This is the season where it can get cool and even cold, about a month ago it was warmer in London than in Kigali.

There is a strange correlation between weather patterns and birth rates. In UK more children are born in the summer as a result of winter loving, it makes sense biologically to give birth in a time of plenty and warmth.

In Rwanda, I see the same situation when it gets cold and rainy. There is something about the rain that just makes you want to sleep and curl up in bed, mabati makes it even sweeter.

Recently my friend was caught up in the mood, it was grey, cloudy, and cold and business at the office was slow. He promptly decided he wanted another child; he called his wife to suggest a lunchtime meeting to discuss and procreate. His wife laughed and asked if he was drinking in the morning, then hung up.

The next day it was sunny, bright, and work was hard at the office, he called me "I don’t know what I was thinking yesterday; imagine if I had made a child. I already have three; each has 2 years space between. It would have been silly.”

It is amazing how the weather and environment affects your moods and thoughts, in the village when it is hot nothing happens, the sun is avoided like it is radioactive. In the west, the cold weather and changes in season has given them an advantage in that they have had to adapt the environment to themselves or die.

Africans meanwhile, have just adapted to their environment and endured what is often changeable. Then there is the irony that the white man is trying to reconnect with nature for his long-term survival, while the black man is trying to disconnect from his environment for economic gain.

So Rwandans are stuck between what nature tells them and rationale, so the inbuilt mechanism tells you to procreate when you are cold, but economics and family planning say the contrary. So what do you believe?

In Rwanda we have a long-standing body of knowledge that is becoming obsolete. Resistance to change is always the first reaction. For example in Mutara, I was the first in my area to grow hybrid maize with higher yields. I offered free seeds for all who wanted but there was reluctance and almost hostility. When the crop rose quickly, I was laughed at but they soon came around.

So our planting season is the same in humans and the botanical world, this synchronized link with nature has helped us for thousands of years but is now a hindrance. Rwandans procreate not because they need to but that time and season dictates.

You plant at a certain time, you weed, you harvest, and you enjoy then plant again. The same applies to childbirth; it is done because the timetable says so. In this time when seasons are changing, it is impossible to rely on seasons to dictate our lives. For now we can enjoy the baby-making weather.

Ends