The gleaming city that emerged from turmoil in the heart of Africa

With noisy traffic and bustling markets, Kigali is much like other major cities in Africa, with one exception -- it's completely spotless. Thanks to a clean up program that is part of community efforts to distance Rwanda from its recent brutal past, it has some of the cleanest streets in Africa.

(CNN) — Kigali's streets thrum with traffic, motorbikes darting around buses, its roadside markets a hive of activity. Standing on the roadside, it's much like any other major city in the heart of Africa. But this is a city that stands apart from other metropolises on the continent. Today, Rwanda's capital is synonymous with the surrounding green hills where mountain gorillas cling to life, while its streets have become famous throughout the world for being immaculate. But for so many, this city remains tied to the genocide, which saw between 800,000 and one million Rwandans murdered in a brutal tribal conflict in 1994.