“Again!” Niyomugabo animatedly shouts, his dark eyes sparkling like the bright glimmers which pass through the lake as the sun’s rays are reflected in it. I laugh at the excitement on his young, 11 year old face as he bobs up and down in the water, not able to remain still due to his happiness.
“Do what again?” I ask innocently, unable to resist teasing him. He stops moving for a few moments, his face thoughtful as he thinks of the correct way to explain himself in English to me. “To swim….” He begins slowly, “ …..no go”. Niyomugabo turns quiet again, clearly not satisfied with his own answer. After a little while, he finally speaks up once more, this time louder and more confidently than before “Liza, you… to swim, sleep!”
Proud of his sentence, Niyomugabo grins broadly. “No problem?” he asks, wanting to know if I understood him. I smile back at my small friend. Although this sentence may sound like complete nonsense to the outsider, I have spent enough time with the children of Rwanda, Africa to be able to freely communicate with them – whether through gestures, sounds, or even very basic, broken English. I understand that to swim…no go actually means to swim without moving, or to float. He wants me to float on my back without moving either my arms or legs, therefore creating the swim ,sleep effect.
“No problem!” I answer him and stretch my body out on the water, laying down flat on my back and letting the soft, cool water be my mattress, supporting me as I completely relax my arm and leg muscles. I close my eyes, enjoying the warm feel of the sun on my face and taking long, deep breaths to help myself stay afloat. With each breath, I feel more and more tension be released from my muscles, until the point when I have released all of my control of my limbs and simply rest, trusting the water to hold the weight of my body afloat as it would a piece of driftwood.
Suddenly, cold droplets of water splash unto my face and break me out of my reverie, causing me to bolt upright. Seeing that I am no longer on my back, Niyomugabo and a few of his friends circle around me, gloating at my reaction to their splashing.
“Look, me!” they exclaim and as each one attempts to float on his back, managing to stay on top of the water for only a few seconds before their bodies begin to melt into the water - first their feet sinking under, shortly followed by their chests, then finally their faces disappearing underwater as well.
“Liza, this difficult. You professional swim” Niyomugabo states when he surfaces above the water once more. Floating on my back is something that I do whenever I find myself in water. I do not consider it to be hard at all and so am constantly amused and surprised by how fascinated all my Rwandan friends are by it.
“You, teacher me?” he asks.
“Okay, I teach you.” I answer him, reminding myself to speak in very simple English so that it would be possible for him and his friends to understand me. “Come”. I take this group of young boys to a shallow section of the water so that I can stand. “Okay, sleep here” I instruct Niyomugabo, stretching out both of my hands with my palms up. As he lays back onto my arms, I can feel that his muscles are tight with tension. “I will catch you!” I assure him. “Relax!....sleep.” I look up, making sure that the other boys are also listening before continuing with my instructions. “You must open arms and legs, put head in water, no move.” When I see that he is able to remain steady on the water, I begin to slowly lower my arms down from under him; however as he senses that he is only supported by water, he begins flailing his arms.
“Why you put me down?” He asks as he stands up, the water covering his entire chest whereas it only comes up to my stomach.
“Why you have fear?” I counter.
“You swim good” he answers me. “Me, I don’t know to sleep in water”
“No problem, you can study” I respond. “Come, try again. I help you.” Determination crosses his face as he lays down on his back in the water once more, his eyes wide as he takes deep breaths and tries to hold his body still.
“Gurtya?” he asks me in his native language Kinyarwanda. Like this?
“Yes!” I exclaim, proud of him for trying so hard. Once again, I slowly lower my arms from under him, allowing the water to hold most of his weight. I notice his friends gaping at him as this time he remains calm. “Good! Continue gurtya!”