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Published: August 8th 2007
There’s a lot of subjects that I feel its right to say something about while I’m here. Important topics, that need to be given real thought and consideration, before you’d have a genuine insight into the country and it’s people. Race, Poverty, Religion, Happiness, Grief, Community, Loneliness, Genocide, Compassion, Hope, it’s all here in abundance and very close to the surface. It seems that when you strip away the superficial in people’s lives, TV, Celebrity, Fashion, Money, Choice, all that remains is the important stuff.
But even after 5 weeks in Rwanda, immersed in the culture, I think I still need more time before I can begin to do justice to any of the weightier topics. Therefore I think it’s best if I start at the lighter end …and work my way up, gradually.
Rwanda… If you ask me, Rwanda’s a lot like Devon - a tropical version of course, without the picturesque coastline and scones. It’s quiet, rural, locals tend to stay local and be prepared to get stared at, if you’re ‘not from round ere’. Although you’ll probably get a decent picture on you’re telly here, if you can find one, that is. Funny that, they’re
Women working in the fields
Who said they're only good for cooking and cleaning?not much use if you don’t have electricity - only 2%!o(MISSING)f Rwandan’s (and me) do. For those of you that don’t know where it is (Rwanda not Devon), it’s very small and land-locked in lower half of East Africa, to the left of Kenya and Tanzania.
Rwandans… I must confess, I did have my fair share of pre-conceived and negative thoughts, prejudices, call them what you will, about what Africans or more specifically Rwandans, would be like. Probably borne out of watching Hotel Rwanda twice and too much mindless TV before I left (Big Cat Diaries, Meercat Manor and the one where, that unshaven guy from the DIY Makeover show, takes a load spoilt YTS students to a village in Kenya, to moan) and not conducting enough quality research of my own. Unless you count drunken late night chats with the African mini-cab drivers doing the ‘Charing Cross to Peckham’ run. Always entertaining and insightful - them not me, obviously. But I think its fair to be a little wary of the people at first, especialy in a country that wiped out more than a tenth of it’s population in 100 days and then incarcerated another 10%!(NOVERB)
Farmland and more farmland
I remember when it was all just fields! for genocide within 3 months - don’t you? Think about that for a moment, that’s 1 in 5 people gone in less than 6 months.
But I needn’t have worried, so far they appear to be a very polite, friendly and sociable bunch. Far more so than in the UK or any other country I’ve been to for that matter and I’ve been to a fair few. There is a deep sense of community here. Friends (no matter how new) and neighbours are not just respected and appreciated, but treated as though they are an important part of the family. After the atrocities of their past its probably not hard to see why. It seems to me to be a place that has a lot in common with the ‘Good Ole Days’, those of a bygone era, best described by those of an older generation over Xmas dinner and one too may sherrys - well in our house at least.
Traditional Greetings… Rwandans are so polite in fact, that men and women hold hands upon ‘every’ greeting and then again upon ‘every’ farewell. Fine if you want to stop and chat/hold hands, but a little awkward (to
me anyway) if you’ve got somewhere to go or you’re being introduced for the first time (which happens to me a lot). My record so far between the ‘hello’ and ‘good-bye’ hand hold stands at about 3 seconds, with the men getting barely a split second, if they’re lucky. Oh yeah and Rwandan men also have this thing about holding hands or worse fingers, while walking down the street chatting. I’m pretty sure it’s not a gay thing, as that sort of thing is generally frowned upon around these parts. But the Rwandan Gay community, no matter how small, cant be too happy about the loss of one of their oldest traditions to the mainstream.
If I had to be a little critical of them, I’d probably bring up the (constant) hard staring and the loud ‘psssst’ given by some of the locals as I’m passing. It’s probably my only experience of what looks like a bad case of local moodiness or Muzungoo disapproval (more detailed coverage on that one later). Typically its not, it’s just that generally people here don’t have the most attractive ‘stare face’, not many people do. Mine apparently makes me look retarded, not ideal
Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
It's always a good time for goat! if you’re caught staring at the fairer members of the opposite sex - which does explain a lot. Their ‘psssst’ just seems to be their way of saying hi and that they want to hold my hand for a bit. Distances do vary, but I have had a whole family, plus neighbours, get me from over 100m away.
Language… It will come as no surprise to hear that, like any other Brit abroad, I’ve made little or no effort with the language - Kinyirwandan, Swahili or French (all spoken here). I had every intention of learning French at least - downloaded the free Podcasts. Even bought a ‘English to French’ phrase book. Neither have seen one iota of action. I needn’t have worried though, its not been a problem - even if you do know to ask for things, they haven’t got any of it anyway (or they’ll bring you something else without asking). I won’t start on their waiter/tress ‘service’ (term used loosely), another gem best saved for later. Needless to say, like everything else here, needs work.
Shops… If you can find one, there’s nothing in the ‘shops’ (another term I use loosely),
Goat Sarnie anyone?
Guess who didnt find my 'givin head' joke funny!? apart from sugar, bags and (brown paper) bags of the stuff and always alongside, ironically, Colgate toothpaste - typically the shopkeeper’s work to the ‘3 items only’ rule here. Along with the guy that makes the yellow sandals (compulsory footwear), Colgate’s Man in Rwanda really fell on his feet and must now be totally minted. 4-5 sugars in tea & coffee is the norm and they like theirs in a large flask and weak, very weak. I still haven’t worked this one out - They grow both coffee and bananas here, but neither seem to be particularly popular with the locals - I’m still yet to see a Rwandan eat one. But then again I think its safe to assume Bernard Matthews doesn’t have Turkey Twizzlers for tea every night. They seem to prefer Matoke (plantain) the banana’s greener, savoury, less appetizing relative - looks like a banana, tastes exactly like a potato or ‘Irish Potatoes’ as they call them here - I’m pretty sure they’re not, Irish that is. Thinking about it, this place must be a vegetarian’s idea of heaven. For most Rwandan’s it’s ‘just’ veg on the menu - every night, with Matoke and Irish Potatoes the
main attractions and they’re not scared of combining those two bad boys together with rice - proper Carbo Loading. Clearly the Atkins diet never took off here. One plus is the fruit is pretty good - pineapples (15p), massive avocados (4p), Papaya (12p), mangos (8p) and a big sack of sweet potato/casava is 70p.
If you’re worried about food poisoning, fear not. Boiling, lots of boiling is the cooking method of choice - always on an open fire. Good for the digestion and a healthy heart, not so great for the environment, the cultured palate or the chef’s lungs, especially when you bear in mind most of those fires aren’t in the open at all, they’re indoors.
Meat… But don’t get me wrong meat is available. There’s chicken on the ‘menu’ (yet another term used loosely - typically there isn’t one, doesn’t take a genius to work out why), although from my experience it seems customary to strip it of any meat before it reaches the plate. I’m assuming the chicken’s skin and bones are the local delicacy. Either that or it’s the one apparent downside of using the ‘free-range’ method - athletic ‘Paula Radcliff like’
Girl with today's firewood
And they moan about heavy school books in England. chickens. Now, I’ve seen cows, they’re definitely about. Big things, massive horns, you cant miss ‘em - But for some unknown reason (definitely not religious), you just wont see them on a plate. Goats however - different story. They live a very short life here in Rwanda. Whereas you and I would have a packet of Cheese & Onion crisps or Dry Roasted peanuts with our pint/white wine spritzer, the average Rwandan will go for a ‘Brochette Ordinaire’ or four - (Goat Kebab to you and me), with their ‘intestinal’ variety the equivalent of our ‘Roast Beef & Mustard McCoys’ (King of Crisps). But be prepared to chew, a lot. And, if you were wondering how many brochettes to a goat (average build), I’m reliably informed it’s 35.
Carbon Footprints… On the topic of the Environment, apart from burning just about anything they can get their hands on (firewood’s a valuable commodity here and collecting it a full time occupation), Rwanda must be one of the more ecologically sound countries. 90%!o(MISSING)f the population are subsistence farmers, organically of course, growing just enough to get by (just). If they do need anything extra, it’s sold at the local
Local kids doing the water run.
Trust me, they're not that happy about it! market (Wednesdays and Saturdays) fresh and loose - no packaging. Even plastic bags are banned here. I reckon it was due to lack of demand, because no-one could afford enough to put in one. As it happens, not true, it was on ecological grounds. I made the mistake of asking the other day if someone comes round to pick up the rubbish - after a puzzled silence followed by uncontrollable laugher she replied ‘rubbish - what rubbish?’. Basically it’s all burnt i.e. recycled. It’s only us lazy westerners that accumulate huge bin liners of plastic crap - they just don’t use it. Which now means my ever-increasing plastic water bottle collection, which I can’t get rid of (during the day!), is getting out of hand and drawing attention. The only thing I can think of, is using them for a ‘Stig of the Dump’ style bay window in the office.
Water… Which brings me to Water. As you’re probably very aware, a scarce resource in these parts. However, maybe not as essential a commodity as we may have thought, because as far as I’ve seen (or not seen, as the case may be), no one seems to drink
The Pit Latrine !
Just dont look down!! it. I know for a fact they’d never buy it, I’m on my own on that one - they look at me as if I’m buying bottles of gin. But when it comes to fetching and carrying the stuff, everyone’s at it, it’s their national pastime (if you don’t count holding hands). With plastic yellow jerry cans the container of choice. Sadly not nice new clean ones like we’d almost certainly have. Remember this is Africa, these ones used to contain cooking oil or if your unlucky Paraffin - yes, I did say Paraffin. It’ll come as no surprise that our household are now using the container marked ‘cooking oil’.
If you’re lucky there’ll be a standpipe within 500m, probably on one of the few tarmaced roads that bisect the country. But with 95% of the country used as farmland, it’s more likely to be an arduous bike ride/push or walk. If that wasn’t bad enough, add a steep hill climb or two, Rwanda’s not called the ‘Land of a 1000 Hills’ for nothing. Now you see why water collection is something that involves all the family. Kids are regularly pulled from school for this job alone - even
Oi Ramsey !
Thats what you call a kitchen nightmare! the pre-school under 5s and frequently they never go back, performing this task, along with other manual labour, on a full time basis. One of the more common reasons behind child runaways and one of the many unfortunate issues that fuels attendance at our Streets Ahead Children’s centres.
My Health… For those of you that have been concerned about my health (Mum), you’ll be pleased to know that after 5 weeks of nausea and dizziness, I’m now feeling much better, thank you. It wasn’t Malaria, Cholera or Morning Sickness as was first thought, it turns out my £3.99 kettle purchased in Rwanda’s only ‘not so’ super-market isn’t the best method for ensuring clean drinking water - who’d have thought?
Back to Basics… Which brings me cleanly onto Hygiene or more specifically the Lav, Loo, Little Boys Room, Toilet or in this case the aptly named ‘Pit Latrine’. If this line of conversation wasn’t a common feature of meal times in your family home, you may want to skip this chapter. Even Christmas dinner didn’t escape in our house. For those of you that haven’t sampled the delights of the developing countries ‘squatting method’, ill do my
Primark's Rwmagana branch
Recognise anything you used to own? best to paint the most romantic picture possible. It’s a hole in the ground, basically. Or if you’re posh, like us, there are two small raised concrete blocks on each side for your feet - raised for comfort, angled for precision. Takes a bit of getting used to I can tell you. It didn’t help that I was facing the wrong way for my first two weeks - I’ve not told anyone that one, well not here anyway. Even now, I can’t work out how I got it so wrong for such a long time. It now seems so obvious. I’m putting it down to extreme fear and darkness and therefore far too much haste. Did I mention it’s in a derelict out-house at the bottom of our yard and we’re in Africa, remember. Thanks to nature, I’m not quite a regular as I once was - even with my Linda McCartney diet, and some of the better equipped local guest houses are seeing me for brief visits a little more often than before.
The Washing Facilities seem a little boring in comparison. Located conveniently next door, but in the same swanky out-house as our toilet. The facilities here
Thanks Alix and Emily Lucas!!!
The Kids loved the posters - Clearly they were very impressed with my range of animal noises! again could be best described as basic. It’s a room - a lot like a small 18th century prison cell. What I mean by that is, that’s it, nothing else - unless you count the rusty cast iron door. A door that doesn’t lock and swings open without warning (incidentally the latrine door follows the exact same design). Luckily both doorways are pretty private - the toilet opens onto Rwanda’s only main road (Uganda to Tanzania) and the shower room faces Rwanda’s largest building site, soon to be its largest secondary school. Unlike the UK, plumbing isn’t the most sought after profession here - hasn’t really caught on just yet - still waiting for the water. ‘Shower Room’ is probably not a good name for this facility, ‘splash room’ would be far more appropriate, reflecting the most common method used inside. Oh, and if you were wondering about ‘flushing’ in the latrine, that’s why the showers next door.
Washing Clothes… I’m going to scoot past Clothes Washing quickly, as I’m embarrassed to say, I’m paying someone to do mine. Clearly by hand with soap (the third and final item sold in local ‘shops’ here) and what makes
it worse is that I’m not paying him in cash either, I’m paying in Primark T-shirt/s. Where’s the harm in it? He seems happy with the deal. I’m not sure how long it can last though, as everything takes about 6 minutes to get dirty here. Which may be why most people tend to only own two items of clothing, clean or dirty.
Second Hand Clothes… Which reminds me; They buy and sell Second Hand Clothes here in the local market, lots of them - not second hand Rwandan clothes, these are clearly from Europe and the US. Not particularly noteworthy in itself, until you see the prices - £4 for a polo-shirt , £3 for a T-shirt, Jeans £6. So Primark can make and sell them new for £2.50, but Africa has to pay 2-3 week’s wages for our second hand ones. Clearly someone somewhere is making a hefty packet at the expense of some of the world’s poorest people - You’ve got to hope they’re not from any of our (UK’s) Charity shops, but how can you ever know?
On a Lighter Note… On my way to work the other day, just as I was thinking life in Africa can be a bit repetitive and mundane, I saw a couple of monkeys attack two large storks and their young in a tree and then an old bloke cycled by in a Sadam Hussein shirt . Something you don’t see every day - well, not round here.
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JP
non-member comment
I'm from Devon and also spent two weeks in Rwanda Neil. They really don't have all that much in common!! Although your Footie team there are probably as good as Exeter City these days.