Gahongayire Chantal & Mzagisenga Salima

Sweeping very early in the morning, used to be a girl’s task, and girls hid themselves from the sight of others. These, and other stories from Rwandan culture, Salima is curious to hear from her mother. Were they really schooled separately? Did boys mainly hunt? Chantal fills in these gaps, speaking not only about her own girlhood, but her mother’s as well. Salima asks for more stories. Family stories about Salima’s mother are told, about a close mother-daughter bond, and about her grandmother’s great value for getting support from other women. Through storytelling, Salima and Chantal seem to be following in the grandmother’s footsteps.

“Every important opportunity around was meant for brothers only?”
Mzagisenga Salima
“It is always good to ask…it was due to our parents’ illiteracy! Their wish was to see a girl maintaining the home, and wait for the moment to get married!...It was the inferiority! Things have totally changed from the past; rituals and those taboos no longer take people’s time.”
Gahongayire Chantal