Rwandan people

Being expatriates, guests in their country, speaking very little French and no Kinyarwandi, our contact with Rwandans has been minimal. We have made the following based on our walks through Kigali. I recently much to Mary's distress purchased an illustrated copy of Herodatus: The Histories. Herodatus of course travelled through much of the ancient world and in his book had vivid descriptions of the people of each nation. Of course Herodatus made up a lot and seemed obsessed with certain types of behaviour.

Rwandan women dress very conservatively but in variety of styles including traditional dress with a tunic, long dress and headdress all in colourful fabric. Most dresses are below the knee and it is unusual to see a woman wearing pants. There is a Mosque in our neighbour and there is a significant population of Muslims. The women dress in a variety of Islamic dress ranging from a simple headscarf to a full Burka (Mary saw one, I have not).

Rwandan women seem to take great pride in their hair which explains the hair “saloon” on each block. Corn rows and dreadlocks seem to be fashionable.

Dr. Greidanus would be glad to know that while babies and toddlers are generally carried on their mother's back, in every case we have seen they are being carried correctly, piggyback style. No hip dysplasia here!

Men wear long pants and button up shirts. Most people do not wear a hat. The residents in our program come to the Monday teaching session well dressed and you can see your face in their shoes.

Rwandans seem to be very polite and reserved (except for the patrons of the bar across from our apartment). They generally will not speak until you speak to them. This morning at morning report, I was the only staff anaesthesiologist present. We all sat speechless until finally I realized they were waiting for me to give the word. “Why don't we start”, I said and we started.

There are no public displays of affection between couples. The closest may be a couple with their arms around each others waist. On the other hand women and men often walk hand in hand and the school children walking to school often walk hand in hand.

Women still carry objects on their head. Many have a cloth donut which enables them to more easily carry the object (still an impressive accomplishment). Some women may have their shopping in a bag perched on their head. More precariously we have observed women carrying shallow baskets of limes on their head. Men also carry stuff on their head. Walking down the monster hill on the way to the Genocide Centre we observed 3 men each carrying 3 of those plastic cartons soft drinks come in their heads albeit stabilized with their arms. Later we saw a man carrying bed frame on his head.

Most of the signs are in Kinyarwandi. While a lot of the population speaks French, there are very few French signs and many of the stores have English names with some really curious names. The government is teaching English in the schools. Many of the school children we come across like to practise English on us.

Street beggars are a rare sight. This may be less to do with poverty and more to do with enforcement. You will encounter small children in central Kigali where the non-Rwandans congregate. Certainly I was panhandled more the last time I walked down Whyte avenue that I have in 9 days in Rwanda. You will get bothered by people trying to sell cell phone minutes, the motor cycle taxis and curiously vendors selling “The Economist”; I may just buy one.

These are, of course, early observations of a neophyte so please don't call me out for generalizing.