The Imbuto Foundation yesterday concluded its first quarter of the country-wide Youth Empowerment Workshops (YEW’s) by holding the last training in Rwamagana, Eastern Province.

These trainings fall under the Foundation’s Youth Leadership and Mentorship Programmes (YLMP), carried out in partnership with the Ministries of Youth, Sports and Culture.

Under the theme "What does it mean to be a Rwandan today,” the final workshop attracted over 150 participants from different areas of the province,  main speakers included; Senator Aloysia Inyumba, Prof. José Kagabo of the Higher School of Social Sciences in Paris, and Zaina Nyiramatama of Haguruka.

With the aim of inculcating a spirit of patriotism, the speakers based their presentations on three sub-themes that emphasise; fighting a culture of mediocrity, forging a culture of transparency, dialogue and carrying forward a legacy.

"All babies are born with the same understanding but can attain mediocrity through their education system or up bringing. This results into unintelligent leaders whose bad governance may cause negative effects like poverty,” Prof. Kagabo told The New Times.

"This training will therefore teach youth to detect, criticize and offer advice in relation to mediocrity.”

In a bid to encourage Rwandan youth to be strong agents of change in their communities, Kagabo believes that once this concept is understood, Rwandan youth will be able of offer better services with good customer care hence accelerating development.

Inyumba also stressed the need for youth to do whatever it takes to promote their country with a spirit of patriotism through active engagement in the development strategies.

Some of the strategies she identified include economic growth through integrations like the East African Community, social transformation, innovation and reconciliation among others.

"The Rwanda of tomorrow is what we are building today so we must have patriotism with a vision by becoming change agents. Let us carry forward our legacy through collective responsibility, changing the mind set and thirsting for knowledge. With personal conviction and commitment the sky will be the limit,” she advised.

According to the Foundation’s Director General, Radegonde Ndejuru, the workshops that started in Huye have ended on a good note because all the youth in the various provinces have come up with good ideas on how to build a better Rwanda.

She was however quick to add that the foundation will ensure that the youth implement these ideas stating that, Imbuto Foundation will check the implementation progress in the next quarter which is due to start in June, this year.

The foundation is chaired by the First Lady, Jeannette Kagame. Its YLMP is aimed at acting as a platform for promoting sustainable leadership opportunities for young Rwandan leaders of tomorrow, in turn, contributing to the development of Rwanda.

Ends