First Lady Mrs Jeannette Kagame yesterday said that Rwanda’s journey to resilience, 20 years after the genocide, had been driven by great sacrifice, hard work, a real longing for change and transformational leadership.

She made the remarks at a public lecture at Emory University in the United States in an event attended by about 100 students.

The First Lady gave the students insights to events that led to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in which a million people were killed. She said that after the Genocide, choices had to be made to rebuild the country, some of which required maximum commitment.

"Yes, we had options – we could have decided to go the natural path in which case, we surely would have self-destructed with rage.

The other alternative, which was highlighted by President Kagame during this year’s 20th commemoration of the genocide, was these three choices: ‘To think big, to be accountable and to stay together.’ This formula is precisely what was required to overcome and to achieve the progress,” she said.

She added that the chosen path shows the true resilience of the Rwandan people.

"We are often reminded that dignity is a right for all Rwandans, just like it is for every other person in the world. With great sacrifice, hard work, a real longing for change, and a transformational leadership, we managed to reclaim our dignity,” she added.

Mrs Kagame pointed out that Rwanda’s rich cultural practices and internal strengths to find solutions to problems also contributed to the nation’s recovery.

"For example, recently Rwandan women held a fundraising in honor of the brave men and women in uniform who liberated our country. The proceeds of this fundraiser will go towards caring for those members of our armed forces, who were seriously injured during the liberation struggle. From a very low base, and everything being a priority, we uplifted,” she said.

Mrs Kagame presented facts on Rwanda’s current status with achievements made in the social- economic welfare of the people and also pointed out that there are still challenges the country has to tackle mainly in reducing the poverty levels and increasing the country’s economic muscle among other.

"Since the government cannot do everything, civil society plays an important role in supporting the government,” she said.

She also shared her work experience which contributes to the national agenda.

"Imbuto Foundation is a nonprofit organization, which I along with others established to mostly nurture Rwanda’s youth. Imbuto means seed in our language and the philosophy behind our Foundation, is to nurture and provide all the necessary support for our beneficiaries to stand tall and be successful,” she said.

"We provide various platforms for youth to develop critical skills and the right mindset to solve the challenges our country faces; we encourage them to keep learning, innovating and improving themselves.

"We do this through motivating girls to do well in school, curbing school drop-outs, promoting equal access to secondary education for boys and girls, providing the best start at life for infants through best practices in early childhood development, promoting a reading culture among the youth. We also work on preventing diseases such as HIV and malaria through campaigns and we educate adolescents on sexuality and reproductive health,” said Mrs Kagame.