Nyakabanda is a large section of Kigali (the capital city). I live in a subdivision of Nyakabanda that is very vibrant and diverse. Here you will find Christians and Muslims, Hutus and Tutsis, Anglophones (English speakers) and Francophones (French speakers). However, most people speak Swahili and Kinyarwanda. You’ll also find a mix of low and middle income families all living side by side. I love the feeling of once again begin integrated into a community (it reminds me a lot of the neighborhood where I grew up in Kenya). Here everybody knows your name (they call me “aunty” or “rasta”).
Every morning I look forward to getting up early (I rise between 5:30 and 6am – in the U.S. you can’t catch me awake before 8am!) to sit outside staring at the amazing view (we live close to the top of one of those a thousand hills). Water is scarce here so very early the children go to fetch it from the community tap (residents pay a fee to access this water) while we clean, bathe (all of houses in this neighborhood have outdoor plumbing), and prepare for the day’s activities.
Additionally, you hear countless stories of employers verbally and/or physically abusing their housekeepers (everyone from the street cleaner to the garage owner has house help) and refusing to pay them for as many as 10 months! Problems … problems .. problems… there are so many HIV positive people here and although AIDS medications are offered for free, the drugs don’t work so well on empty stomachs… problems upon problems … alcoholism … single headed households … ethnic tensions …the list goes on and on…
There are also funny stories like the rumor that I came from the U.S. (some know I’m Kenyan others insist I’m a Rwandan who doesn’t speak Kinyarwanda) to reduce poverty rates in the community. There are a couple of people in the neighborhood who are begging my hosts to put them on the list that they say I’m developing to identify the neediest members of the community. Other stories are very disturbing such as the one about the most humble and generous member of the community who was recently on trial for his allegedly involvement in the killings of several people in a neighborhood across town during the 1994 genocide.
When I first arrived the problems here seemed overwhelming. It’s very easy to dismiss this as a “bad” neighborhood (as some wealthy Rwandans have done including those who have relatives here but are too afraid to visit). My experiences in Rwanda, however, are teaching me that there’s often more than meets the eye. With all its problems, I have experienced so much joy and warmth here. People take time out of their busy schedules to check up on one another– you never have to call before coming over; you can buy items on credit from any store in the neighborhood; the children are seen as the responsibility of everyone – folks haven’t forgotten that it takes a village to raise a child; residents take tons of pride in their community: every Sunday from 8am to 6pm all the stores shut down so that residents can participate in their local gacaca (community court used to try genocide killers; the killers are brought from prison and tried in the communities where they committed the crimes), and once a month they take part in their Umuganda (community service – they pick up trash, plant trees, and catch up on neighborhood gossip). Also, a volunteer committee is in place to attend to the health, education, security, and social well-being of all residents. This includes making sure that deliquent fathers pay their child support and disputes between community members are setteled.
I spend most of my days conducting interviews, reading and writing, and spending time with my family and my neighbors. By the end of the day I’m physically and emotionally drained! I end my day the same way I begin it, sitting outside….enjoying the evening breeze… reflecting on the complexities and contradictions of this place… and taking in the beauty of this land of a thousand hills….
