When I read the post on Molato_rw’s Instagram, of course I became intrigued. It was just two days before Valentine festival and guess what, this was another attempt for single people to get hitched, I thought. After all, 12th and 13th February are commonly known as ‘Desperate Days,’ in which the singles are the busiest trying to get something, someone in this case, to hang out with on the big day, 14th Feb.
I thought it was going to be the cringiest thing ever but boy was I wrong! My curiosity about the event really never died since I saw the post, and, to be honest, the need to see new people and have fun has been piling up for months; another obscure burden proudly sponsored by Covid-19. Thank God the future looks bright now.
Well, I couldn’t handle it all by myself though, and I turned to my friends for company, and trial if you like, because you never know! Needless to say they hesitated, some asking me why I looked so interested, others proposing other options. It was a battle, but I wasn’t prepared to give up that easily.
At exactly 6:30 PM we arrived at the location, a beautifully fancied place near the Remera Bus Station. It is not quite popular as Molato is yet to officially inaugurate the promising facility, a ceremony eagerly awaited sometime in the next two to three months, I was told.
The event was supposed to start at 4 PM, but my last minute efforts to convince a few more friends took a while, and by the time we got in, the place was fully packed, music blasting from every corner and the vibe was so incredible. It was a proper party.
The first sight would have been just fine until I looked all around and my attention stuck at the impeccable interior design. Interior is usually my weakness, I always fall in love with its brilliance and this time was no different, it was my first crush on the spot.
I could see from the faces of my three gorgeous girlfriends that by then, there was absolutely no regret. In fact, some were too confident and chilling out loud. I wasn’t that dump myself but quite nervous, trying to figure out what could possibly go wrong.
We were greeted by stares and pointy fingers, and the smiley waiter showed us the way to our table near the pool, a perfect spot to observe everything that was happening.
And what did I see? Firstly, I thought that Kigali people would not show up, you know those poor concerts whose shameful emptiness are hard to justify. Then, I thought it was going to be a few cringy people, normal single people and those old-fashioned cliche-guys who pressure you to get a drink, or girls who are desperate to be asked to get a drink.
But it was the complete opposite. Firstly people pulled up in masses, even the engaged ones I know were present. The place was so crowded that you could lose your seat in a blink of an eye. And guess what, only those who are boosted were allowed in. In fact, me and my squad got our boosters at the entrance. The process was so smooth though, we didn’t have to sacrifice our vibes for the shot.
The nature and purpose of this particular event was really something I have not seen before in this beautiful city; crowded people who are just catching up with one another, and I wanted to understand the idea behind this innovation.
Moise, one of the organizers, had something to say. It was hard not to imagine how surprised he must have been at the unfolding of the event, and he was. Struggling to hold in his chuckle, he revealed that the initial idea was just to have fun, but steadily materialized into something serious later on.
“This started as a funny idea,” he said, “We all thought it was a joke, but it became more serious as we went on.”
I asked if they were surprised with how many people pulled up.
“We did this as a social experiment, we wanted to see if people in Kigali would be open to coming to such an event and obviously we’re pleasantly surprised.”
The introduction and discussion part wore on, and time for business had arrived. We went on to receive a card which detailed the color your cup of drink should look like to determine your current dating status.
Green was for people who are ‘Single AF”, Blue was for “DTF”, Orange was for “It’s complicated”, and Pink was for “Taken”. You see, the Taken ‘singles’ were allowed in so you won’t need to wrongly judge the engaged who were present.
I took my green cup and continued to enjoy the night with my friends. People seemed happy, they seemed open and most importantly, the vibe was kind and superb.
Then came the activity we were all waiting for, of which I was nervous about: ‘Speed Dating’. To those who don’t know how the game works, Speed Dating is a matching game.
Attendees embark on a number of quick-fire dates and a bell or buzzer rings when each timed date has come to an end. Players generally progress from one table to the next, until everyone has had a chance to meet each other.
We were given a number and were asked to sit in the reserved part of the restaurant, we waited to meet our spontaneous dates. (I won’t be mentioning names for privacy purposes).
My first was number seven, a software engineer. He was witty and humorous, he was chilled and somehow cute, we connected instantly.
We talked about our experiences in the dating arena and we talked about our types, our glasses cheered everytime we discovered we had many things in common.
“I didn’t know I was going to come here,” he said when I asked why he came. “I am a regular here so my friends called me and told me there were some beautiful ladies so I came and I am not disappointed.”
In fact, most people that came were nicely dressed and ready to impress, I couldn’t understand “how come all these people are still single.”
We continued to chat until our timed minutes were over and then came Number nine, the cringiest guy I have ever met! dark and tall with predominantly pinky shirts in a coloured fashion of Congolese style.
The type with the pick up line “Did it hurt when you fell from the sky”; rude and unauthentic. I was glad when they said our time was over.
Unto the next came number 23, an agricultural enthusiast, he was nervous but kept his nerves. He was also funny and simple,
He talked about his passions and type and I told him mine as well, very sarcastically he said he checked all the boxes.
I asked him why he came to the event and his response was what the organizers had hoped for.
“I wanted to do something new and get new experiences. I am an open person ready to discover new things,” he replied.
By the time we were mixing up and talking, it wasn’t possible to get contacts to follow up. But that time was reserved towards the end of the event. Those who were lucky to find their match would say so and the organizers would then mingle the two. The following steps would be their business. So far, some of my friends have had some good updates. Neither do I regret anything.
Overall I learnt a few things and made a conclusive observation. Different from what we might think, the singles in Kigali are not simply desperate; they are actually living their lives and making connections.
The people I managed to talk to did not come to get hitched or get boo’d up, most people simply came to have fun and meet interesting people.
One of them said “Honestly I am not eager to get into a relationship, I just want to have fun meeting interesting people and perhaps if I do find mister right today that would be fun too.”
One more observation though, Kigali boys really need to up their game. Dudes, some of us came to have fun and just chill, why would some of you panic that much to the point of almost scrapping the whole thing? It was so shameful to see guys who were hiding as if it wasn’t a public dating thing, of which everyone of us was fully aware of.
Also, big up to whoever is doing God’s job of teaching us how to match clothes properly. Yes, the majority of attendees were young, mostly under 30s, but the way everyone was dressed caught everyone’s attention. May it continue.
Organizers also deserve a thumbs-up. The event was so smooth, so clear, no drama, no disappointment and so the likes. We just hope it ain’t the last of such events.
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