I came home with new friends, a healthy respect for cycle lanes and a better sense of how much of my work travels well beyond Kigali.

On the recordYoung Expert Programmes on the professional side
Scheveningen pier, The Hague. The North Sea, politely pretending to be warm.
Scheveningen pier, The Hague. The North Sea, politely pretending to be warm.
Big letters, low sun, long shadows. Mine is somewhere in there.
Big letters, low sun, long shadows. Mine is somewhere in there.