Oral East Africa>Part 2: Why Rwandese speak in tongues At the hut of the story

In Rwanda, you can tell that they are visibly shifting from French to English, because of how the French hangs around.

During my stay in Rwanda I was fascinated by this little boy, the child of a friend of mine that I had the opportunity to interact with.

I found that this kid is in grade 5, but he speaks English, he speaks French very well, and he speaks Kinyarwanda fluently.

That’s about the equivalent of about in class 5 in Kenya who, during our time, barely grasped English.

Funny thing you can learn from a little Rwandese kid. He told me that in their schools they teach in English. But when he started nursery, that is PP1, PP2, PP3, they were taught in French, both of which he speaks with fluency. So, all those languages are there. And now, they have introduced Kiswahili.

Ulimi wa Afrika Mashariki

You find that in Rwanda there, there are both systems of education, the anglophone and a francophone system. But both systems are somewhat integrated. So like in Anglophone system, in the education system, Anglophone system, they teach all the subjects in English. But now you do French as a subject.

Equally, in a Francophone system, they do all the subjects, all the learning is done in French. But now they do English as a subject. That's what I found.

That's what I found with the education system. But again, you find like, for example, in the Francophone system, a child from a lower class, we call them PP1, PP2, maybe grade 1, grade 2, he can be taught in English in early childhood. Then when he get to, for example, like, grade three, he turns and starts learning now in French.

There are some who know Kiswahili, but most of these did not learn it from school, they are likely to have been to the borders.

they know it not from school. But a number of people in Rwanda, they speak Kinyarwanda and French. And I will also interact with some fellows who they just know one or two words in French, but they speak English and Kinyarwanda. But now,

If you visit people who come from the border with Congo, like a place like called Kamembe on the Bukavu side, then you find people from also a place called Rubavu It is also a border of Rwanda and DRC in Goma so you find many people there speak Swahili now because of the DRC.

So it is relatively easy to visit Rwanda because they understand Swahili.

pothole index

Their President has really tried, Rwanda is a place where the government works for people, not like here in Kenya where people work for the government.

When you look at their roads, most of which are tarmacked, the roads have streetlights stretching from point A to Z. It is not like here in Kenya where you will only see street lights when you are now entering a center or a big town. In Rwanda all tarmacked government roads have street lights, and most importantly, all of them work.

If you find broken street lights in two or three days you’ll find that it is fixed. The Rwandese not only have systems in place, those systems are strong and they work.

Someone told me in Rwanda whenever the government makes a budget for a road, they also set aside money for maintenance. They maintain the road signs, the lights, potholes.

So, you will never drive in Rwanda and find potholes, or like in Kenya where you don't have markings, the roads are properly maintained. Roads are properly marked, all road signs, are properly placed and they are everywhere.

Now because the country is on a hilly landscape, you will find a lot of bends on their roads are in their bends. It is curvy like this, curvy like that.

And for those who have land bordering the road, you have to plant trees. So as you walk or drive by the roadsides look like forests, a lot of eucalyptus trees planted on both sides.

You will not find any fallow land like in Kenya where you drive past stretches of empty fenced lands, you have to plant trees. And the rules on trees there, you cut one you plant two. Even if the tree is you property you have to notify relevant authorities before you cut down the trees, and then you also plant the replacements.

I forgot to say, Rwanda by the way they drive on the right although their vehicles are left driving. Their motorbikes are also strictly regulated, they must have a helmet for both rider and passenger, and cannot carry two people. They also have number on their uniforms that is unique to them in that you can trace them with just that number.

Rwanda, have also really gone the green way, electric vehicles are a step ahead when compared to Kenya because they have the Yutong buses from China operating fully electrical. Even motorbikes are electric, and I saw very any EV stations for charging which shows very high levels of adoption.

Tech race

Despite their small size, I can tell you Rwanda has really tried to compensate with technology. I have not been to any country with that many speed cameras, and I think Rwanda is ahead in technology.

Technology in terms of road safety there are speed cameras everywhere. And mark you driving in Rwanda the speed limit is 60 kilometers per hour with a few places where you can go at 80.

If you drive past the limit, the cameras take a photo of you and send you a fine instantly on your phone depending on the level of your infraction and you have to pay in 72 hours.

If you do not pay within the stipulated time they will trace your car to any location, tow it away. You will then have to pay double the fine and if it is so bad you can even go to jail for seven days.

The camera technology is not only used in speed, is you drive without a seatbelt, or use your phone while driving, you will get sighted and fined.

Then unlike Kenya where we have insurance stickers on the windscreens, there, nothing can be stuck on it, they want it clear and clean. So insurance is just another document you carry inside the car. Then the police can check your driving license by dialing some numbers a phone.

And those cameras are stationed everywhere in like a distance of every one or two kilometers. They are virtually everywhere in Rwanda, I am not just talking about Kigali, everywhere on all government tarmac roads.

And it is not just cameras, drones are the ones that transport blood from the blood bank and drugs from government warehouses.

I saw other things, there are places where there is free working WiFi, and there is an application which once you have it you can just enjoy the free internet services. So I would say, in terms of technology, these brothers have tried a lot.