In Rwandan culture, when people have a baby, we congratulate them and tell them “musubireyo ntamahwa”, loosely translated as “there are no thorns in there, feel free to go back”. For some good time I have been under the impression that folks take this literally - if the way babies are dropping onto the planet is anything to go by. I don’t know if this rapid procreation is a result of the sexual hunger experienced within those months of not having sex after birth because some people act like they have finally been cut loose from bondage, hence going at it like rabbits and with no contraceptives whatsoever. I later found out that there is some sort of virus spreading and its biggest victims are newlyweds. Apparently these days, twins and triplets are the in thing since you can pop them out at once and retire. Most ladies today get married during or after completing university. They make babies, sometimes a handful in the briefest of spaces! The moment the first one is out, the second is in, and the moment it pops out the third is knocking at the door. The fourth is usually taking a lazy stroll but it gets there eventually. And don’t get it twisted; some of the people in this category are not as you would suspect – illiterate or with no means to buy contraceptives. On the contrary, some are educated and even financially stable and probably did an extra course on child bearing and were told it should be done at once! They don’t have time to have one baby, raise that one then go back to work and after some years get pregnant again and then get out of shape with baby wipes where their Mac powder used to be! Oh no! They are too cool for that.It’s amazing how the tables turn. Not long ago, village folks used to be the number one violators of family planning rules. City chaps would look at them and frown and question how hard it is to buy a condom! But now… the joke is on them. Even with financial stability, running a mini day care centre can’t be easy at all. I get a headache just by looking at some of these women with their kids in supermarkets and can’t imagine how they haven’t been detained in mental institutions.
