The First Lady has urged children to stay in school, choose good friends to hang out with and respect their parents and teachers as they strive to perform well in school.

Mrs Jeannette Kagame made the call yesterday at a Christmas party she co-hosted with members of the Unity Club for about 100 children from various parts of the country at Village Urugwiro.

The children, selected from the country’s 30 districts, were treated to a luncheon and multiple games and received both gifts and advice from the First Lady.

"The future will be bright if you stay in school, avoid taking drugs, and help others who are less advantaged,” she told the cheering children.

"This is a good time to think about how to improve your performance in school when you go back next year,” she said.

As a gift from the First Lady, every child received a schoolbag containing a ball, booklets, a grammar book, a mathematical set, a rain jacket, a toothbrush and toothpaste.

"I am happy for this day. I will put the gifts to good use and I will protect them,” said Boris Rutagengwa, from Kabeza in Kigali City’s Kicukiro District.

11-year-old Martin Niyibizi who came from Northern Province’s Musanze District said he had enjoyed his time at Village Urugwiro.

"We were treated well here; we were able to play and we had lots of drinks,” Niyibizi said.

The children sung about God’s love for them, the evils of domestic violence, the pleasure of living in a safe and peaceful country, as well as the importance of not taking drugs.

According to the Vice-President of the National Children’s Forum, sixteen-year-old Laurence Umuhoza, the time spent with the First Lady and other officials boosts children’s confidence.

"Such an event encourages us to be good children; we enjoyed it very much,” she said.

Officials at the First Lady’s office said that some of the children who shared lunch with her yesterday were picked from poor families.

Among the 100 children were also children living with disabilities and those from orphanages.