Dear Editor,

RE: Sunny Ntayombya’s piece "Defining who we are is the very foundation of the new Rwanda” (The New Times, December 9).

Who are you? What do you stand for? To most Rwandans, these are extremely relevant questions to ponder.

When in 1994 I went to bid farewell to my respected Pastor in my country of exile, informing him I was to return to beloved Rwanda, he listened like learned men of God do and, in a cool voice, said "why don’t you stay”? Can’t blame him, Rwanda was a write off.

I was lucky to meet him in Kigali not long ago and we mused about his statement. He has visited many times and what has happened can not only be attributed to the supernatural factors but to patriotic Rwandans as well.

Let us collectively recommit to build our country without overly depending on stereotypes, the unique Rwandan matters call for unique solutions.

John **************************************************

Let’s claim it so loud, so that all Rwandans and the entire world will hear it: The unique Rwandan matters – in every walk of Rwandan life – call for unique solutions.

From innovative institutions and concepts such as Gacaca, Umuganda, Itorero, Umushyikirano, and all similar home-grown solutions still to be designed to address our collective problems, let us continue being innovative in everything, mostly in our daily life: individual daily problems related to how we do our hair, how we dress, how we eat, how and where we walk, how we talk to foreigners and to each other, etc. In my view, that’s the best way to ‘define who we are’; I do, concur with Mr Ntayombya!

Francois-Xavier Nziyonsenga