Rwanda

Conditions in the city and the rural areas vary greatly. Many in rural areas people live in small houses with mud walls. They lack some of the items that are common in most cities such as electricity, running water and indoor plumbing. Rwandans are friendly, polite and helpful people.

Greetings are an essential part of Rwandan social life and it is the responsibility of the younger person to greet the older person and the women are required to greet the men first. In rural areas, one is expected to greet everyone who passes. In urban areas, this is not possible, but it is considered rude not to greet all friends and acquaintances. Formal greetings contain wishes such as “May you have many cows,” or “May you have children.” Some people use special Christian greetings such as “May Jesus be praised.” Other greetings are Muraho (Hello, it's been a while), Mwaramutse (Good morning) Mwiriwe (Good afternoon/evening). The initial greeting is usually followed by Amakuru? (How's the news?) Or, among close friends, Bite se? (How are things going?). The typical response is Ni meza (Fine) or Ni meza cyane (Very fine).

The warmest Rwanda greeting is similar to a hug Each person's left hand touches the other persons hip, The right hand reaches up to touch the other person's shoulder. This greeting is reserved for close friends and family.

Visiting relatives and friends is an important activity in Rwanda. People who do not regularly visit their relatives and friends are considered anti-social. On special occasions, visitors bring gifts. The guest always accepts; to refuse the offer would be a sign of disrespect.

Western style of clothing is typical but most of the clothing is used or of low quality.

The Rwandan diet consists mainly of sweet potatoes, beans, corn, peas, millet and fruit. A traditional breakfast consists of sweet potatoes and porridge, which is a mixture of sorghum, corn and millet, mixed with milk. In urban areas such as Kigali, people usually have bread and tea for breakfast. Rwandans add lots of milk and sugar to their tea. Lunch and dinner may consist of boiled beans, bananas, sweet potatoes or cassava. Umutsima (a dish of cassava and corn), isombe (cassava leaves with eggplant and spinach) and mizuzu (fried plantains) are common dishes. Dinner is the heaviest meal. Between meals, Rwandans often snack on fruits. Tropical fruits such as avocados, bananas, mangos and papaya are abundant in Rwanda. Roadside vendors in urban areas sell roasted corn and barbecued meat.

The typical evening meal for a child is likely to consist of a special maize meal sort of cake with bean sauce and there is likely to be a variation in this meal since it will be eaten every day and in almost every home in the Rwandan village. For those children who are not served lunch at school, the evening meal is more often than not the only meal of the day.

The Rwandan diet consists mainly of sweet potatoes, beans, corn, peas, millet and fruit. A traditional breakfast consists of sweet potatoes and porridge, which is a mixture of sorghum, corn and millet, mixed with milk. In urban areas such as Kigali, people usually have bread and tea for breakfast. Rwandans add lots of milk and sugar to their tea. Lunch and dinner may consist of boiled beans, bananas, sweet potatoes or cassava. Umutsima (a dish of cassava and corn), isombe (cassava leaves with eggplant and spinach) and mizuzu (fried plantains) are common dishes. Dinner is the heaviest meal. Between meals, Rwandans often snack on fruits. Tropical fruits such as avocados, bananas, mangos and papaya are abundant in Rwanda. Roadside vendors in urban areas sell roasted corn and barbecued meat.

The typical evening meal for a child is likely to consist of a special maize meal sort of cake with bean sauce and there is likely to be a variation in this meal since it will be eaten every day and in almost every home in the Rwandan village. For those children who are not served lunch at school, the evening meal is more often than not the only meal of the day.

A rugo (traditional Rwandan homestead) consists of several beehive-shaped houses within a larger, fenced compound. The main family house is in the middle. Each house is made of woven branches and grasses, covered with clay. There is no running water, so women and children fetch water for the household every day. In cities, there is some Western-style housing, but most urban Rwandans live in small mud-walled houses with corrugated iron roofs.

The term inzu in Kinyarwanda can mean family, household or house. An inzu usually consists of a husband and wife, children and close relatives. A family without children is considered incomplete, and large families are common. People from several inzus who can trace their origins to a common male ancestor form a kinship unit called a umuryango. The oldest and most influential male in this group is the umukungu, the head of the umuryango.

It is expected that all Rwandans will marry. Only about one in 200 women reaches the age of 50 without marrying. Before a marriage can take place, the groom's family must pay a bride-price, usually a cow, to the bride's father. If the partners wish, a marriage can be dissolved, but the bride-price must be returned to the groom's family.

Soccer is popular in Rwanda. children also compete in running and high jumping. Recreational wrestling is another favorite pastime. Some Rwandans who live near the lakes enjoy swimming. Rwandan children play games such as hide and seek, skipping and hopscotch.

Mancala is a traditional board game enjoyed by Rwandans. It is played with 48 dried peas and a specially made board, with two rows of six hollowed-out cups. Some boards have a cup at each end for keeping captured peas. At the beginning of the game, all the peas are distributed in the cups. In turn, each player picks up the peas in one cup and distributes them sequentially in the other cups. Players try to capture as many peas as possible during this process, but the rules of capture vary. Igisoro, a more complex version of the game, uses a table with 32 hollowed-out cups, in four rows of eight.

The life of the Rwandan child is different depending on whether they stay at home or at centers for children who are mainly orphaned. In theory, all Rwandan children, beginning at age seven, have access to six mandatory years of primary schooling. In a typical village, it is likely that a family is going to be polygamous with the man having several wives and many children. Most homes are built from packed earth and the roofs are thatched with straw. The house is likely to have two rooms and younger children will generally share their sleeping room, often sleeping on the floor with shared beddings. On a normal school day they children will wake up at around 5:30 am to prepare for school. The child will most likely have taken a bath the previous evening and so the morning will involve washing the face to make it clean. The older children will have to divide chores such as sweeping the house, preparing breakfast, milking the family cow and tethering the animals before they dash off to school, which is likely to be about 5 kilometers away on average. Breakfast is going to consist of a mug of sorghum porridge with or without sugar.

School is likely to begin anywhere between 7:30 and 8:00 am so most children will leave home at about 6:30 am since there is no organized school transport, for the long trek to school. On many occasions however, it is not surprising for more than half the children to come to school on an empty stomach since there may not be any food back at home. For some of them the only hope will be a school meal where that is made available. School dropout rates are high where meals are not offered in poor neighborhoods.

The heavy war that took place in Rwanda destroyed the schools infrastructure. Many describe schools as simply shells consisting of walls with gaping holes or doors and windows which do not have any grills or window panes. Many school buildings were also destroyed so it is not strange to find other children learning under trees. On average the teacher student ratio in many primary schools is about 1:80. When it comes to supplies needed to facilitate learning, the priority is basically pen and paper, with children sharing text books due to the scarcity in many rural schools. Most children will learn about computers in high school or college. There is however a lot of rehabilitation especially where infrastructure is involved thanks to assistance from the international community.

School normally begins at 8:00 am with a regular routine of cleaning up the compound by picking all the garbage before going for assembly where the teachers on duty will make announcements and do a routine check up for hygiene. The teacher will check for which children may not be in a semblance of uniform, did not cut their nails, or their hair is unkempt. These children may get a punishment, which involves receiving strokes of the cane. The regular lessons are 35 minutes long and subjects are taught either in French or in the local language for the elementary classes. There is usually a short break at 10:00 or 10:30 am of 10 to 30 minutes in length. There are likely to be no balls at the break so boys will fashion their own soccer balls using plastic bags which they bundle together by using twine. After a second session of classes children will break for lunch which takes about one hour. Many schools supply lunch which consists of plantain bananas and groundnut sauce. In the schools where this is not provided, most children will go without a meal as they wait for the afternoon lessons. Teachers usually have to do with the few supplies that are available and most of the time they improvise in order to have any teaching aids. The basic teaching materials the teacher will get are a few text books and they have to improvise ways in which they will be shared among the students. There is currently a great deal of emphasis from various organizations to jump start the education programs through provision of some basic salaries because teachers are de-motivated due to small and irregular payments. The afternoon session begins at 2:00 pm and will end at about 3:30 pm. For the children in the upper classes there will be one more period where some extra curricular activities are undertaken, but this is more often than not done once or twice a week. Extra curricular activities usually include dance, music, drama, debating or anything that the environment may allow. As soon as school is over, the children will begin the long trek home getting home as late as 5:30 pm. The first assignment for them at home is to pick up the water containers and rush to the river to replenish the water supply at home. It is during this trip to the river that most of them will take their bath and run back home with 20 liter water containers balanced on their heads. The older children will have the responsibility of bathing their younger siblings since their parents are likely to be busy working in the farm.

After getting back from the river there will be very little time for any playing because of the other household chores waiting for them, this may include cleaning up the compound before looking for supplies from the family garden to prepare for supper before darkness sets in. There is no electricity so any homework must be done before darkness sets in and for the lucky ones, there will be a kerosene lantern which will have to be shared as homework is done in a hurry.

After dinner is done, which is usually about 7:00 pm the children will do the dishes before embarking on homework for the older ones, the younger ones will jump to bed immediately. Homework must be done in a hurry because the kerosene lantern could run out of fuel. There is no supervision from parents to make sure that homework was done so it is mainly a solo exercise for every child who must do their homework. On a few occasions those who live with grandparents may share the evening with them in a story time session where a few family values are usually exchanged. Come 9:00 pm the whole village is dark and quiet because everyone has gone to sleep. One popular game among Rwandese children is called Gutera Urigiza. Gutera Uriziga is a fun outdoor game played by children of all ages requiring 4 or more players. All they require to play the game is usually 1 stick (approximately 1.5 metres/5 feet long) per player; 1 large hoop and it will take between one and two minutes per round. The aim of the game is to throw your stick through the hoop and accumulate the most points. To play Gutera Uriziga, one child is chosen as the leader. This leader is given the hoop. All players stand shoulder to shoulder in a straight line holding their sticks. The leader stands about 15 meters (50 feet) in front of the group but over to one side. The players get ready to throw their sticks. On the word 'Go' the leader rolls the hoop in front of the players. The players then try to throw their sticks through the rolling hoop. If the player is successful in throwing their stick through the hoop they receive one point. When players have ended the game the winner is the player with the most points. The size of the sticks and the distance thrown is usually adapted to suit the age of the children and the size of the hoop.

On the evenings when there may not be school work to be done, the children in the village will be found playing together and one of the major activities may include song and dance. Music is a vital tool used in strengthening family and social ties as well as educating the children in cultural values. Children will be singing, dancing and clapping. Some schools are using this cultural vehicle to spread news about the dangers of HIV/AIDS among school going children.