As many Rwandans have been recalling what it was like to be unsafe during the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994, this was a question I was forced to ask myself quite a few times during a recent work trip to Northern Europe even though I often take calculated risks in my professional and personal life, such as moving to Rwanda with three bags and a cat three years ago. According to US psychologist Abraham Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’, safety is the second most fundamental requirement of being human, just after basic physiological factors, such as getting enough food, drink and sleep. Safety can come in many different forms - including physical, social, psychological and medical – and impacts our lives in multiple ways, even if we are not always conscious about it. Research shows that we might determine if we are safe many times a day and it takes our brain only about a fifth of a second to take a first impression of a new person, object or situation and decide if we should take fright, take flight or fight. We may not encounter snarling, sabre toothed tigers anymore but what about that person coming towards you on a narrow street in an unfamiliar neighborhood? According to further research, humans tend to focus in order on the other person’s appearance and then their perceived gender, age and physical ability. Is that young, tattooed man wearing sunglasses because he has a visual impairment, because the sun is out, as a fashion statement or to mask his identity? I was reminded of this research in relation to physical and social safety one early morning in a seemingly rough area of a European capital city I was visiting last week. I had just tried to protest at that country’s refusal to grant a tourist visa to my Rwandan wife Merveille, preventing her from coming on the trip. Alas, it was in vain. I was not in a good mood and slumped down on a bench in a small park nearby. I tried to collect my thoughts and lift my spirits. I then noticed a small commotion near me. Three young white men had surrounded another young Arab-looking man and seemed to be harassing him both verbally and physically. One of them put on an unusual red and yellow armband that I had never seen before but it did not look like a police one. Possibly some kind of militant group? I watched for a few more seconds in alarm and pondered if and how to intervene. I did not see any weapons but I suddenly thought that they might have knives hidden and I might be a desirable target too as my ancestors were originally from Lebanon and Persia and there was no one else around. I realized that I was definitely not safe. What to do? I quickly decided that as an expectant father, it was not the time to try to be a hero. Instead I got up, walked in a large semi-circle around them and immediately found a city official nearby to report the incident to. Hopefully, he reported it to the police right away and they were able to break up the squabble safely. But what if that did not happen? Could and should I have done more to help someone else be safe while remaining safe myself? These questions haunted me for the rest of my trip and they still do now. What would you have done? Psychological safety is gaining increasing prominence in many workplaces where leaders are trying to encourage greater inclusion, transparency and engagement with and within their teams. I was in Europe to work with a group of emerging global leaders, who were finally meeting each other - mostly for the first time - after four postponements due to Covid. With help from their facilitators – not me - these leaders were able to create psychological safety for each other very quickly and showed remarkable openness and vulnerability in front of their peers. It will be a pleasure coaching five of these leaders over the next 18 months. I was also confronted by medical safety issues as many Northern Europeans are quite simply done with Covid restrictions – particularly masks - even if Covid might not be quite done with them as yet. Coming from cautious Rwanda, it was quite an adjustment to enter a restaurant or be on a train where many people were maskless and relatively close to each other. What to do? Freedom or Safety? Safety won and I kept both my mask on and my distance at all times when I was indoors, even if I got some quizzical looks. In the end it was worth it, as both my Rapid Test before returning to Kigali and my PCR test on arrival back at KGL airport were both negative. I was safely home in all respects. And very grateful to be able to take calculated risks again back here in the relative safety of Rwanda. “Tomorrow – your reward for working safely today,” says Canadian academic, Robert Pelton. This is the latest in a monthly series of personal columns, entitled “Letter from Kigali”. Each month, local resident and writer, Jeremy Solomons – who was born and educated in England of Jewish, Lebanese and Persian heritage and naturalized in the USA - shares a unique perspective on what is happening in Rwanda, Africa and the rest of the world. The views expressed in this column are entirely those of the writer who can be reached at jeremy@jeremysolomons.com
