Jezioro Kiwu w Rwandzie - Redux

Portrait of fisherman Valensi Mugisha at night where he canoes in groups of three boats searching for sambaza (a fish similar to a small sardine) and tilapia in Lake Kivu, Rwanda on November 19, 2023. At night kerosene lanterns are hung over the side of the boat to attract the sambaza. The breathtaking beauty of Lake Kivu, resting between the volcanoes and steep hills of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, is exceeded only by its mercurial temperament. A clear sunny day can turn to a tropical downpour in minutes, before the sun beats down again. The lake’s still waters also hide another face: dissolved within are billions of cubic meters of flammable methane and more still of carbon dioxide, presenting both a source of power and a danger to hundreds of thousands of people living around the lake. The lake holds haunting memories from the 1994 genocide, but also offered a lifesaving escape to some. Its glassy surface is dotted with hundreds of islands, all of which have their own particularities and histories.