Bovines are a Blessing

 "I can't drink milk in a box. No way," says JP Sagahutu, who consumes about four 8-ounce glasses of milk a day.  He tries to think of the best adjective to describe the beverage. "I don't know the wording in English, but it's something sacré," he says — using the French word for sacred. Many Rwandans speak the language because the country was a Belgian colony until 1962.  Other customers nod in agreement: Milk is holy. In fact, as a sign of respect you must only drink it while sitting down. Bovines are a blessing  The sentiment comes from the respect people here have for cows, seen for many generations as providers of sustenance and prosperity.  "A very long time ago, there was no currency. To see if someone is rich, they were counting cows. If you have 10 cows, it means you are rich," Sagahutu says.  So precious is the cow, that in Rwandan culture, when you want to wish someone well, you say "may you have a cow" — kajirinka in the local language of Kinyarwandan.

https://www.npr.org/2026/08/27/g-s1-139914/milk-rwanda-milk-bar