As Rwanda prepares for the 2016 Heroes’ Day celebrations on February 1, the youth are engaged in discussions on their role in promoting heroism. 

During the Youth Connekt dialogue held at the Innovation Village in Kacyiru in Kigali, on Thursday evening, key issues discussed focused on embracing the fight against genocide ideology as a heroism value.

Other youth in Huye District participated in the dialogue through a video link.

While speaking at Youth Connekt dialogue, Florence Itete Teta, the president of Heroism Club at University of Kigali, said that, through heroism, clubs, the youth get deeper understanding of national heroes and the values they cherished.

"As youth, we are ready to be proactive in preservation and promotion of heroism,” Teta affirms.

"As we gain a better understanding of our heroes and their heroic acts, we plan to continuously get involved in training our peers on heroism so that they can also join our club.”

Officiating at the Youth Connekt dialogue, Jean-Philbert Nsengimana, the minister for Youth and ICT, said that to be considered as a national hero, one must be or should have been characterised by heroism. 

"Heroism manifests in hard times such as during war, but for us what will define our heroism should be demonstrated through the actions we will take to fight genocide ideology, denial, those who portray negatively the image of our country and those who want to destroy what we have achieved thus far,” Nsengimana told youth.

The country’s only known surviving heroes are members of the Komezubutwari Association that is made up of survivors of the 1997 attack by Interahamwe militia on Nyange Secondary School in Ngororero District, where the militia killed six students after they refused to split themselves along ethnic lines.

Nicholas Rwaka, the director of research at the Chancellery for Heroes, National Orders and Decorations of Honors (CHENO), speaking at the dialogue, said recognising heroes aims at promoting the value of heroism among Rwandans.

There are TWO medals, namely Uruti that is dedicated to those who contributed to the liberation of the country and Umurinzi that is dedicated to those who were brave in fighting the Genocide.

However, there is a proposal to introduce five more medals at institutional level.

Every February 1 Rwanda marks the National Heroes’ Day. Celebrated heroes are classified into three categories; Imanzi, Imena and Ingenzi. This year, national heroes’ day theme is "Strive for heroism: Build a better future.”

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