Confronting child drowning in Rwanda’s water bodies

It’s about 8:30am as I set out on a tour to explore Rwanda’s natural beauty. After about five hours drive from the country’s capital, Kigali, I am spellbound by the natural wonders of the crystal blue waters of Lake Kivu. Yet, behind Rwanda’s largest water body, which overlooks the lush forested hills that cover the picturesque landscape of Mushonyi in Rutsiro District lies a sad story. ACP Elias Mwesigye addresses fishing cooperatives operating in Lake Mugesera “Don’t…don’t take another step; do you want to commit suicide!” a young boy in his early teenage years, who only identified himself as Kwizera, yelled at me as he attempted to prevent me from potentially drowning. His still has a vivid memory of a colleague who drowned a few days back. “That’s deep end. No one goes there; the other day I told my friend to swim from there but he refused and he drowned.” Kwizera was here that day to pay tribute to his deceased friend Hubert. Kwizera’s tale aroused my curiosity and prompted me to make an inquiry into the life of children whose families live near water bodies. Rwanda boosts of 34 water bodies, with 21 inland lakes, three others—Kivu, Rweru and Cyohoha—shared with DRC and Burundi—in addition to 10 lakes in the gazetted Akagera National Park plus River Akagera. I took a boat cruise across to the shores of Lake Kivu in Nkora, where I met Esperance Mukarutabana, whose son Olivier Nishimwe drowned in November last year. On the other side of the lake in Kaguriro, we find a group of about 20 pupils swimming. The story is still the same as they recall their colleague, who drowned in November 2018. Ferdinand Bukedusenge of Cyiramuruzi Sector, Gatsibo District lost his 11-year son on the morning of January 26, 2018 as he drowned in Lake Muhazi where he had gone to fetch water. The boy, who didn’t know how to swim, tried to catch a jerrycan that had slipped from his hands. It was 6am and he alone. Down in Ngoma District, Ladouce Nizigiyimana recalls two children as young as 10 years, who drowned in Lake Mugesera. “They were grazing livestock and collecting firewood, they went to swim and when one tried to save the other, they both ended up drowning.” Statistics by the Rwanda National Police (RNP) Marine Unit indicate that about 30 per cent of drowning cases recorded last year involved children. At least six out of ten cases of drowning in Lake Burera last year were children. Five of the eight people that drowned in January this year are also children. Who’s to blame? Andre Bizimungu, the Chairman of COPAC, a coffee cooperative on Gishamwano Island in Lake Kivu, believes that parents are not doing enough. “In September last year, a boy drowned; he had left home early in the morning and parents realised that their child was missing the following morning when they were called that the body of their son has been retrieved from the lake. That’s a high level of irresponsible,” says Bizimungu. He adds: “Water incidents are different; you will not lose a leg or an arm like road accidents… you either survive with no injuries or die but higher chances are that you will die and parents should understand that, prevent their children from playing with jaws of death.” “What would you expect at this time of the hour (7 pm) with those children still outside there with no one attending to them and their parents are actually feeling comfortable at home in absence of their children,” Theoneste Bahati, a fisherman at Lake Kivu says as he points at about eight children swimming in Lake Muhazi. “These are challenges we encounter everyday—children playing in the lake even on deep and dangerous shores. We are now working with marine to keep them off the shores of water bodies and also sensitizing neighbouring communities on protecting children from drowning,” Bahati says. Families living around water bodies and fishermen say cases of children drowning have significantly reduced thanks to increased Police marine operations and public awareness campaigns. By comparison, according to statistics from Police, drowning cases reduced by 32 per cent last year compared to the previous year. At Lake Burera, for example, no drowning case has been registered since the beginning of this year. Close to 100 substandard boats have been seized. According to the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Elias Mwesigye, the Commanding Officer of the Police Marine Unit, preventing child from drowning falls under their day-to-day duties, especially through awareness. “The majority cases of drowning are caused by the inability to swim, swimming in undesignated and dangerous areas, others are overpowered in the process of rescue, unattended children and parents who send children to fetch water alone even when it’s dark,” Mwesigye said. “As Marine, teachers, communities and fishing cooperatives we are working together to find safer options; we are saying that children should use specified safer shores for swimming, have specific hours for fetching water where elders under the community arrangement, will be there to ensure the safety of children and intervene in case of any incident.” The marine unit was established in 2005 to ensure safety and security in water bodies including enforcing water traffic regulations, search and rescue operations in waters, combat illegal fishing and protection of marine environment. editorial@newtimesrwanda.com

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Confronting child drowning in Rwanda’s water bodies