The other side of a gym

At 5:00pm I enter into a certain building in Kigali. I find middle-aged men, women and high schools students. They are all jumping up and down. Their armpits are wet though I can’t tell you about the odour as it was not part of my mission. This group is in the coordinated training exercise led by an instructor. This is a gym or gymnasium. I am told a gym, a.k.a health club or fitness center is a place which houses equipment for the purpose of physical exercise. And in Kigali, some hotels have them. But full- fledged fitness centres are sprouting up in this city owing to the increasing demand for them. The new trend nowadays is for the working class to leave their offices in the evening and go to ‘work out’ –carry some weights, ride on stationary machines or bicycles, make some jumps and etcetera. In this way they are keeping their much-cherished bodies physically fit.The gyms are fast- becoming a common place for those who want to shape their bodies or reduce weight as advised by health experts. It’s a beehive of activities where trainees give their best for they have a goal to achieve-a healthy and fit body.And indeed some of those who have utilised these facilities confess they have gained tremendous results, actually more than they had expected. “I came here weighing 90 kilos but now I weigh 82,” says Lydia a regular trainee at Bet Fit 24 Hours, a popular gym in Kicukiro. For Patrice, his constant visit to the fitness center has brought back happiness in his life as the size of his belly has subsided. “My friends used to tease me because of the potbelly I was carrying. It forced me to join the gym and now the big tummy has vanished,” he says, urging others out there to enroll. But gyms have different benefits too. They are playing socio-economic roles that their inventors might not have foreseen when they came up with the idea. A modern gym has become a place for networking. People from different organizations, backgrounds, religious sects, schools, countries, meet there. And some have gone on to create Facebook and Twitter pages to chat, update members on upcoming training lessons or current affairs and entertain each other. For those looking for love and ‘side dishes’ the gym is one of the best places to find romance. Interviewees contacted confess they have found their sweethearts and friends here. It’s the reason why some spouses insist on coming together with sweethearts here, not to exercise but to keep watch of ‘the would-be encroachers’. “People have come, strangers to each but have ended up becoming couples,” says Stella, a gym attendant in town, adding that she has witnessed the marriage of two couples who met in her gym. The gym too has become a hot spot for marketing. Representatives of various companies and corporates have found here an opportunity to promote the services and goods they offer. Luke, an IT consultant, says, “I have made some lucrative deals from this place. Someone I met here introduced me to his bosses. They have given me a contract to supply their company with IT solutions.” For Mimi, a city hairdresser, the gym has given her body fitness and clients: “Most ladies in this gym are my clients. They have supported me for the last two years to the extent that sometimes I make their hair even when they don’t have cash to pay me.” But others have used the gym network to grab jobs for themselves. A Kenyan friend I met in this gym offered me a job. He asked me if I could market their services, I accepted and I am happy now for the job has changed my life positively,” says Emmanuel, working with a brokerage firm as a sales executive. But for James, a high school student, the gym has given him chance to interact with engineers, doctors, marketers, teachers. The professionals, he says, give him advice on how he can improve his grades. “These people give me career guidance and I think I have an edge over my classmates,” he says. For others, the gym is not only a fitness centre. The fact that we do some exercises as music plays somehow I have improved my dancing skills,” says Clarisse, adding that she doesn’t have time for actual dance classes.