Walking

‘Walking’ in Rwanda does not mean the same as ‘walking’ in Australia. If you are rich enough to drive a car or a motorbike, on any road you will come across thousands and thousands of people walking on the side of the road. Many of them carry something on their heads. What are they doing? Where are they going? Why walking?
Few people walk in Australia. Pedestrians are becoming an endangered species. Over there, you walk in circles at Centennial Park – you do some ‘power walk’ because you have heard that it is good for your cardio vascular system and you may even lose a few kilos in the process. If you are not that type of person, perhaps you take your little dog for a stroll around the block.
Here in Rwanda I haven’t seen any power walker or any doggie being taken for his ‘walkie’. Here people walk as part of their daily routine activities. It is quite normal to walk10 or 15 kilometres and back to go to the shops. You need water? Five kilometres to the nearest river. Time to start cooking, let’s go and get some wood first. The cow is hungry; let’s go to the field to get some tall grass etc. In all cases carry your load on your head, keep walking, don’t complain and make sure you greet everyone you come across: mwaramutse, mwiriwe, Amakuru?, Komera, muraho. Shake many hands. Warm greetings reduce distances quite noticeably...