In this Gen-Z era where people consider alcohol and liquor as standard of their lifestyle… ever thought that there might be a place which could get famous for milk and that too in Rwanda!
As per the latest survey, conducted in the year 2022, 48% of people in Rwanda are habitual of consuming alcohol. However, Rwanda is the only country in the world, where people go to bars to place orders for milk more than beer or any liquor.
Milk is a favourite drink in Rwanda and milk bars serve it up in abundance, fresh or fermented, hot or cold, when you drink milk, you always have your head straight and your ideas right.
Sharp at 10 in the morning, the Rwandan capital ‘Kigali’, observes a long line of motorcycles parked out in front of an unmarked bar in the central Nyarugenge district.
The bar serves at the four communal tables, and young bikers mingle with singles and parents visit with young toddlers. Sometimes they are seen eating beans and unleavened chapati bread.
Some feast on cakes or doughnuts, while everyone is drinking the same thing, no beer and it’s not even wine or whiskey, it’s ‘MILK’.
At Kuruhimbi and hundreds of similar bars across Rwanda, there’s only one thing on tap and it’s milk.
Very unique and only found in Rwanda, Milk bars bind many of the communities together there. These are the places to meet for breakfast or lunch.
It is best to socialise with people of different backgrounds and to throw back a frothy glass of cold ‘ikivuguto’ which is fermented milk, poured from a vast metal drum and topped with honey or sugar or a hot mug of ‘inshyushyu’ which is raw milk that is boiled and served hot.
The local watering holes may seem like a mushy neighbourhood haunt to the uninitiated, they reflect a little-known truth about how intrinsic cows and milk are to Rwandan culture.
Recalling that stats, around 70% of Rwanda’s population is engaged in the agricultural sector. For them cows are an economic asset and are a symbol of wealth and social status in rural areas.
There’s an interesting anecdote that in Rwanda, if you wanna wish someone well, here no one says good luck or wishes luck. People here wish each other ‘Gira Inka’ which means may you have a cow or ‘Amashyo’ which means have thousands of cows.
And not just this, in response, you’ll hear ‘Amashongore’ which means have thousands of female cows, in reply. When you want to express profound gratitude, you say ‘Nguhaye Inka’ which means I give you a cow.
Have you ever noticed; traditional dances of Rwanda are also inspired by cows! In Umushayayo, it is characterised as a sort of Rwandan ballet, women emulate the gentle movemnets of cows while showing their beauty and grace… and in the Ikinyemera, Igishakamba and other dances, men and women stretch their arms upward to represent cow horns.
In fact, cows are considered of as high regard here, and it is very common to incorporate the animal into your child’s name, with Munganyinka (valuable as a cow), Kanyana (female calf) and Giramata (have milk), serving as popular first names in Rwanda today. And at milk bars, markets or elsewhere, if a guy wants to make a woman blush, Rwandans might say ‘ufite amaso nk‘ay’inyana’ which means you have eyes like a calf’s.
Glancing over the history, Rwandans used to exchange cows to mark major family milestones. Cows were traditionally given to the woman’s family as a part of a dowry and when one of the cows would later give birth, the calf would be gifted to the newlyweds to help them establish their own family.
Well, with the passing time, this tradition is now only practiced in certain parts of the country. In every traditional Rwandan wedding, the groom’s family will still say, ‘Tubahaye ishyo’ which translates as we give you thousands of cows or ‘Tubahaye imbyeyi n’iyayo’ which means we give you a female cow and its calf, even if it isn’t meant literally.