Rwanda, Rwanda, Rwanda, we should all be so proud. Over the past ten years, I have seen Rwanda grow before my eyes, but It feels like only yesterday when I came to this green hilly heaven that I then thought was the end of the world and my parents sent me here as punishment for not doing my homework. I arrived here in 1996 when the streets were still empty, the population consisted of mainly elders whom I believe were here for retirement, the President and his government and the few newborns that were wailing am sure after sensing that their youth was going to wasted on Sunday swimming lessons and football and mabigibigi.
There really wasn’t anything going on except the re-construction of our nation,, for which I commend our president for not only redeeming our nation, but also the excellent work he has done and is still doing for our country. There was the occasional concert once a year, there were the few nightclubs but since I was too young, I will cross that out from the list. Ok maybe I am exaggerating a little, they may have been things one could do but am not exaggerating when I say, Rwanda was dead boring to me personally. I don’t know about you, I know my father loved it so much that a 45 minute drive to Muhazi was like taking a kid to Disney World (it was beautiful I admit).
The living conditions were awful in some places. There was a lack of jobs for returnees and those struggling in school and work at the same time. There was internet, but it was uncommon and many didn’t know how to use the internet at that time. There were a million reasons why Rwanda was not a place I saw myself living in for long. But I think the most important reason would be that I behaved like any young teenager from abroad. I didn’t realise what my country could become. I wasn’t interested in being part of the rehabilitation but only inhabiting in it.I had no faith in believing that Rwanda would not only survive after the genocide but also be better than before( I bet that none of you saw this coming either).Today, I feel I am not only sure that I can live here but I am confident that this is where I will be buried (unless I die in a plane crash somewhere over the Atlantic ocean).
I have heard many Rwandans who have returned proclaim such statements as ‘oh my God Rwanda has become so civilized’, like they were expecting to see men with spears and woman running bare-chested in the middle of the roads or what ? Caucasians might be ignorant about Africa but never an African. Most of my friends left because they felt they could not live on the meager salaries that they were making. You can imagine, that these same people have said that they now realise that earning our ‘so called’ meager salary here, is a hundred times better then working long hours, in Western capitals, while having to commute from one city to the next. They have credit limits, but still after paying off all their bills and tuition fees, they still are most of the time in debt. This obviously doesn’t mean that it is every one.
But this is not just about how good our broadband connection is or how great our coffee is (though you do know how good our coffee is). No, this is about Rwandans and their immense dedication in proving, home is where the heart is. After what this country and its people have been through, I walk the streets and see all kinds of people and the kinds of work they do to survive everyday and yet most of them are happy. I was going home by bus the other day when curiosity got the better of me and I asked a construction worker how much he gets paid. He told me he earns “1500 francs per day. ” I asked him how he survived on such a meagre amount and he responded, “I can afford to buy food for my family have transport to go home, and buy myself a beer at the end of the day, why would I complain, I have everything I want and what I do is important, your ministers wouldn’t have where to work if it wasn’t for people like us. ”
To that in French we say ‘chapeau’(hats off to you.) He continued that not only was it more than he expected to get paid but he feels proud when he walks past the buildings he has helped put up. But what I respected the most was the way in which he was more proud in having said he worked on the Parliament buildings, than being concerned with the amount of money anyone else would dismiss if told to do the same job this man does. Imagine if one lowly construction worker is that content in his life, imagine what it would be like if you had your dream job here in Rwanda ? Would you want to go ?
In my opinion, hell no ! Just have to find my dream job first. Our country is not only physically beautiful but there is immense loyalty that one can’t help but feel it grow in you no matter how far you run. Well, I know that I have run my course and know that I do take Rwanda as my lawfully wedded country, through sickness and health, through economic, political, geographical ups and downs, till death do us part !
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