Growing up in Kigali
Looking back 20 to 25 years ago, one of the things I am grateful for is having witnessed the evolution of Kigali and Kigali life over the years. In the 2000s, the hit show was Intashyo, and the only channel available was Rwanda Television. If you were middle class, you might have been able to afford Canal Plus, but it was uncommon. So, we would wait until 2 pm on a Saturday for the Intashyo show, and come back at 10 pm for the Derrick shows. The entertainment options were not running the streets as they say!
Nowadays, for just 5000 to 10000 FRW a month, you can watch old movies on RTL9 or some novellas. Let’s talk about music. Around 2004, when I was in boarding school, I received a letter from my neighbor friend about a new song “In Da Club”. Around the same time, a new radio channel called Radio 10 had just launched. Since then, things have been moving forward, and today Rwandan music has expanded to all genres. Whatever your music preference is, you can’t be bored. This progress can be seen across many sectors if not all!
All these reference stories are to say that I feel proud and glad about the journey. The strength of pioneers, the people who fought for our city to have bookshops, chic boutiques, nice restaurants, parks, good music, and so much more, and the best of all time, a “clean and beautiful” city, labeled as such on the globe! They give me the courage to stand for my field of work so that our sons and daughters have choices.
Looking at how far we have come can be attributed to many names, but the ones I associate this journey with are resilience, independence, and patriotism. I am grateful to be part of the generation that has crossed all of that, a generation that appreciates progress and embraces the journey along the way! It has been a journey full of memories of growth, and stories of gratitude.
If you have any memories, please share what you liked about growing up in Kigali and what you are grateful for today in the comments.
Let’s share some for the people who were not here in the past.
To our growth!