Rwanda is a landlocked East African nation with a population of 12.5 million people and is known as the "Land of a Thousand Hills" due to its numerous green and verdant hills.
Rwanda is well-known for its genocide in 1994, which murdered up to 800,000 people in three months. This sad occurrence eventually resulted in great poverty and compelled the nation to restart from scratch since 70 percent of the population was lost. Although this was and continues to be a big setback for the nation, these top ten facts about Rwandan living standards will give you a sense of the difficulties and improvements Rwanda experiences on a daily basis.
Top 10 Facts About Rwandan Living Conditions
Rwanda is one of the world's most rural nations. According to Land Links, agriculture accounts up 75% of Rwanda's land. This explains why the vast majority of people live in homes surrounded by banana trees and vast tracts of land.
Clearly, the agricultural industry is important in Rwanda, accounting for 80 percent of employment. Agriculture labor is split between men and women; males conduct hard field work and livestock care, while women handle day-to-day farming operations like as planting and weeding. This also applies to housekeeping; males undertake the building and hard labor, while women are responsible for maintaining the home and raising the children.
Bananas, beans, white and sweet potatoes, cassava, and maize are all major foods in Rwanda, and they are all farmed in the surrounding fields. Only those who can afford meat will consume it.
Although Rwanda has made tremendous success in reducing the number of people living in poverty, there is still much space for improvement. According to the World Economic Forum, 57 percent of individuals lived below the general poverty level in 2005, however that figure dropped to 45 percent in 2010. Regardless, 63 percent of the population remains impoverished, living on less than $1.25 a day.
The standard of living in Rwanda varies greatly based on social status and region. Wealthy Rwandans may live in brick homes with full access to amenities like as electricity, running water, plumbing, and phone service. Poorer people in rural regions, on the other hand, live in tiny homes with mud walls and little to no access to numerous basic requirements and necessities.
In Rwanda, 25% of the population lacks access to clean drinking water, and 26% lacks access to basic sanitary facilities. Women and girls, the major water carriers of the family, must fetch water from nearby streams in order for the family to have water, putting them at risk for waterborne infections. UNICEF has been collaborating with the Rwandan government to enhance access to water and sanitation, as well as hygiene, in order to minimize illness and fatalities associated with water and sanitation.
Malaria, a potentially lethal illness spread by infected mosquitos, threatens 90 percent of Rwandans. In Rwanda, malaria is the leading cause of mortality. Malaria was responsible for 41 percent of hospital fatalities in 2006, with 42 percent of them being children under the age of five.
The majority of Rwandans acquire their clothes from secondhand shops; nevertheless, some rich Rwandans may afford to buy Rwandan-made apparel. The standard dress code is semi-formal or business attire. Women often wear long dresses and skirts that extend beyond the knee, along with a well fitting shirt and sandals, while males typically wear formal trousers, a dress shirt, and a tie. A lot of clothes in Rwanda is brightly colored and patterned. In Rwanda, dressing down or casually might be considered disrespectful.
Rwanda has greater access to education than other African nations. Rwanda's government offers free education for nine years, six years in elementary school and three years in secondary school; however, beyond nine years, study requires payment. Despite receiving free education for nine years, InterNations claimed that most students do not complete the needed instruction and spend just 3.3 years in school on average. Part of this is due to the payments for uniforms and materials that continue to be included with "free" education.
Fortunately, in addition to free education, Rwanda has universal healthcare and one of the highest-quality health-care systems in Africa. Addressing the issue of health in Rwanda has resulted in significant achievements, such as lowering the child death rate from 182 per 1,000 children to 52. Furthermore, thanks to increased healthcare and access to immunizations, life expectancy has more than quadrupled in the previous 20 years.
These top ten facts about Rwandan living standards demonstrate that the nation has achieved progress via its healthcare and educational systems, demonstrating that improvement needs greater humanitarian help and government commitment. Although much work has to be done to reduce poverty in Rwanda, the nation has gone a long way in overcoming the shadows of its history.