Reflections on my trip to Rwanda

When people think of Rwanda they think of the genocide of 1994 or, more specifically, of the film Hotel Rwanda. And while the genocide is forever looming over the present, there is much more to Rwanda than that.

First – plastic bags are illegal in Rwanda. At the border crossing the bus was thoroughly checked for plastic bags, which had to be removed from our luggage and replaced with paper bags. While I grumbled at this inconvenience, especially being concerned about leaking shampoo, I did acknowledge that it’s actually a good law, especially in a place where plastic bags can become breeding sites for malaria mosquitoes.

Second – Rwanda and Burundi, both tiny countries, have a one-hour time difference from their neighbors. The best reason we could find for this was that they wanted to be in the same time zone as South Africa.

Third – Having been colonized by the Germans and Belgians, rather than the British, Rwandans drive on the right. Thus, all the way from Kampala to Kigali, of which most of the time is spent in Uganda, I was seated in a bus made for right-hand side driving but was on the left-hand side of the road. It’s odd crossing a land border and then suddenly driving on the other side – most nations that drive on the left are islands which allow for an easier change in mentality.

Fourth – boda bodas (motorcycle taxis) define whether or not I will like an African city or country. When told that boda bodas didn’t exist in Tanzania, or at least in Arusha, I was so shocked that I didn’t believe the people who were telling me I needed to take a taxi and then I proceeded to grumble during the whole taxi ride. In Kigali, boda bodas exist BUT they have to wear helmets and vests (which is good), the passenger has to wear a helmet (they were difficult to adjust causing me to worry more about being strangled by them than saved in case of an accident, not to mention that I feared lice, which apparently Africans can’t get), they can only take one passenger at a time (whereas I am used to having at least two, if not three passengers at a go) and they refused to allow me to sit sideways (forcing me to hike up my skirt and worry about showing too much skin). I am now happy to be back in Uganda where boda boda laws don’t exist, which may make life a little bit more dangerous but oh so much easier!

Fifth – despite being less developed, Kigali seems much more orderly than Kampala. Kampala is a mess: garbage litters the streets, there is a constant throng of people everywhere and any time, boda bodas reign supreme on the streets, there are constant traffic jams and there is always a cloud of pollution in the air. Kigali, on the other hand, is clean, there are less people on the streets (although Rwanda is one of the most densely populated countries in the world), there are no traffic jams and the boda bodas are organized. It seems that people actually fear and respect the law in Rwanda, whereas in Uganda everyone depends on bribes and personal connections to get out of trouble.

Sixth – Rwanda may be one of the best places in the world to study identity formation. I went to Rwanda with high hopes of speaking French, one of their national languages. To my astonishment, people kept responding in English to me. In Montreal this often means that your French is not perfect and that the person rather speak English than be affronted with your French. In Rwanda it means that the person doesn’t speak French. A large percentage of the Rwandese have actually spent most of their lives in Uganda, making Rwanda seem like a poorer extension of its neighbor. Hence “ogambachi” and “mwebale nyu” seemed more useful than “bonjour” and “merci.” Many Rwandese fled to Uganda at the outbreak of violence in 1959 and started families there. With the return of peace and stability under Paul Kagame, these people returned to Rwanda with fluent English, Luganda and/or Rukiga, but barely a word of French or Kinyarwanda. I asked one man if he didn’t feel more Ugandan than Rwandese but a) Africans have strong connections with the land of their ancestors and b) Ugandans never fully accepted the Rwandese, ascribing them a lower social status.

And now Rwanda is doing a complete overhaul of the education system to again change identity. Maybe it is an attempt better integrate itself into the predominantly English-speaking East African Community or it is trying to distance itself with its association to the past (Belgian colonization and French involvement in the genocide). But whatever the case, while education in Rwanda was in French until recently, the government has suddenly passed a law stating that school will now be taught in English. While there is already a 50% illiteracy rate in Rwanda, this sudden change can increase it even more as there are few teachers qualified to teach in English, creating a huge shortage. And it increases unemployment as French-speaking teachers are suddenly left on the streets. But upon asking the director of a school about this, however, I was told that those on the streets didn’t know how to teach anyway, so it was no big loss.

In conclusion: I like the chaos of Uganda much better. Even the smiling face of President Museveni has a lot more appeal to me than that of Kagame. (Side Note: all businesses in Rwanda and Uganda need to have a picture of the president).