Cultural Notes: Counting and numbering

According to Rwandan culture, you don’t count children one has. It was believed that counting children was to give access to the agent of the evil spirit (death) to take one of them (if not all) any time. If you ask someone how many children he/she has; He/she will say: “mfite Gasana, Uwimana, Komeza na Sano“ (I have Gasana, Uwimana, Komeza and Sano). It is up to you to know that they are four. But don’t say: ufite abana bane ‘you have four childdren’.