Editor,

RE: "Unity Award recipients to be recognised today” (The New Times, November 6).

The National Unity and Reconciliation Commission in conjunction with the Unity Club have done very well to announce "Unity Awards” to recognise 17 people for their heroic deeds during Rwanda’s darkest hours.

While each of the 17 recipients is to be applauded and appreciated, it is the very brave Grace Uwamahoro who touched my heart.

At the tender age of just 13 years, Uwamahoro saved the life of an infant who was being left to die alongside her fatally wounded mother.

As Dr Monique Nsanzabaganwa, the vice-chairperson of the Unity Club remarked, "Unity is and will be the foundation of Rwanda’s progress”.

The concept of diversity encompasses acceptance and respect. It entails understanding that each individual is unique and recognises individual differences of race, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status and religious beliefs among others.

Unity in diversity is what will take Rwanda to great heights in the years ahead.

The reconciliation camps which all students in Rwanda have to go through before passing out of high school reflect the Government of Rwanda’s firm resolve to ensure that remarkable Rwanda will remain united whatever diversity might exist between the people of this beautiful land of a thousand hills and a million smiles.

Clarence Fernandes