While most students spent their December furlough taking a much-needed break, Cadet James Ives, ’25, a finance major, spent his break exploring the hills of Rwanda alongside five other cadets. Ives and his classmates were working with Rwanda Enduro, a nonprofit started by Moses King, ’23, to oversee the restoration of mountain bike trails in the capital city of Kigali. Employing 20 local residents, the cadets paid them double the minimum wage for nine days to help repair and rebuild over two-and-a-half kilometers of trails.
The group spent two weeks in Rwanda and five days in Kenya. Encouraged by Assistant Professor of Finance Michael Chitavi, Ives and his classmates presented their work with the nonprofit as a case study to the Kenyan government, which was enthusiastic about implementing the project in Kenya. “We were applying the expertise we learned in Rwanda,” said Ives, “to build the framework for trails in different regions of Kenya.”
Though their trip lasted only three weeks, their work is far from over—Ives is planning an international mountain bike race in Rwanda and Kenya to take place in December 2024, utilizing the newly rebuilt trails and stimulating the local economy through ecotourism. Ives, functioning as the U.S. project coordinator, will spend the next several months fundraising to help the race become a reality.
“We got to meet all sorts of officers and generals,” said Ives, who enjoyed the opportunity to make new connections abroad. “I’m hoping to maintain those relationships and establish something lasting because we are one of the first military-affiliated schools to have a potential partnership with Rwanda. It would be really cool to play a key role in establishing a good reputation for The Citadel abroad.”
For Ives, learning from diverse cultural perspectives is invaluable. “I seek out different experiences abroad because they have shaped me so much,” said Ives. “I think it develops you as a leader more than anything else you can do.”