For a week, Rwanda, the land of a thousand hills, will be abuzz with music, dance and art lovers. Over forty thousand participants and 25 countries, with various cultures, will be here during the Pan African Dance Festival (FESPAD). The opening ceremony was filled with pomp.

The fireworks were greater than those described in V.S Naipul’s Miguel Street.

Rwandans will surely learn from the other cultures and integrate some of them in their own. Participants from the other countries will definitely also take much back home from our own rich culture.

A festival of this magnitude shows the faith other countries have in our security and hospitality.

The festival therefore shouldn’t be a time of high crime, drunkenness and total abandonment. Statistics  should not indicate a rise in pregnancies during the festival as this probably goes with unprotected sex.

It shouldn’t be an opportunity for HIV to spread to more brothers and sisters; it has had its toll already.

Let’s embrace the festival with open arms. Let’s show our visitors the famous Rwandan hospitality. Let’s make all the participants make return plans to Rwanda even before they sign in to their hotels.

It’s only through appreciation of each others’ cultures that we’ll have a better world. A world united in cultural diversity.

Ends