Last Friday, young people from both the diverse Diaspora community and those pursuing their education within the country gathered for a summer games challenge dubbed ‘Mind Review’ - a trivia challenge that brings together international (Diaspora) university students who compete against their counterparts from local college students through games that test general knowledge and social affairs.

The competition is an initiative of a Bridge2Rwanda scholar Cedric Mfuranzima, who is currently pursuing his undergraduate studies at Babson University in the USA. Mfuranzima conceived the idea to start the knowledge assessment games when he was still in high school at College St. Andre, Kigali. 

When he came back from Babson this summer, along with his former classmate at College St. Andre and other enthusiasts in education decided to reorganise the competition. Mfuranzima says they were encouraged to pursue the initiative when they posted a small video of the trivia on YouTube and it hit 300 views in a very short time.

"The reception of the trivia games was great and therefore we are dreaming bigger. Mind Review is now just still in its initial stages but we envision making it a weekly TV programme someday. We are targeting a bigger audience and participation from many more students both from the Diaspora and the East African region,” he said.

In the trivial games, two teams faced off at a time. Each team comprised of three college students. This year, the competition was made of four teams; two teams formed by local college students and two others formed by Diaspora students.

Mfuranzima says the aim of these games is to get college students to read more and engage in worthwhile and knowledge-based research. The competition involved questions from a wide range of social, political, economic and entertainment topics. 

The participants were given the areas of research before the games with specific references to focus on. 

The Warriors team, comprising local college students, took the trophy home. The winning question that handed the Warriors the victory was naming all Rwandan districts one by one. 

Rodney Rugamba, also a Bridge2Rwanda scholar who is currently pursuing his undergraduate studies at Wheaton College in Boston, USA, was one of the best contenders of the night. He told Education Times that Mind Review was a great experience for him because he pushed himself to learn more about subjects outside his area of study.

"I focused on the topics that were given to us. I was challenged by how fast I was required to think and answer with precision and the pressure from the people in the audience really had me push myself mentally. I really do look forward to the next Mind Review summer games.” he explained. 

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