The news from Rwanda

I've spent a lot of time reading newspapers these last few days, while lying around in my very comfortable guesthouse feeling generally rather ill.

Every Rwandan paper makes numerous references to the genocide, whether naming someone as a survivor, using it as the reference point from where initiatives and development are measured, or in the ongoing attempts to bring the perpetrators to justice and the refugees home. This is still so fresh and raw, yet how little we hear of it back home.

There's a lot in the news about projects tackling problems of poverty, orphans and HIV. This all seems very positive, especially as even articles praising progress or success always continue to say that there is still a long way to go. This is a country with huge problems in these area, but at least it seems to be being realistic.

The letters pages have given me some amusement. These letters appeared in the same paper on consecutive days:

Sensitize people on good body hygiene

It is my opinion that hygiene is an all round activity. For those of us that use public means face this awkward situation where people have a very nasty body odour that is shameful. It is very obvious that our people have not been sensitized on matters of the body hygiene.

It seems the social affairs officials at Midugungu level are doing nothing to the effect.

A good scent from the body is certainly a good habit and is healthy in the process of social interaction.

At times when one enters a taxi, is welcomed with such a bad smell from passengers that can force one to throw up if you had a heavy breakfast. It is very contrasting to have very clean roads while the bad smell that could have been from the garbage has been transferred to the people.

Apart from keeping streets tidy, the Ministry of Health or any other relevant authority must ensure that Rwandans do not smell bad like it is in many Nyabubogogo taxis.

- Don Corleone


Motor cyclists should maintain good hygiene

Through the New Times, I would like to sound my message loud and clear to my friends the motorists also referred to as Abamotari. I have of late discovered that some of them do not mind about their personal hygiene. They don't wash their cloths; they even don't bathe, or pay attention to the cleanliness of their motorbikes.

Though efforts have been made to reduce the number of accidents caused by motorcycles, the discomfort caused by their uncleanness should also receive the same attention.

The discomfort can also lead to an accident, as one tries to avoid the bad smell coming from the motorists, for example a passenger can avoid putting on the helmet or try to keep a further distance from the driver's dirty jacket.

True, putting on a helmet can save ones life in case of an accident, but also no one knows how much one suffers with a dirty helmet on his head.

(2 more paragraphs discuss the danger of broken visors)

When this package of cleanness is considered, I am very sure many passengers will have had their dream come true.

- Florence Munyeshuri


In a Ugandan newspaper I bought yesterday, the women's section had a full page spread on "Handy Gadgets" which caught my eye. Wondering what were the new and exciting household gadgets on offer in Uganda, I discovered the following:

An egg whisk - "Used for beating eggs"

Washing machine - "Doing the laundry requires a considerable number of hours and effort. With a washing machine your troubles will be a thing of the past"

A long handled broom - "You can buy one for Shs6,000 from Nakasweo market"

This all gave me food for thought, which I won't go into here.


And in Zimbabwe...

It seems that things in Zimbabwe have gone from bad to worse since I was there. Officially inflation is now at about 5000%, but this could be only half of the real figure. Three months ago, my US dollar bought me 20,000 Zim dollars. Now it would fetch 150,000 (or more, by the time you read this). And yes, the official rate is still 250.

Mugabe has again decided to curb inflation by slashing prices. All privately owned abbatoirs have been closed for charging the wrong prices and farmers won't sell their livestock to state owned ones because the prices they offer are impossibly low. So there is a meat shortage, and fears that wildlife will be poached - hardly surprising. 5,000 shop owners, managers and businessmen have been arrested for failing to reduce their prices by 50%. Mugabe has stated that he is committed to restoring "price stability" to protect ordinary consumers from "inexplicable price increases from profiteers."

I'm sure that any of my readers (are there still some?) who are in the least bit interested in this will know about it all already, and have better information than my Rwandan newspapers have given me. I record it here merely as part of my African musings to myself.