Natasha’s Chronicles: : Leaving, Leaving and Leaving!

We all notice how Rwanda is slowly, but surely, getting empty especially among the youth population. I resolved that it’s either because of the continuously growing generosity of foreign embassies (especially that of America) or there is something indirectly sending citizens and our people away! These days, it’s almost a crime not to be going out of the country soon! Some of us who aren’t in such a rush to leave, now speak in faith when we need to fit in the conversations; “When I’m in USA, I’ll make sure I get to dinner with Michael Jordan and his family and I’ll send you the pictures.” or you’ll hear the emphasis of one point in the middle of a story ; “I hate flying in a plane… the worst was when I was flying out to EUROPE! (One can actually hear the capital letters), and even worse is that my parents just can’t let me be! They want me to go back.uhh…this life!” –and they’ve safely gotten through with a brag. Surely, when you think about it closely, you cannot blame some of us, you know how they say, ‘the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.’ Many places out of the country and more so, the continent, are considered better or at least, more preferable. I don’t know if I’m the only one who notices the serious transformation undergone by some among us who leave and later come back home. Many things change for example; dress code, values, even the pronunciations of their surname! You’ll find some fluent Kinyarwanda speakers even manage to forget their mother tongue, even if they’ve only been out there for three months yet there are some who’ve been there about ten years can still speak Kinyarwanda better than those who’ve never left the country! Ironic! I don’t know if it’s the trend, but I personally believe in proudly holding onto our roots. In this case I’d agree with one humurous phrase someone once said, “people who try to be more American than the Americans themselves!” I call it forcing life. It’s funny how its making people live an assumed celebrity lifestyle, some will end up forging an accent, cramming all the songs on MTV, etc to try and meet Hollywood standards, even if it means spending to impress! I love the new nick-name we’ve come up for everyone who’s gone out of the continent—“come froms.” NB: They can be noticed kilometre s away. As long as you stay yourself, learn as much as you possibly can that’ll build you, live the life you can afford, keep the loved ones in your heart and mind, why not? But meMeanwhile, let’s work towards making Rwanda the place many will travel to just like the America of today, and then we just might save a lot of the money we spend on air tickets! The author is a S.5 student at Riviera High School. hozatash@hotmail.com