Kigali looks like this

I have been working at the Tubahumurize Association in Kigali, Rwanda for two months now. Looking back on my time here so far, I am amazed by how much I have learned and experienced. Not only is my work with the women of the Association challenging and interesting, but Kigali itself is a fascinating challenge.

My initial impressions of this city were disjointed and entirely unverifiable: strange smells (both fair and foul), gorgeously elaborate women’s fashion, mad traffic, a very elite elite, many begging children (one is too many), and warm breezes… I arrived in July, the height of the dry season, so the streets were very dusty. This made walking through the city feel like looking through someone else’s sepia print photos: everything was golden and faded, and I could never quite understand the whole story…

Kigali stretches over rolling hills in all directions, including up, up, up the steep sides of mountains. I had absolutely no sense of orientation at first, and the public transit system seemed to operate according to the law of entropy alone. For my first week or two here, the city seemed to reveal only an endless chaos. And I thought the dust would never settle…

But by the time the first sporadic rains started to fall in mid-August, I was finding Kigali to be much smaller and friendlier than I had initially perceived. What I at first took to be an intimidating madness, I soon recognised as the cumulative effect of many people just being a whole lot more relaxed than I am used to back home.

I now see the city’s many unnamed and unmapped streets an opportunity to work on my non-cartesian navigational skills, as well as a great excuse to talk to locals, who are generally very friendly and exceedingly helpful in giving directions (even walking me exactly where I need to go!)

After two months in Kigali, I find that I am now able to navigate my way around the city by bus, by mototaxi, and by foot with confidence. I may not get anywhere terribly quickly- nothing here seems to happen quickly- but I am learning to expect that, and to enjoy the ride more than anything.

Category: On location, Rwanda // Add Comment »