You have probably seen her videos circulating on WhatsApp, or follow her on social media platforms, perhaps laughed at her jokes, but not many know Charity Keza’s story, which is a rollercoaster of events and experiences that may inspire you. For many, Keza is real and funny. In one particular video, she talks about being tired of Rwandans who observe other people’s weight, taking note of every slight change in size, tormenting their ‘victims’ with distasteful remarks. The videos, which are mostly shared on Instagram and TikTok, attract a lot of views and comments and probably offer relief to those who need a good laugh to make it through a long day. In June 2019, Keza, (@the_keza on Instagram), shared a video encouraging people on the road to be civil and patient enough to allow others the right of way, against the normal practice of drivers in a hurry refusing to give way to other motorists or even let pedestrians cross. Charity Keza during an interview with The New Times at her mother’s home in Kanombe, Kicukiro District. Photos by Willy Mucyo “If you give someone a chance to pass, they will not take away the road. Let people pass and they will even wave at you in appreciation. The road is owned by the government, it will not go anywhere,” she said, advising impatient drivers that eventually everybody will get to their destination. The video was appreciated by the Secretary General of Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), Louise Mushikiwabo, who thanked the young lady for taking time to teach people civility and humility through humour. Mushikiwabo reiterated that politeness is a virtue and in line with Rwandan values, encouraging her to continue what she does. Keza said it was a turning point for her and it encouraged her to continue using social media as a platform to make people laugh while critiquing some of the negative practices in society. Who is Keza? Charity Keza was born 35 years ago in Nairobi, Kenya, where her family lived as refugees before returning to Rwanda in 1995, after the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi, where she grew up with four other siblings. Though her childhood was a happy one, especially in Nairobi where they lived as one big family, it was not exactly rosy when they returned to Rwanda. Her mother, who raised her and her siblings, separated with their dad in 1998. “When we came to Rwanda, it was really hard. My father decided to take us to the village and we really couldn’t cope, from the life we lived in Nairobi coming back to Rwanda, then starting from scratch,” Keza says, describing life’s total turnaround at the time. It was at that point that her mother decided to separate with her father and they came back to Kigali, where she went to high school, at Kigali International Academy. Chasing dreams and fighting cancer On their way back to Rwanda, Keza and her family came aboard Kenya Airways. The 10-year-old at the time saw flight attendants and decided that she would be one when she grew up. “I remember seeing a flight attendant. I was 10 years old at the time and I was like, that’s it. That’s what I want to be. I don’t care what’s going to happen in the future, but I really want to be an air hostess,” Keza recalls. As they normally say, dreams do come true. Upon completing school, Keza got her dream job as flight attendant with the national carrier, RwandAir. “It was a dream come true and I lived it. I lived that dream to the fullest. I did it for four years and a half with RwandAir and almost another four years and a half with Qatar Airways,” Keza recalls. Charity Keza as a flight attendant with Qatar Airways before she was diagnosed with cancer. Courtesy. As an air stewardess with one of the best airlines in the world, Keza lived her best life, traveling from one country to another, as any young woman would wish. “That was the definition of living your best life. I can’t count how many countries I’ve been to, how many cities, I just know it was amazing,” she recalls. At the time, she was a single mother, separated from her husband and father of her child, and was dating an American pilot, Robert Guerin Ingalls. It all seemed perfect. “My bank account was big. I was taking care of my kid. I was living a very good life as a 30-year-old single mother,” Keza recalls, and then her world completely changed. “Cancer came knocking and I was knocked out, in a second,” she says, recalling the signs she had developed, including losing weight tremendously, losing appetite, feeling weak and fainting at some point, but she kept ignoring them, focusing on her busy life. “I did not give it a thought because I was really busy with life more than my health. That’s the first lesson that I learned,” she narrates. In March 2016, her condition deteriorated. Though she was still working, her weight had spiralled to almost 48kgs and was pretty sick. When her arm started hurting, she decided to check herself into the hospital to see what was going on. She was diagnosed with nearly stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a type of cancer that attacks the lymphatic system, and got hospitalised in Bangkok, Thailand. “They found a big tumour in my chest and many little ones all over my chest and my neck. So, the doctor decided ‘oh, you know what? Stay here, I will do the biopsy in the morning,” she recalls. She attempted to avoid staying in hospital, as she grappled with the reality which was unfolding before her but eventually, she gave in. The biopsy was done and 48 hours later, it returned positive results for cancer. Keza was all alone in the biggest hospital in Bangkok, with no family member to attend to her. Many were wondering what the young black woman was doing in the Asia country. Doctors had decided that she was not going anywhere. Thankfully, her boyfriend (now husband) was in Bangkok when she got the news and he was able to join her quickly. She was given four days to process it and to decide on undergoing chemotherapy, a decision which her boyfriend did not hesitate to make. “The doctors wrote for me 12 cycles of chemotherapy and radiotherapy and a lot of other things. The journey was tough but yeah, I went through it and here I am,” Keza says. For four years, the cancer has been in remission and she’s fully recovered and doing her best to take care of her life. After surviving the life-threatening condition, Keza says she considers overcoming cancer a second chance in life, and she is trying to make the most of it by eating healthy and gaining a bit of weight. Stumbling into comedy Naturally, Keza says she finds herself cracking jokes, whether she is at home with her mum or hanging out with friends. It is a trait she says goes way back to childhood. “I think my sense of humour has been with me since I was young, but I never really realised because even when I am with my mom at home or with friends, I just crack jokes,” Keza says. One day, she ‘accidentally’ posted a video on Instagram and it went viral. Her idea was to just talk about things Rwandan society has normalised yet they actually hurt other people, like commenting about weight, and people don’t bother to apologise. In such circumstances, even when people are hurt, they are accused of acting up. So, the reason for posting the video (a script she has stuck to) was to address such society issues, by raising them in a funny way, rather than appearing as though she is accusing people. When she decided to start posting the funny videos, she was three years into remission, now happily married, grateful for being alive and gaining a bit of weight, people were beginning to judge her, yet when she was sick, nobody cared to ask why she was losing weight. Keza recalls that when she was sick with cancer, rather than people expressing concern over her situation, they accused her of ‘trying to be a model’, told her that mothers don’t over slim themselves, throwing all sorts of words at her yet she was really sick. The idea was to critique people who judge others in a sarcastic and funny way. When she posted the first video, she realised that many people were moving around with heavy hearts or pain because they get judged and hurt by others, based on the reactions she got. “I put it in a sarcastic way. I never planned that. When I did one video and woke up to 11,000 followers from 3,000, then I said this is something right that I am doing. Let’s go,” she says, and from here she started asking people which topics they wanted her to address. That is how it started. She, however, puts it to her character and nature because she loves to laugh, even when she is going through hard times. “Keza the comedian has always been there. Even when I am in my worst mood, I just find myself laughing because you know what? Life is just what we make it,” Keza says. However, she doesn’t see herself making a career out of comedy, but as long as she can make people laugh on social media platforms, that will be just about it. “The world is going crazy out here. We need to laugh,” she says, adding that she’s now focused on growing her social media following. Future projects Keza is currently looking at writing a book and producing documentaries, but before that, her focus was on healing physically, emotionally and mentally as someone who went through trauma and chemotherapy. She relocated to the US where she lives with her husband after quitting her job as a flight attendant. “I have been busy taking care of myself,” she says, adding that after what she went through, she came out ‘a new person’. Her advice to young people, especially girls, is to be themselves, follow their dreams and not yield to society pressure. You can have a role model without wanting to be someone else other than who you are. “The greatest feeling is just accepting who you are and then the society will adjust,” Keza says. Covid-19 experience As a young woman with a globetrotting husband in a foreign country, Keza says the New Coronavirus pandemic affected her as anybody else but above all it helped her discover who she is as a person, the people she needs in her life and those she can do without. When it started, she was lonely and depressed but she picked herself up, drank some wine, adjusted to the situation and made some videos “I am grateful that Im alive, not sick and healthy because a lot of people have died,” Keza says, pointing out that the current lockdown found her in Kigali, urging people to stay safe regardless of whatever they are going through. Her mantra in life As long as I breathe, there is hope. She wrote it on Facebook 15 years ago and it fittingly best describes her life.
