Upcountry Insight: Life in Kirehe

If you visited Kirehe district, you would be forced to change the way you think about poverty. The general misconception has it that villages are places of poor people living in a state of hopelessness. I have also lived with similar thinking until recently. What dawned on me is that if people are given freedom, they will prosper. This is what I gathered upon visiting Kirehe. Another thing you will notice is that poverty is generally man made and therefore it’s the people to unchain themselves from its ills. The residents of Kirehe have gone about freeing themselves from the bondage that goes with poverty in a way that is actually fascinating. They have made life so easy to live in the town center of Kirehe to the extent that they can attract some people who have vowed to live and die in town. The ordinary villager’s daily schedule is fascinatingly less stressful.“When I wake up early in the morning I move round my banana plantation to see if all is well. From there, I go to see how my two Friesian cows are fairing. At around mid-day I would go back to see if my hens, rabbits, have what to eat,” Jean Paul Uwamungu, a resident of Kirehe said. This is a daily routine for such a villager-clean, free from stress and yet producing enough. In the evening when ‘Kigalians’ or other town dwellers across the country, rush for refreshments depending on one’s taste and preference, the villagers of Kirehe would take up the after hours under smart grass thatched houses to unwind in their own unique ways. They would be served similar beverages, but have the chance to test the original traditional wine. There is a difference. The difference is that the villager will retire home early- as soon as it darkness, whereas town dwellers will continue to late hours. Here again the villager of course ‘steals the show’-the longer you stay, the more you regret the expenditure the next day. “I am a saved person. So I rarely go out and when I do, I drink a soda and go back home. But even those who drink alcohol don’t stay long in the night, except the known but few drunkards,” Emmanuel Rutinduka, 55, said. I noticed from the discussions I carried out with residents that a typical villager in Kirehe has thus enough food in terms of quality. The observation of course excludes the lazy. Transport and communication A typical villager in Kirehe has a bicycle. Those who do not have can pay taxi fares, to move from one point to another. The production system within Kirehe ensures this. It is also interesting to note that a substantial chunk of villagers own mobile phones. “My mobile phone helps me to communicate with my fellow business women and men. When I want to know what is on demand, I just call my client in Kigali or elsewhere,” Claudette Mukandutie, 36, a business woman clarified. When you travel in the taxis that are popularly known as Twegerane, you will notice there are so many women doing business within the district. They are primarily responsible for taking produces to the markets. Ironically, men remain behind as their principle responsibility is tending the banana plantations and cows. Is it Gender equality surfacing? No one is sure. Clothes and cosmetics A villager in that part of the world dresses like a city dweller in Kigali, at a relatively cheaper bargain. “Our clothes are cheap, but quality is assured. We mainly purchase the second hand clothes which are abundantly available here in our markets,” Samuel Karunzira explained.The costs average Rwf 2,000 for a full set.“It is a matter of selling one hen at Rwf 3,000 and you are all set,” he added. Surprising but true, is the reality that even those who like cosmetics get them. You know because of technology and the media, even in the remotest parts of Rwanda, the young ones in this part of the country use them. These are readily stocked in the markets and young boys and girls go for them.“I go to markets frequently to buy deodorants and other forms of cosmetics,” said a young girl of about 17 years. Child labour and illiteracy Lack of family planning seems to be the great undoing of a typical villager in Kirehe. It is not strange to find a single family having an excess of 8 children.“People here produce so many children. Feeding them is therefore a problem,” Jennifer Gahongayire, a business woman based in the region observed. There is also a significant cycle of illiteracy among the locals. You find couples that have never been to school, not caring to keep children in school, especially the girl child. Girls spend most of their time doing domestic chores while boys are widely engaged in doing farm work like tending bananas and taking food stuff to markets. There is thus an unspoken child labour in this part of the country. Ends