Team Reflection

At the beginning of our exploration, we assumed that renting issues were mostly about money and communication. However, after engaging with 28 people across Kigali city, our perspective changed significantly. We discovered that the core problem is deeper, a broken trust system where both landlords and tenants feel unprotected.

What surprised us most was how both sides shared similar fears. Tenants feared losing deposits or entering unsafe housing, while landlords feared damage, unpaid rent, and dishonesty. This mutual anxiety revealed how much emotional weight the renting process carries. We also expected technology to be welcomed, but many people shared that digital tools are either too limited or too easy to manipulate.

We were moved by the stories of people who faced hardship simply because agreements were informal and rely on trust. families who paid deposit for an unfinished house. The landlord who found an empty house with damage and unpaid periods. The tenant who lived without water and other basic need must be included in house for months. These conversations taught us that the community is not asking for something complex - they are asking for fairness, transparency, and neutral protection.

Through this process, we realized our role is not to replace human relationships, but to support them with systems that reduce stress, mismanagement and conflict. The community appears to be asking for a technology that can hold rent safely, prevent manipulation, and document agreements clearly.