---
title: A bridge that changes lives
url: "https://www.systra.com/en/news/a-bridge-that-changes-lives/"
type: post
date_published: 2025-04-09
date_modified: 2025-04-09
schema:
  @type: Article
language: en-US
word_count: 239
reading_time: 2 min
canonical: "https://www.systra.com/en/news/a-bridge-that-changes-lives/"
featured_image: "https://www.systra.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/systra_rubyiro_fy24-bridge-impact-report-7.jpeg"
categories:
  - Non classé
---

# A bridge that changes lives

![A bridge that changes lives](https://www.systra.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/systra_rubyiro_fy24-bridge-impact-report-7.jpeg)

In the south of Rwanda, 10 hours from Kigali, the river Rubyiro, quick to burst
its banks, has for a long time dictated its law to the 6,600 or so inhabitants
of the Rusizi district. The river’s regular flooding prevented them from
accessing healthcare and essential services, putting their lives in danger every
time they crossed on foot or by motorbike. Schoolchildren, pregnant women and
farmers were all occasionally cut off from the infrastructure that was essential
to their communities.

SYSTRA has been a partner of the NGO Bridges to Prosperity since 2016 and sent a
team of 10 volunteers to the region to build a solidarity bridge, which was
inaugurated on 29 November 2024.

![image](https://www.systra.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/image-1024x640.png)

_The SYSTRA and Bridges to Prosperity team together_

The 68-metre suspension bridge is made entirely of steel and has a 25-year
guarantee. It is maintained by the Rwandan workers who took part in its
construction.

Five months after its inauguration, the annual income of the local population
has risen by 30%, and 2,500 children have improved access to schools and nearly
700 women to maternity wards.

This is the third solidarity footbridge to be built by SYSTRA in Rwanda,
following those at Shyagari, erected in 2022, and Rusumo in 2023.

[READ THE PROJECT SHEET](https://www.systra.com/en/projects/baraje-rubyiro-suspension-trailbridge-rwanda/)

[VIEW THE BRIDGES TO PROSPERITY PAGE](https://www.systra.com/en/our-vision/sustainable-development/bridges-to-prosperity/)

**Categories:** Non classé