Going the extra mile to earn a living

The quest to earn a living sees many people commuting to the city centre every day. Kigali, like any other city has its fair share of people trying to eke a living on day today basis and by all means. These are the kind who will endure all sorts of occupational hazards. Some of the hazards are natural while others are caused by people they are trying to provide services to. But no matter what they go through, many remain optimistic as they work hard to improve their living standards. An example is that of taxi drivers (shoferis) and their conductors (convwayeris) who do a great service not only in Kigali but the entire country though they may largely not be appreciated by their customers. Passengers and taxi drivers do not enjoy a cordial relationship despite being close work partners. Come rain or shine, these people are there to transport us to wherever we may be going. In the early morning rush hours, as people head to work, taxi drivers are subjected to all kind of pressure and sometimes insults. Passengers will not hesitate to jeer at the taxi drivers in the name of being late for work. You will find people assuring the drivers how they have “programmes” and would not want to waste any time. But this is in total disregard of whether the taxis have filled up or not. One wonders how passengers start expecting drivers to transport half empty taxis, yet they (drivers) are in it for the money and nothing else. Other people who face tough times in the process of executing their duties include commercial motorcycle riders. They are required to adhere to many regulations and sometimes stubborn passengers create problems for them. Francis Mutabazi works at the Gikondo stage. He laments that sometimes passengers can be a real pain. “There is a lady who, after a visit to the saloon, refused to wear the helmet and as a result my bike was impounded for the whole day by traffic police officers.” He had gone ahead to transport her even when he knew that it was illegal for anyone to ride on a bike without a helmet. There are other people who are some of the poorest and face a lot of hardship in the course of doing their work. House maids and casual labourers belong to this category. Vendors also go through “hell” as they ply the streets with their wares. In Kigali they are always on the look out for law enforcement officers. The vendors’ business is illegal and the law enforcers therefore try their best to enforce the law. This creates a cat and mouse scenario. In the case you know who the cat is and the rat is. Jean Bosco Muhizi, 18, says that he has been vending second hand jeans in Giporoso for the last two years. He vows that despite the hardships he has to endure, he is not about to quit. “This is my job. I have done this for two years now. It’s not easy as you don’t get regular customers and the police are always on our backs. But we try to make ends meet so I don’t see myself doing any other job.” For the street preachers, I don’t know if there is a spiritual motive accompanied by a financial reward but these men of God have equally endured as much. The only difference is that they never seem to be on the wrong side of the law. However, on the negative side the pick pockets are not asleep and they will cause more pain after a long stressful day. At Kwa-Rubangura’s they will pretend to board taxis going wherever and in no minute your phone and money are gone. No alarm bells though, this is not a very common occurrence. Just watch your step though. Don’t be the next victim. Sex workers are on the increase despite the continued crackdown on their ‘ungodly’ activities. It is telling how far many people are willing to go to put food on the table, legally or otherwise. The least we can do is accord every human being some form of respect. Maybe, those in the illegal acts will just try to work harder at decent jobs instead of resorting to crime. Ends