The women of Christian Life Assembly (CLA) Nyarutarama are more than happy to appreciate every member of the society. They are embracing 2009 as a year of appreciation.

They are proving that their sole aim is to be among the major contributors to the healing and well being of Rwandans.
With five women care groups, the women are categorized to effectively meet people’s needs. They feed, cloth and offer emotional assistance to orphans.

According to Janet Bucyana one of the group’s leaders, every year a theme is chosen and every month they have a particular group of people they target.

"This year’s theme is appreciation and during the month of July we have been appreciating the police, particularly the traffic police and security guards,” Bucyana said.

She said that that not so many people understand what it feels like to be appreciated for what they do.
Despite the negative reports that people say about the police, there are those who are honest and deserve to be recognized.

"Through rewarding traffic policemen who stand out in the sun for long hours all in the name of serving the citizens, their efforts are recognized and this motivates them,” said Bucyana.

"The police that I have personally handed the designed appreciation cards were pleasantly surprised, and so touched by the fact that actually someone cares and is thankful for them,” she added.

Buycana noted that as Rwanda continues to reflect its good leadership on the international scenes, last month the women saw it fit to appreciate various leaders while in May they appreciated women, as they were thankful to God for making them mothers of all nations.

"We as women of Rwanda have taken the initiative, to encourage ourselves and others in different ways.”
Since ‘Charity begins at home’, appreciation starts on an individual basis before it reflects on others.

Festus Mugabo is a security guard, married with three children. He works for one of the big Hotels in Kiyovu.

"It takes me a while before someone greets me or even appreciates my work,” he said, "…but when someone acknowledges my existence, it is good enough to make me have a good day.”

He recalls there are days when some people stop to tell him thank you for being there and hand him tips.
This Mugabo said, "boosts my self esteem the whole day. They come just at the right time when I needed to know that someone cares.”

Mugabo is among many other security guards who are taken for granted and sometimes looked down on. However, he is grateful for people who appreciate others.
According Mary Kamugisha, a counselor and lecturer at Kigali Institute of Education, "one of the easiest ways to feel better is doing something good for someone else.”

"The use of positive affirmation on a daily basis, being nice to others and avoiding passing negative words are the basics for boosting self esteem,” she said.

She also praised the appreciation theme and noted that the women have brought new fond memories in these traffic policemen as they instill, pride in what they do.

"Sometimes being a police officer is often a very thankless job. They put their lives on the line going into countless situation and most of the times these efforts go unnoticed,” she said.
Whether it is most unfortunate that many people see the police as a threatening and oppressive force, their role in society is significant.

Through daily appreciation of the least noticed and acknowledged, people’s lives are changed. Examples of these people are the househelps.

People daily live with them, they wake up at dawn to make breakfast, and they keep our house clean and make sure that the house is found as instructed yet, they are rarely appreciated.

Through learning to appreciate the efforts that people make, Rwandans can learn from the women’s appreciation to make brighter people’s lives.

Ends