Growing up in Rwandan culture, there is none more important than a guest. For example, one is taught that it is a sacrilege to spill over the milk of a guest (amata y’abashyitsi), to let a glass half empty or to eat before the guest. Children are told to seat arms folded calmly (kwifata neza), entertain the guest with stories (kuganiriza abashyisti) and decency (kudashyanuka). As usual, President Kagame used the National Prayer’s Breakfast to give a landmark speech about Rwandan culture, its tribulations and how against all odds it is coming back. This year’s speech was about hospitality. Before going to the core of his message, it is worthwhile starting with a historical perspective of hospitality in Rwanda.
King Mibamabwe II Gisanura (who ruled at the end of the XVII century), aka Rugabishabirenge, was famous for his wisdom and legal reforms. He once coined the phrase: ‘I Rwanda ntihakabure amata n’icumbi’, meaning Rwandans should always enjoy shelter and milk. He didn’t put up a national budget to that effect, but rather relied on the mutual solidarity of Rwandans. It functioned like an insurance, every Rwandan needed to travel and with this came the need of shelter and a meal. By offering shelter and a meal to travellers, one was ensured to enjoy the same. Of course, Rwandans went beyond the Royal decree and hosting strangers became a culture. It had also its advantages: travellers would come with all sorts of accessories, stories and sometimes even new family bonds.
Interestingly, President Kagame linked this culture of generous hospitality to our national founding myth of Rwanda being God’s sleeping spot. According to this myth, God walks around the world, like a traveller, and sleeps in Rwanda, the country of Beninmana, the people of God. Students of religion will of course recognize that the figure of a traveller is at the center of many religious scripts. Indeed, Buddha, Jesus, Mohamed, were all travelers. To my knowledge, however, none had ever before explained generosity towards strangers as the currency to our claim of being God’s sleeping spot, like President Kagame did. He explained that a country, in which there is generosity to strangers, is a country in which God can rest. If we want to live up to our national foundational principle, we ought simply to be generous to each other, no need of big palaces of God, the palace is our home; our country. This fundamental pragmatism of Rwandan spirituality explains why our forefathers never thought in terms of the life after but rather found transcendent experiences in this life.
Incidentally, the value of hospitality is not just a path to spirituality but functions like a mirror to our country’s trajectory. In 1994, for example, we reached a point where only scavengers found Rwanda to be hospitable place. Today, the story is so much different, we just came from an election, where each district came out in its brightest colors. I remember, on election night, how I was dancing with a total stranger, we looked at each other and with a nod of our heads we silently enjoyed the renewed trust amongst Rwandans. As the popular song by Joan Osborne goes, what if God was one of us, just a stranger on a bus trying to make his way home?
Now, President Kagame went further and redefined the value of hospitality into modern times, where Rwanda is integrated into the global economy. He linked the value of hospitality to tourism and the free movement of people. He asked that we should become a country, in which people from all over the world find hospitality. It is now up to us to reignite the fire place of our homes, our restaurants and hotels. The future of our economy depends on how we will turn hospitality into our national brand. This comes with having legitimate expectations amongst each other and guaranteeing the same to the outside world. It is time to cash in the trust we have been building through reconciliation and unity, well knowing that the warmth of a fire place can easily become ashes if not protected. Hospitality should be again our national wealth.
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