During the commemoration week of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, Rwandans were called upon to have hope in the future. My message today is to encourage Rwandans to keep HOPE ablaze.

Norman Vincent Peale says, "Practice hope. As hopefulness becomes a habit, you can achieve a permanently happy spirit.” With hope we can still achieve and achieve greatly. Hope will drive us to accomplishing our future dreams and aspirations.

Pope John XXIII said, "Consult not your fears but your hopes and dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what is still possible for you to do.”

Dale Carnegie once said that most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.

Despite what happened in 1994, we should have hope that Rwanda will one day become a nation respected worldwide. The beauty of Rwanda will not come from anything else but with what Rwandans will hope and strive for.

Start everyday with an inspiring thought. What you think sets the tone of the day and will have a great impact on what you will accomplish that day. Cutting the long story short, hope is a powerful tool in all aspects of life.

Considering what befell Rwanda, nothing less than keeping the flame of hope alive will ensure the fruits we have reaped don’t go rotting.

We need to be there for the survivors, we need to assure the negationists and revisionists that their efforts will never amount to anything. Rwandans should know that what happened in 1994 will never happen again.

Let HOPE reign in our hearts. Long live Rwanda, long live the people of Rwanda.                 

Ends