On January 30, a calm afternoon, I hit the road Kigali – Bugesera for one of my important projects that had been on my “to do” list for a while.
My destination was on shores of Mirayi Lake in Gashora sector where beautiful birds that are attracting scores of visitors call home.
As soon as I had started my shoots, something interrupted me. From the horizon, I noticed a man who was exhibiting exceptional diving skills.
At first, I thought it was just by luck that he managed, but he repeated over and over again, jumping from his canoe to swim like fish.
He would then regain his canoe after a while and he repeated it several times.
I paused the project of the day for a while until the man came to my end, always in the same exercise.
His name, Ildephonse Niyongira, a young man in his late 20s, he accepted to talk to me for a while and said: “I am a professional fisherman. This is the only thing I have done since childhood. So, water is my friend, and my dearest brother.”
Niyongira catches fish from Mirayi Lake and sells to the neighbors, who don’t necessarily know to swim.
“We were all born from this Lake shore, but not everyone can swim or catch a fish,” he said.
“It’s all about passion.”
Niyongira is satisfied with his fishing profession and he understands that every profession can earn a living to a person who invests in it whole heartedly.
