Rwandan Toilets and Other Adjustments!

I’m going to start today’s post with a few words about Rwandan toilets. So, I’m not sure about how things are in Kigali, but out here in the villages, you’re basically looking at a hole in the ground with a few walls around it and maybe a door. The hole is either cut into some rocky earth, or if you’re like my host family and have a small concrete room with a couple of short platforms for your feet that you use to stand on and crouch. Then you hold your nose and cross your fingers that you didn’t leave your phone or keys in a back pocket, because if you did, and they slip out, you’re never seeing them again! I actually have no idea how deep these toilet holes are—it’s like pooping into a dark abyss. But surprisingly, they’ve been pretty easy to get used to. You’re not going to take a Reader’s Digest in there and relax of course, but they do the job. Sometimes you'll even find a little gecko hanging out in there, which isn't the worst surprise!

Another fun fact: Rwandans are not big on toilet paper. Don’t ask me how that works when they do #2 because I have no idea. And many people don’t wash their hands after using the bathroom—probably because they don’t have sinks out here in the villages so it’s more of a process to get out the water jug and soap, pour the water into a bucket, wash, empty the bucket etc. Plus you’re likely using water that you had to walk allllll the way down the road to fetch from the town’s public water spigot, so I guess I can see how it would be a pain to use it all up on hand washing. More to come on the water procurement later, but basically it’s a whole process. Community health workers are trying to change the no-hand-washing habit by encouraging people to set up wash stations in their homes, but it seems this hasn’t really caught on yet. So I end up carrying toilet paper and hand sanitizer with me wherever I go. Better safe than sorry, yo.

Overall, the hygiene expectations are interesting. Rwandans like to look “smart” or tidy. For example, a friend’s host mom wouldn’t let her leave her house Friday wearing some jeans that had a bit of dirt on the knee. And for church on Sunday people get dressed up to the nines. However, some little kids in my neighborhood run around in pretty tattered and dirty clothing. And deodorant is not a popular concept—like at all—which is odd for me because I am always so hyper-conscious of not smelling bad.  On the other hand, it’s important to Rwandans that they shower at least once a day. And they will find it very odd if you don’t. I use the term “shower” loosely here, because I am really referring to the process of filling a bucket part way with hot water, cutting it with cold water, and then using a cup to cleanse yourself…one appendage at a time. Haha It was pretty funny to see my host parents explaining the process to me my first night, using only hand motions and facial expressions.

Feet washing is a big MUST. You’re expected to wash your feet and shoes with soap and water every night, which makes sense because you’re walking around in red dust all day. I’ve been told that this is a big deal. For example, if you are going to an event to speak and your shoes are dirty, people might not take you seriously if they judge you to be unclean based on the appearance of your shoes. My host mom and dad are so sweet—while I fumbled the first time trying to figure out how to correctly wash my feet in a bucket, they came over and started scrubbing them to show me how! I felt guilty—but grateful for the instruction.

Another adjustment is the lack of mirrors. Because the bathroom is really just a room with a hole in it, there really isn’t a place for a mirror, so the only time I see myself during the day is when I put on a little concealer in the morning using a small mirror I brought.

Lastly, I will touch on the extremely humbling experience of hand washing my clothes, which I did for the first time yesterday. Man oh man, you don’t realize how great a washing machine is until you have to do without it. I had about 2 weeks of dirty clothes to clean, and no idea what I was getting myself into. They do it old school here, for real. One bucket of soapy water and two for rinsing—then you hang dry inside out. Easier said than done, friends. My mama expected me to scrub these clothes like there was no tomorrow, and she very patiently re-washed each article of clothing as I apparently did it all wrong. Mind you, we were not using a brush—just a bar of soap and some hardcore elbow grease. I felt like we were washing for days as I continually checked with her to see if my clothes were nibyza (good) or nibibi (bad). In reality, it was probably only about an hour. lol Being the spoiled American that I am with more clothes than their entire family probably owns, I realized to my embarrassment that my things would not all fit on the one drying wire in their back yard; so mama had to take the rest of my clothing across the street to hang on a neighbor’s exterior wall and bushes. 

My host mama's wash station

One half of my laundry hanging on the neighbor's wall

To add to the ridiculousness of this situation, there were 12 pairs of my underpants hanging outside all day for my entire family and any neighbors dropping by to check out. I found this interesting, since some other volunteers said they were instructed to wash their undies in their own rooms for purposes of modesty. So I guess that’s a personal thing, not a cultural one.

The long and the short of it is that I’m realizing that you can get by without a lot of the fancy gadgets we have in the states—like porcelain toilets and electric washing machines. Rwandans seem to be doing just fine without them. The lack of electricity and challenges of internet and phone connectivity is proving a bit more difficult for me to swallow, but I'll get to that later. For now, I have some clean clothes to wear for the week, and I'm a happy lady.