camera_rwanda
Students, Kigali
On their way to school. Every weekday morning, I'd awake early, slip on my sneakers and before breakfast, take a walk on the steep and winding backroads of Rumera, one of many neighborhoods in the "suburbs" of Kigali.
I loved the views this time of day, the city sprawled out over seven hills beneath fading stars in the crisp morning chill. The sight of little uniform-clad boys and girls making their way to elementary school, swinging over-sized water jugs, sometimes half their height. I liked how people of all ages emerged from around corners, walked alongside me for a block or two, then disappeared, heading for their daily destiny.
Of? I could only wonder.
I passed these two boys and their friends often; at first I was a spectacle to them, but as the weeks unfolded they got used to seeing me, delighted in my pathetic efforts to greet them in Kinyarwanda. (Bite! [Pronounced Bitah] Hello!) I loved these sunrise walks, greeting the locals, witnessing the city wake, stars dimming. Sometimes, when I'm driving to work, I think about those walks and really miss them--and these two boys.
Kigali, Rwanda.
6:30 a.m.
June 7, 2005.
Students, Kigali
On their way to school. Every weekday morning, I'd awake early, slip on my sneakers and before breakfast, take a walk on the steep and winding backroads of Rumera, one of many neighborhoods in the "suburbs" of Kigali.
I loved the views this time of day, the city sprawled out over seven hills beneath fading stars in the crisp morning chill. The sight of little uniform-clad boys and girls making their way to elementary school, swinging over-sized water jugs, sometimes half their height. I liked how people of all ages emerged from around corners, walked alongside me for a block or two, then disappeared, heading for their daily destiny.
Of? I could only wonder.
I passed these two boys and their friends often; at first I was a spectacle to them, but as the weeks unfolded they got used to seeing me, delighted in my pathetic efforts to greet them in Kinyarwanda. (Bite! [Pronounced Bitah] Hello!) I loved these sunrise walks, greeting the locals, witnessing the city wake, stars dimming. Sometimes, when I'm driving to work, I think about those walks and really miss them--and these two boys.
Kigali, Rwanda.
6:30 a.m.
June 7, 2005.