Sharon Kantengwa
The New Times
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Past articles by Sharon:
Salesperson’s experience and lessons learned in a male-dominated field
Sales has traditionally been a male-dominated world, so when Anitha Kanyana was hired as a business development manager for a security company, also a male-dominated field, she felt the pressure to fit in. The kind of work that the company does involves climbing poles, working night hours and past working hours. It was a bit tricky when she saw this but the passion drew her to the job. “Usually… → Read More
Why regular handwashing is essential beyond COVID-19
On Thursday, Rwanda joined the rest of the world to celebrate this year’s Global Handwashing Day (GHWD), under the theme “Hand Hygiene for all”, a call for all of society to achieve universal hand hygiene. Sharon Kantengwa spoke to Lambert Karangwa, the senior water expert, at WaterAid Rwanda that represented WASH stakeholders in the celebration. Karangwa spoke about the importance of… → Read More
Meet Nep Queenz, Rwanda’s first all-female band out to defy odds
Their first appearance was during last month’s Kigali Reggae Festival that aired live on Isibo Television. The six member all-female band pulled off an electric reggae performance alongside their counterparts Neptunez Band and Nep DJs. Their debut performance proved that they are an ultra-modern contemporary girls’ band that is joining the music industry with a difference in style, approach,… → Read More
Singer Tabz on why she’s going solo
As a member and vocalist of the Neptunez Band, Tabz, real name Tabitha Uwizerwa, has acquired the skills needed for a professional recording artiste. The talented 20-year-old, joined the band in 2017 while completing her diploma in music at the Nyundo School of Music, as a budding singer. It is then that she began learning the dos and don’ts of big stage appearances, having backed up a number of… → Read More
The portable handwashing sinks that got people talking about Rwanda
When Rwanda was first hit by the novel coronavirus early this year, quick measures had to be put in place to ensure that the pandemic is controlled. One of the measures was frequent washing of hands and as such private and public facilities had to install handwashing equipment. Soon enough photos showing the country flooded with portable sinks for hand-washing at bus stops, restaurants, banks… → Read More
Teaching in the face of a pandemic: An educator shares her experience
In the face of Covid-19, children have been affected by school closures and lockdowns. Mostly affected are children from vulnerable families that cannot access reliable internet or devices such as laptops, to aid their virtual school learning programme. For this reason, Rwanda Education Board, with the help of Building Learning Foundation (BLF) and UNICEF, developed a home learning initiative to… → Read More
Origin of ordinary things: YouTube
YouTube is one of the largest and most popular video distribution platforms on the internet. It has more than 4 billion hours’ worth of video viewers every month, and an estimated 500 hours of video content are uploaded to YouTube every passing minute. According to Interesting Engineers, ‘YouTube’ was originally created as a platform for anyone to post any video content they desired. It was… → Read More
Reggae music lovers in for a treat today
Every July 1, the world celebrates the International Reggae Day, also known as, “July One” that celebrates the great Jamaican music and global reggae fraternity. RG Consult, an event management company, is organising a four-hour virtual show in honour of reggae music that has for decades been part of the music industry. Dubbed ‘Kigali Reggae Fest 2020’ the first edition is set to premiere today,… → Read More
How media arts collective is giving Rwandan artists a boost
An art gallery, digital production studio, media lab, co-working space, and artist’s community, all in one, is what would describe Envision Media Arts Collective. Founded in 2018, the collective has been a hub for creative minds to work amongst each other, be inspired by one another, share space, resources, and knowledge to the mutual benefit of the group and to the Rwandan art scene at large.… → Read More
How Covid-19 has affected the entertainment industry
As has been the case with many sectors in the country that were greatly affected by the coronavirus pandemic, Rwanda’s entertainment sector has not been spared. The outbreak of the virus which saw the cancellation of all shows has since put artists’ creativity, to entertain and earn to the test. One of the first artistes that was affected was gospel singer, Patient Bizimana. Two of his… → Read More
How lockdown birthed an income generating project for breast cancer activist
When she came to Rwanda in September last year to carry out advocacy programmes for her breast cancer initiative (BCIEA), Phillipa Kibugu-Decuir, a breast cancer survivor herself, did not know that she would stay longer than April, her anticipated time to go back to the U.S and join her family, when COVID-19 found its way into the country. Even with the flights cancelled, she couldn’t carry on… → Read More
How to store food for the long term
One way to waste less is to make foods last longer. It can be incredibly infuriating and uneconomical when uneaten food goes stale before you’ve had a chance to eat it. While there are some foods with unexpectedly long shelf lives, other foods seem to spoil the moment when they become stubborn to maintain. There are some brilliant hacks to help prolong the life of fresh fruits, vegetables and… → Read More
Obesity and stigma: A woman’s journey to a healthy lifestyle
It all started when she had just given birth to her second child. Her weight began to escalate and as a result, she began experiencing chronic back problems. “I found difficulty in even small things like bathing. The doctors said that obesity was the sole cause and advised me to lose weight,” Specioza Uwamariya shares. Just as she was beginning to shed off the weight, her husband passed, on and… → Read More
How to celebrate festive season sparingly
It is that time of the year again when festivities come down like rain and just as it is every year, December has more holidays than usual. As some big companies are busy wooing customers, other firms are allocating huge amounts of money to promote products and services over the holiday season, which explains why most people overindulge during the holidays. While it’s hard to resist the festive… → Read More
Is helicopter parenting harmful to children?
Childhood and young adulthood nowadays, is often characterised by parents being fraught with danger. Young adults are no longer allowed to spend time with friends unsupervised, or hang around in groups without supervision and children’s spare time is often eaten up by homework or organised activity. These kind of parents are commonly known as “helicopter parents”, a term which means a style of… → Read More
Mental health and hormones: Why women need to pay attention
Every month, Clarisse Uwera (not real name), goes into a state of depression and whenever this happens, it is a sign that her menstrual period is on the way. As a working student, Uwera often resorts to birth control pills to relieve her of her painful menstrual cramps and go about her daily business. “When they come, I cannot sleep, eat and for some reason I’m always grumpy. What hurts more… → Read More
Kenyan female bikers share experiences on campaigning for road safety
Drink-driving, ignoring traffic rules and poor roads claim thousands of lives in the region, every year. It is for this reason that six female riders dubbed the Throttle Queens, from Kenya took to the road to spread the word about road safety. For a week, they travelled from Kenya to Kigali for days meeting different groups of people and exploring the city. Njeri Mwanji, one of the six riders,… → Read More
British journalist Wallis on ‘Akazu’ and its role in Genocide against Tutsi
His first visit to Rwanda was in 1990, as a young student who had come to see the mountain gorillas, for the first time. At the time, he sensed too much tension in the country, when his friend that he had come with, was prohibited from leaving the capital to see the gorillas because he had declared himself as a journalist on his entry visa. “They thought he was investigating their dirty secrets,… → Read More
How three Genocide survivors are using photography to help vulnerable children
Jean Bizimana, Gadi Habumugisha and Mussa Uwitonze, are Rwandan orphans who lost their parents during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. As survivors living in an orphanage, Imbabazi Orphanage in Gisenyi, Rwanda, they were introduced to photography at the age of eight and nine, when Through the Eyes of Children, a nonprofit photo project started in 2000 in partnership with the orphanage.… → Read More
Umuganda: Should absentees be denied service at umudugudu?
Sometime last year, I failed to get any transport means to work as Umuganda was underway, so I walked to work. Along the way, I met a traffic police officer who stopped me, as well as other people who were walking by, saying that movement on the roads was prohibited until Umuganda was over. We were immediately showed our place of work and asked to begin doing what other Rwandans we left in our… → Read More