KIGALI - Thousands of Rwandans thronged churches to celebrate the first day of 2010.

Ste Famille, a Roman Catholic Church located in Kigali city, was filled to capacity

"The place was parked and outside too. Others were attending online,” described Edward Gakuru who spent the night in Zion Temple in Kicukiro.

At Ste Famille, there were neat rows with people seated shoulder-to-shoulder. Despite the overcrowding, six drums were being sounded calling for more worshippers.

Jean Pierre Nibimenya, who had spent six months without attending church couldn’t miss at the start of the year.

"Despite the little I have, I am planning to give more help the poor this year,” revealed Nibimenya, an employee of Sky Hotel located in Kigali City.

"This year I will strengthen my Spiritual life,” resolved Colette Nyirabigenimana, from Nyagatare who said she had come to the city to visit friends.

Jean Baptiste, one of the frequent worshippers revealed that the numbers were fewer than those at Christmas.
"There were more people on Christmas than today. In church they were standing,” he revealed.

Regina Pacis, another Catholic Church located in Remera that opened this year, though smaller than Ste Famille, also attracted pools of worshipers.

It was filled to capacity with cars overlapping the parking lots with other car owners improvising by using the roadsides of the stony road in front of the church to park, in turn creating a traffic jam for other road users.

"My new year’s resolution is to sell more mattresses,” revealed Regis Iracyatureba, a Remera resident and a mattress retailer seeking to upgrade her business.

Rosalia Nuwase, a stay-at-home mother with her first born strapped to her back, disclosed that she is planning to launch into business during the course of this year.

"Presently I am a housewife, but I am going to become a dealer in tables,” she disclosed.

Ends