A fruit market full of flavours and colors, a café terrasse with young graceful women meeting on a Friday night, a street of barbershops where the latest music hits are played. These are not the typical pictures you would first associate with Rwanda. Yet, 21 years after the Genocide, Rwanda is in many ways a new country full of life, energy and hope for the future.
In every city, in every village, in every corner of this land, something is happening, a new story is being written. It is the story of Rwanda seen through the eyes of the millions of young people who for a large extent have not experienced the atrocities of the genocide.
More than two thirds of Rwandans are under the age 20. Their notion of identity, beliefs and culture is in many ways different from what one would expect from a post-conflict country. While latest mobile technologies have no secret for them, their views of marriage are very anchored in the cultural roots of Rwanda. They don’t define themselves as conservative or modern, Christian or Muslim, Tutsi or Hutu. What many see as contradictions are for them components of a new identity, proper to them and their époque.
Attempts to portray the new Rwanda in literature have been made by different authors of the older generation of Rwandans. But their upbringing in the four decades of dark history that preceded the 1994 Genocide do not always allow them to fully see their country’s transformation from a new perspective. Their fears and anxieties are unconsciously reflected in their writings. Similarly, foreign writers are unable to fully grasp the desire of Rwandans to challenge binary approaches to identity.
A proper understanding of Rwandan modern times imposes nonetheless a journey to the ancient pre-colonial times. For centuries, Rwandans relied on their culture of storytelling to transfer
knowledge and information from generation to generation. In a predominantly young society, growing fast both economically and culturally, making sure the Rwandan heritage is well and properly documented is a challenge to the new generation.
“Manners In Rwanda” book takes you to the green landscapes of Rwanda, through the eyes of its young people, at the crossroads between modern and traditional influences.
“Manners in Rwanda” book offers travel tips, cultural insights, vocabularies and language notes. It is a blend of classical and contemporary Rwanda. The book gives a comprehensive insight of a Rwandan way of life—giving a narrative of the ancient Rwanda, Rwandan housing, settlement, beliefs, clothing, sports, entertainment, wedding and intimacy, cuisine and so on. Marriage is a very fundamental aspect in Rwandan culture.
The book breaks down all the marriage rituals of the bride and bridegroom. The book explains Rwandan courtship, engagement, marriage, bridal shower, sex in marriage and many more interesting things. Sex and intimacy are key elements of a marriage. Young girls most of the time are being taught this matter by their female older relatives, not openely but by teaching them how to do the labia elongation (gukuna imishino), one of the sexual traditions (details cfr the book) to be done by most of the Rwandan females before they get married. Readers will have a basic knowledge on Rwandan culture, customs and Kinyarwanda language.
This book has been featured into the Netherlands Drongo Language Festival, and Frankfurt International book Fair, which said to be the biggest fair in the world. The book also highlights the Rwandan cultural values, detailing the Do’s and Don’ts and family ties and relations. Rwanda (like so many African cultures) does not have a long history of written literature, but there is a strong oral tradition ranging from poetry to folk stories. Many of the country’s moral values and details of history have been passed down through generations.
“Manners in Rwanda” book has been published in May 2015 by InkwaterPress, an American publishing house based in Portland, United States.
The book is best for:
Travelers or tourists to Rwanda
Professional readers who are into geography, places, cultures and history
Linguists who love learning your language
Decision-makers in the publishing industry who are on the lookout of unique genre and style
Academicians, librarians, students and bookstore owners
Rwandan and African book enthusiasts
Book investors of Rwanda and Africa’s pride
Friends of Rwanda
“Manners in Rwanda” book can be found on
Amazon.com, inkwaterpress.com, Barnes&Nobles, Powells, ebay, bol.com, etc… It can also be ordered via any bookstore by giving its ISBN which is: 9781629012544
In Rwanda, it’s in Ikirezi Library, Caritas, Excel Bookshop at MTN Center, School books distributors located at Gishushu and in the Duty free of Kigali International airport.
You can follow the author on:
Twitter: Joy Nzamwita
Facebook: Joy Uwanziga
