Shisha smoking has of late become very popular in Rwanda especially in Kigali. What is Shisha?  How is it smoked? What are the ingredients? How much is a smoking session?  Society Magazine’s Martin Bishop set out to find the answers.She took a deliberate deep breath of the tobacco smoke from the water pipe, before exhaling. The middle-aged lady in tight fitting jeans passed on the pipe to the girl next to her.  The slender girl took a deep breath as well. They chatted and laughed amidst the waft of smoke that filled the place. They had officially taken on the new trend in town. There is a new trend in Kigali among the youth and the corporate class - the craze of smoking Shisha also known as water-pipe smoking.  This practice has its origins from the Asia, Indian sub-continent and Eastern Mediterranean. Shisha smoking is now being offered and highly sought after at the numerous hangouts in Kigali.Some say its popularity also has a lot to do with the fact that some are unaware that there are health risks associated with smoking Shisha. There is also the misconception that since the smoke is passed through the water pipe, the water absorbs most of the toxins from the tobacco. Some people say it originated in Turkey over 500 years ago while others claim it came from Syria and India but no matter where it came from shisha landed here with a bang! The number of bars and cafes offering Shisha in Kigali has rocketed of late, almost all new hang-outs have Shisha on their carte du jour. According to Shisha enthusiasts, Lebanese Resto and Bar in Gikondo tops the list of best Shisha joints around Kigali.So naturally there was no better place to visit. I calledHassan Jammoul, the proprietor, a young man in his late twenties and he was more than willing to educate me on this new caprice. At first I was disappointed when I reached the joint around 7:40 pm and there was no one sucking on the long tube.But before I showed my frustration, a waitress strolled from the inner room delicately carrying a beautiful Shisha jar as if not to break it. My eyes followed her to where she placed it, next to two ladies who were chatting and drinking coffee. "What’s so intriguing about Shisha,” I later asked the two ladies. "I started smoking it two years ago. What I like about it is that it is not addictive. You can’t get it anytime you want like cigarettes so it’s not on your mind until you smoke it again. The flavours are sweet too. After smoking it, even the person next to you can’t tell that you smoked,” said one of them.Shisha is made of a number of components, four of which are essential for its operation. Bowl; this is a container usually made out of clay or marble that holds the coal and tobacco during the smoking session. The bowl is loaded with tobacco then covered in a small piece of perforated aluminum foil, glass or metal. Lit coals are then placed on top, which allows the tobacco to heat to the proper temperature. Hose; this is a slender flexible tube that allows the smoke to be drawn from a distance, cooling down before inhalation. The end is fitted with a metal, wooden, or plastic mouthpiece of different shapes, sizes, colour or material. Vase; Shisha’s body sits on top of the water jar, sometimes referred to as the vase or base. The downstem hangs down below the level of the water in the jar. Smoke passes through the body and out the downstem where it bubbles through the water. This cools and humidifies the smoke. The windscreen; this prevents wind from increasing the burn rate and temperature of the coal, and prevents ash and burning embers from being blown onto the surrounding environment. According to Hassan, the number of people jumping on the Shisha wagon is steadily increasing. "People in Kigali love Shisha especially females, in fact 80% of my clients are females,”he said.Shisha ingredients also contrast with the person making the Shisha. The flavours are often fruits like apples, peaches, berries, coconuts with vanilla. Hassan brags how he has more than 120 different flavours as opposed to his competitors who have about four or six.I chose to try out the vanilla flavoured Shisha. When it was brought, I took one deep pull and the smoke hit my virgin lungs like hot coals on a mattress! I coughed causing bouts of laughter from people around! The second and third pull wasn’t so bad. A normal shisha session lasts for about 40 minutes and it costs Rwf 5000 in most places in Kigali.An unknown danger?While many may argue that Shisha smoking is not harmful, medical experts say otherwise. Dr. Don Mulama, a medical expert at CHUK, said Shisha smoking is also addictive as it contains nicotine. "Shisha smoking can lead to physical addiction and can also create psychological and habitual dependence to the user,” he said."Some people say the water filter makes it safe, but the water filter is a ploy. Most of the toxic chemicals and nicotine are not water-soluble. So, they pass through the filter and are inhaled by a smoker,” he added.Meanwhile according to World Health Organisation (WHO) findings, a single session of smoking Shisha yields a nicotine intake equivalent to more than one pack of cigarettes. Although some joints offer disposable mouthpieces for better hygiene, some people usually pass around a shared mouthpiece from one mouth to another. In Kigali other places to find Shisha are Downtown, Carwash, Sundowner and Ogopogo to mention a few.

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The side effects of smoking shishaNumerous cafes and restaurants serving shisha or hubble-bubble have become a disturbing feature and pose a menace due to health hazards and air pollution. What is really serious about the phenomenon is that most shisha smokers wrongfully take to the hubble-bubble thinking that it poses only "light” health risks compared to the serious health-related complications of cigarette smoking.Medical experts have warned that shisha has a more perilous impact on health compared to cigarette smoking. They say most shisha smokers have a misconception based on a wrongful and unscientific notion that tobacco used in shisha is herbal and does not affect body organs.Medical experts have also cautioned that some of the hazards of smoking shisha are lung cancer and chronic obstructive lung disease, peripheral vascular disease, cardiovascular disease, coronary artery disease, hypertension, throat cancer and mouth cancer.Most people misleadingly believe shisha does not contain tobacco and that when they smoke they inhale herbal products. The added flavours make them feel they are smoking herbs, while they are actually taking in tobacco and are likely to become addicted to nicotine. Shisha smokers should realize that it is far more dangerous than cigarette smoking, because the amount of nicotine in shisha cannot be measured due to packing differences.Shisha is equal to smoking cigarettes, but a 60-minute shisha session produces 100 to 200 times more smoke than one cigarette. Shisha smokers should also be aware of the fact that when smoke goes through water, humidity in smoke increases, which then tends to stay for a longer time in the lungs. Some germs, mainly bacteria that cause tuberculosis, live in the shisha pipe.www.arabnews.com