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5 CULTURAL SHOCKS AFTER MOVING TO RWANDA
Aug 24, 2021
5 CULTURAL SHOCKS AFTER MOVING TO RWANDA
I frequently get messages from people interested in moving to Rwanda. Well, in this post I want to share, no I want to warn you, about the biggest cultural shocks I experienced, when I moved to Rwanda.
You must be thinking ‘Theo, ain’t you Rwandan? How can you be culturally shocked about your own culture? Well, let me explain. I’m a Rwandan diaspora. I was born in Rwanda, but like many Rwandans my family fled the country in 1994 in search for a safer place to live. We lived in different countries for a while, our family even got separated for a few years before we got reunited again in the year 1999 in the Netherlands. We eventually got political asylum and I grew up and lived in the Netherlands for the past 20 years until last year. That’s when I moved back to my motherland to start a business.
Even though I am 100% Rwandan, and I speak the language and everything, I still have a very much western view of the world because that’s where I grew up, that’s where I got education and most of my life experiences. So when I moved here, there were certain things that kind of shocked me.
I’m going to share with you the 5 culture shocks that I experienced after moving back to Rwanda.
#1 Things runs out
Here in Rwanda, there is no guaranteed supply of anything. Tap water? Runs out
Electricity? Runs out
Anything you find on a menu in a restaurant, can and will run out.
Even Heineken in a Heineken bar runs out haha. When you are late at a lunch buffet restaurant, you will find that half of the food has run out but you will pay the full price though. Cocktail Bars run out of alcohol, the same way hospitals run out of medicine, and fruit vendors run out fruits.
This happens quite a lot here. There are many reasons as to why this happens. But it’s mostly because of production and supply chain issues I have been told. There is not much you can do, other than pick the one thing that they do have available.
#2 Dating
When it comes to dating, I only have experience with dating Rwandan girls.
When it comes to dating a local, not very rich, Rwandan girl, there are 2 things that shocked me the most:
1) As a man you’re expected to pay for everything involving all your dates! From phone credits to make the appointment, to lunch & dinner, to the transportation to bring her to the date and back home. I made a more detailed video about dating Rwandan women, check it here.
There are some exceptions to this of course. But I was not used to this. All the girls I ever dated in the Netherlands came with their own money. Usually I would pay for the symbolic first date but soon after we would go DUTCH. Splitting everything half/half. Here in Kigali I was starting to wonder if these girls are not just using me for my money. But once you get past the first 2-3 dates you’re able to easily differentiate whether a girl is into you for you or for something else.
2) Most Rwandan girls don't have their own private areas, as they tend to live with their families until they get married.
And If you have your own independent crib, they love to come and visit. And sometimes spend the night, or a weekend or an entire week. They don’t seem to have any GAHUNDA. Any sense of urgency to go or do something else. The more private your house is, the longer they stay!
#3 Coming on time
Rwandans have a serious issue with time. It’s more problematic than you think. Especially if you are doing business, like me, here. No-one comes on time. Not your boss, not your partner, not your contractors and not even your employees.
People come so late to anything, church services, weddings AND even funerals are not exempted.
My umukozi, the lady who does my house chores, takes her sweet time when she’s working. For example, she cooks a meal in 2,5 hours on average. I replicated that exact meal and I finished it in one hour. And going to restaurants is even worse. They will look you dead in the eye, and promise that your food will be done in 30 minutes! Don’t believe them, it won’t be!
#4 Customer Service
Rwandans do not know what customer service is. It’s almost non-existing. You will get better service in high-end places that are more geared to tourists and foreigners.
If you call a company, the conversation will most likely go like this: …hello? …. Hello.., *silence*… is this company x?.... yes… *silence*.. Can you help me ? … *silence*..
I have a theory about this: In western countries, employees always give you this fake smile as if they are really happy to see. Whereas in fact they are not, they are just doing this to not too lose their jobs. Whereas in Rwanda, they are so pure and honest that they don’t fake being happy if they’re not.
#5 Staring
Omg, Rwandans love to stare. They will stare at you, if you are rich, they will stare at you if you are poor, if you are tall, beautiful, ugly, short, a woman, a man or anything in between. This is something that I have never seen anywhere else in the world to this extent. You might be asking why they are staring so much? To be honest, other than just being curious I don’t know and I don’t think that most Rwandans are aware of it either.
I did find out that this staring comes with a secondary bad habit. And I did not know how bad this habit could be, until my girlfriend, who is also a Diaspora Rwandan, came to visit me.
Apparently, Rwandans don’t only stare at you, they also make remarks about you. I never really paid attention to it, because I walk around with headsets and am busy with other stuff when outside. But after my girlfriend pointed it out, I could hear it loud and clear. The thing is, it’s not only strangers from the streets talking about you, it is often also family members!
I also found out that my girlfriend got significantly more stares and remarks than I did. And they were much more negative. This hit a particularly sore spot because that’s exactly what happens in Europe as well. Women of color get more unwanted remarks and attention than any other group of people. From men and women.
So this shocked me tremendously that it happens in Rwandan as well and I honestly don’t know what to do about this. My way of dealing with it is to ignore it. I am good at ignoring stuff. I do sometimes engage in it if it's someone close to me.
Let me know what culture shocks you’ve experienced coming to Rwanda.
Thank you for reading.
Muramuke!
How to Enter Rwanda. 3 things needed
Working in Rwanda - 5 things you should know about working a professional job in Rwanda I recently started working a job, at a desk with a manager, colleagues, and stuff. It has been a real eye-opening experience working for someone again and having Rwandan colleagues who are young, very talented, and solving some of Rwanda’s biggest societal issues & challenges. So in this new blog post, I want to share with you; 5 things you should know about working a professional job in Rwanda. I’ll be talking about work benefits, colleagues, and work culture. And at the end, I’ll be sharing tips on how you can get a professional job in Rwanda as well. I moved to Rwanda to start my own business, a gym. The pandemic hit my business sector hard and I got in a position where I had lots of the time leftover because the gyms were closed. Around the same time, I was made aware of this unique job opportunity. I had time to kill and I could use some extra money, so I applied and got. That’s how I started working part-time as a Content Creator Consultant at a Rwandan tech company called Irembo. A few months after landing this job, I got a second part-time job. This one was for Media Marketing and Communications. Even though I really pursued a job in Rwanda, I have learned something new. Now that I am working these jobs, I realized it’s actually not that bad to work a job in Rwanda. Well, let’s say it’s pretty good. I have learned so many things I didn't know before. And for those of you who are also interested in working in Rwanda, here are 5 things I have learned about working a job, in Rwanda 1. Salary is variable You can negotiate a lot, especially if you are bringing unique skills or experience to the Rwandan job market. The salaries are quite competitive… if you don’t compare them to salaries in western countries. You can live very comfortably here in Rwanda if you are getting about $1000 a month after taxes. Whereas you might need $3000 to live a comfortable life in Europe or $4000 dollar in the United States. Also, you can get paid in foreign currency like the Dollar or Euro, if you are working for a foreign company. This is particularly handy because the Rwandan franc has a high inflation rate. 2. Time is somewhat flexible We all know about the cliché ‘African Time’. I thought that it would not exist in a professional context, but it does. Of course not in an exaggerated manner. For example, the hours people start working are very vague… sometimes they start at 8, sometimes at 9 or 10. And people still tend to be late for meetings. Not very much but still it is rare that physical meetings start at the exact time. Virtual meetings, on the other hand, do start on time. 3. Working benefits Work benefits vary tremendously depending on the company and your position. There is variation in allowances, retirement accounts, 13th month, and travel and home office expenses getting paid. Because I am not full-time employed, I don’t get all the benefits. But after I read them, I was definitely enticed to consider a full-time position 4. Multilingual colleagues In most professional high-paying jobs, everyone speaks at least 2-3 languages. So this is great for foreigners, you won’t feel left out because most of the people are not speaking their native language. Especially at my tech job, there is so much talent from different African countries. 5. There are a lot of job openings! This is the thing that surprised me the most because I hear so many people say they can’t find a job in Rwanda. Now that I’m actually working for a company, I’m realizing how many job opportunities there are here in Rwanda. Basically, every company is always in need of new fresh talent in all positions of the company. The problem is, many of the new jobs that become available within a company never get published outside the company. There is also a lot of job-hopping being done inside companies. Not only directors but also entry-level employees get promoted. Because of this, there are constant shifts being made in companies and a constant flow of job openings. This does not only happen in Rwanda I have been told, but it means that if you are really looking for a job, there are many jobs available. You might be wondering. How can I get a job in Rwanda? Honestly, I don’t know enough yet. But can maybe tell you how I got my 2 jobs, and who knows, this might help you. I got my first job about a year ago at the beginning of 2021. I was made aware of this job opening at a Rwandan tech company called Irembo. How? You ask? Well, because of my videos on youtube. Apparently, one of the recruiters got wind of my videos, checked my other social media platforms like LinkedIn, and got my number through a mutual friend. The job offered was a was not full-time and the salary was seemed oké for Rwandan standards. I don’t know if I am allowed to discuss the exact amount I am getting. According to my contract, I am not allowed to discuss the contract details elsewhere, without written consent. What I can say is that it’s above the typical average Rwandan salary. I didn’t negotiate much because this looked like an exciting job opportunity that came at the right time. For my second job, I got approached by a Moroccan French guy, who was working on a project to establish the e-commerce sector in Rwanda. He saw my videos when he was looking up information about Rwanda. He got in contact with me and educated me about the project. It was a very interesting project so I helped out a bit for free with some content creation. I was planning on making a youtube video about it after it was launched. But then a job position became available, to work as a media marketing and communication expert, so I applied and got the position. This project is more like a start-up and is funded by the Rwandan government and the German giant company GIZ. They pay very well and the challenge here is even greater as I get to lead a small team. In conclusion, I got both my jobs through my social media presents. And that is really what I would advise anyone to do if they are seriously looking for a job in Rwanda. You don’t have to have a youtube channel like me, but you can at least open or update your LinkedIn and Twitter account regularly. Then comes the next question; WHY!? You might be wondering why an entrepreneur like me, who vowed to work for himself to have the freedom to do what he wanted, when he wanted, is now going to work for someone else. Well, I have 4 short & key reasons why. 1. Time To be clear, my first priority and first love here in Rwanda is my gym business. These jobs are both not part-time and they allow me to have the time to operate my other businesses like personal training, youtube, and online consultancies on the side. 2. Money This is, I think, the main reason why everybody gets a job right? This was a great way to earn money, while my gyms business was running slow due to the pandemic restrictions. 3. Connections Having colleagues and meeting new people is something that will benefit me and my business in the long run. As an entrepreneur, I normally don’t have a lot of time to meet other people outside my industry. 4. The Challenge I like challenging myself in the gym and outside the gym as well. Thus working 2 part-time jobs and running my business is one of the greatest challenges I have ever faced in my life. And I like to think that I can do this. I’m multi-talented, I’m good at learning new skills, leading people, and solving problems. And I get to contribute to Rwanda’s development from a different angle. I must say I do have less freedom at the moment. I am working 12-14 hours a day and I have less time for youtube, unfortunately. That’s the price to pay I guess. If you are interested in getting a job in Rwanda, especially a skilled job, I have link-up some job openings in the description of the YouTube video below. Who knows, we might be working together someday. Thank you for reading. Muramuke!
The pandemic is not over yet. Things to do in Kigali during a pandemic are far & few. But going quad riding is a guaranteed fun one! We did this activity before the 3rd lockdown. We went quad riding in Nyamirambo at Fazenda Sengha. You can visit their website www.senga.com for information on the activities and prices. We took the 15min trip. I must say that we had so much fun that we regretted not booking the 30 minute trip. Thanks for reading. Muramuke !
14 Things I wish I knew before moving to Rwanda
Getting Rwandan citizenship is not easy but it’s definitely worth it. Especially if you are of African descent or Rwandan diaspora. In this blogpost, I share with you the 5 ways you can become an African citizen, by getting Rwandan Citizenship. By territory If you’re born in Rwanda to non-Rwandan parents, you can apply for citizenship once you turn 18. Before that you carry your parent’s nationality. By origin By marriage By recovery Naturalization Bonus Ready to apply for your Rwandan citizenship? Follow the steps here www.migration.gov.rw
There are a lot of things to do in and around Kigali, but it’s never enough. In this video we visit Umusambi Village. Located 20 minutes outside Kigali. It’s brand new, they opened up mid 2020. In the middle of a pandemic. AL Umusambi village they rescue, protect and take care of endangered grey crowned crane birds who were saved from illegal domestication and/or abuse. Many of these birds cannot fly anymore. Umusambi village is a beautiful 21 hectare nature reserve and a great touristic activity not far from Kigali. Just a nice place to visit and get educated about Rwanda’s wildlife conservation efforts. If you’d like to visit Umusambi Village, this is their official website www.umusambivillage.org Watch the video for some fun vlogging and a lot of info on the crane birds. Thank you for reading. Muramuke !