Word on the street: women typists in Kigali, Rwanda

Sitting on a wooden bench in one of the busiest bus stations in�Rwanda’s capital, three women are typing furiously, seemingly oblivious to the passing commuter traffic.

The trio belong to an endangered army of “typewriter typists” who provide an essential service in Rwanda, producing CVs, business proposals and love letters for those with no access to printers or computers.

For Aurelie Mukankwiro, a 37-year-old mother of three, it is a great way to earn a living. “I like meeting different people every day and getting to learn a little bit about their lives,” she said. “This is the best spot for us to be. It’s the�centre of everything and people come into here on buses from all over the country.”

The three women, who trained at a church typing school in 1995, worked in local government offices but lost their jobs when computers were introduced and they did not know how to use them. So they set up their own small business in the bus station, charging between 200 and 300 Rwandan francs (20-30p) for each page. A page takes about two minutes to type and a good day will see them getting about 20 customers each.

Based in a bustling alleyway between the Nyabugogo bus station and the main road outside, they work rain or shine � with a large umbrella sheltering them from either extreme.

“We write all kinds of things,” Mukankwiro said. “The most common things are project proposals, applications for jobs, CVs, judicial letters, that sort of thing. But sometimes we do write love letters for people. It’s usually men who come and they are embarrassed at first but we tell them they need to stop it and just tell us what to write. Then we just get on with it.”

She particularly enjoys typing works of fiction. “I also like it when people ask us to type up the plays they have written. They are always fun to read. I enjoy those a lot.”

Her colleague, Marie Gorette Nimukuze, 35, said the work was strictly private and the typists would never reveal customers’ secrets. “It’s very confidential what we do, we never tell people what we’ve written. When people ask us to write letters there is a trust there and we don’t break it.”

But the march of technology will not leave them in peace. Just behind their office, a computer shop has opened, offering internet and printing services.

“Computers are really taking away our business,” said Nimukuze. “More and more people are learning how to use computers so in the future they won’t need us any more.”

And that’s not the only threat to their way of life. Street vending is illegal in Rwanda and while the Kigali city authorities say the typists are allowed to work because they sit in one place and don’t add to congestion, the women say they are sometimes chased away by police.

“When the police come, we have to run,” said Mukankwiro. “It’s a government policy, they want people to rent houses instead of being on the street. But it’s hard for us to be able to afford to do that with what we are earning. With computers and this law, I don’t think we are going to be here in five years.”

Source: The Guardian