More than 100 volunteers took part including doctors, nurses, entrepreneurs, teachers, lawyers and local councillors.

Among their number was Clydesdale MP David Mundell and his daughter Eve, who both live in Moffat. Eve — who is 17 later this month — was the youngest participant.

The volunteers spent two weeks working in five areas: health, education, justice, the private sector, and a community centre construction project.

David made his first voluntary, and self-funded, trip to Rwanda last summer.

He was moved by what he saw and wanted to continue his voluntary work which he did in the legal field, as a trained solicitor.

The Rwandan genocide of 1994 saw approximately one million people murdered and the country is still recovering from the devastation.

However, according to David, there is hope. And in this article for the Gazette, he explains why...

IN SCOTLAND, none of us can imagine having to go to court where the judge deciding our fate has no legal training — but this is the reality in Rwanda.

Now the country also faces the major challenge of changing its legal system from a French-based system to an English one, as it becomes a member of the East African Union.

There are still huge challenges, which I identified on my visit last summer, as without a proper legal system Rwanda cannot develop, particularly in commerce.

However, there has been progress. A newly-opened law school has been established and a proper programme of training has started.

I led a team of 12 young solicitors and barristers, working there and at the Ministry of Justice.

We designed and delivered bilingual training courses and sourced legal materials. Our big achievement was securing, through a law book charity, a metric tonne of suitable books which will be delivered to Rwanda in October.

We did a full investigation into the setting up of an achievable legal aid system — work we hope other organisations can continue.

Currently, for example, people will walk miles to attend free open air surgeries with law students.

At our wrap-up meeting with the Minister of Justice, we presented to him a full report on our work and he identified future potential projects for us, including welcoming acquaintances from the Ministry of Justice to the House of Commons to learn skills in drafting legislation.

Along with my fellow MPs, I was pleased to meet the Rwandan president, Paul Kagame.

We talked about our project, his country's economy and other African issues, including Darfur and Zimbabwe.

On the final Saturday President Kagame came to open the community centre which was built by our volunteers at Kinyanya.

We were also updated on the community service projects (TIG) which those convicted of genocide crimes must carry out.

At the weekend we had the opportunity to see an initiative to develop tourism in an eco-friendly way in one of the national parks, rich in wildlife in its natural habitat including zebra, crocodiles and hippos.

One of the things which really pleased me about this visit was having the chance to take my daughter Eve with me. As she said, absolutely everything is different.

Eve's challenge was in the classroom — she swapped her higher studies books to teach 70 primary school teachers English.

They had previously limited opportunities to speak the language — so there are now lots of Rwandan primary teachers speaking with a Scottish accent and singing Auld Lang Syne!

My hope for the future for Rwanda is that it keeps moving forward.

Whatever we think, we can't impose solutions: the answer lies within.

We can give them some of the tools to help themselves — and I like to think that Eve and I have played a small part in that — but the future is in their hands.

It will not be easy. As an example, the brightest young lawyer we met last year has already left to go to the United States and that is a big problem; not unlike here in rural Scotland when young people move away and don't return.

My abiding memory of Rwanda has to be the constant bustle.

When Eve and I travelled back from Edinburgh to Moffat we saw hardly anyone other than those driving cars — in Rwanda there would have been colourful people every few yards on the roadsides and in the fields.

There is a vibrancy there which is tangible and stays with me even though I am now thousands of miles away.