As a young woman emerged from her home to take a motorbike taxi to her next rendezvous, crowds of people on the streets started roaring, calling her names. The motorcyclist in front of her looked down on her with contempt, with the voices of others echoing behind him, he said, refusing to let her get on his bike, "go back home and change, you look like a whore.”

Following the discussions on various social media platforms, especially Twitter, about women’s clothing and systematic prejudices morphing into evident punishments for young girls and in most cases justifications for rapists and sexual assaulters, instances like the one mentioned have been prominent in Kigali. Even so, this clash between young girls’ choices of clothing and societal stigma goes way back, stemming from the work in progress that is to bridge modernity and tradition in the set of defining Rwandan values. As a matter of fact, the latter is extremely pronounced in the interactions between the old and new generations of Rwandan society. From the charismatic recounts of old times, in which parents tell their children, "We walked more than five kilometers daily to go to school”, to the technological advancements of the new times, in which children do everything online, there seems to be a line yet to be crossed to ensure the continuity of inter-generational knowledge.

Culture is fast becoming a constraint to the development of the youth as it stifles and crushes contemporary innovation, but as eloquently put "agahugu katagira umuco karacika”. The current events, the nature of which is not social alone but also encompasses political, religious and economic aspects, are but a call to do away with this malignant growth: one that threatens to destroy the progress made in building the Rwanda we need. I believe the efforts, being simultaneously collective and individual, demand that we start now.

Primarily, these conversations need to begin in households. Both sides of the matter hold value and are valid. For that reason, each side should look not to taking the mantle and ascending to the throne, instead in sharing concepts and keen understanding between the parties. At home, as parents invest in the formal education of children, they should provide children with the arena to exercise these skills. The likes of which include viewing things in ways that seem unconventional to them at first. Notice that with such a mentality, a groundbreaking kinship will be established allowing for inter-generational intercourse in a non-diminishing way. On the other side, the youth need to recognize that the older generations have more to offer besides their given duties, by upholding their previous experience, comprehending situations within the past, present and future frameworks of things, a new lens shall appear that focuses more things into perspective. In such a way, as actions begin to hold a brighter light in the grand scheme of things, the proverbial first step will open the door to more discourse that shape the society to the benefit of both sides.

I seek not to undermine the hindrances to such an optimally optimistic outlook. I concede to the barriers of this, including but not limited to the gen zs and millennials groomed so firmly to cling to their beliefs no matter how outdated they might be. However, this does not negate the stupendous power of hope, for as a people, trust and faith in the betterment of our systems is what causes us to hold onto them regardless of how polluted they might be. Because really, without that hope what else does our generation and those to come have to look forward to?

It is in that sense that parliamentarians, law and government officials as well as people in power have a duty to us and themselves. A duty rooted in the progression of change, grounded in the proclamation that we are at the forefront of their thoughts and the decisions made are in the best interests of the nation at large and not institutionalized. An understanding that the scrutiny bestowed on their actions is not a means to demean their work, rather a door opened to coalition. Their role, perhaps the most vital, in this journey is to facilitate dialogues, be it with media houses or actions that speak louder than words.

Does all this matter though? For many of us, especially the older generations, these discussions are just a step too many in the future, perhaps much more than that. They mean conforming not only to the western bias but debilitating the past by uprooting our customs and traditions—just another show of colonial assimilation. In reality, they do matter. For us to define our culture in a way that correlates to all generations, such conversations should be brought to the table. Maybe the gen-zs are right, demarcating their dress codes proves to be more of a way to undermine their choices, and thus, highlight their inferiority. Or maybe the millennials are right, clothes need to be more in check to influence who we are as people, our identity as a nation. Understandably so, the need for both sides to be right pushes more people to the sidelines, ostracizing them more and more from the ongoings of the nation as they choose to remain neutral in order to keep the peace. But is the divide worth the gain?

As we manage to advance technologically, looking to exercise our community involvement, it is of crucial importance to notice, account for and also solve issues pertaining our governance and interactions with each other as a whole. Our history, much of an intricate affair as it is, teaches us unity and importantly the role of the youth in the development, or lack thereof, of a nation. Our democracy calls for not only freedom and innovation as we gather ground technology-wise. And all this begs the question, will this be another form of partisan jousting between two generations? Or a monumental turning point to re-evaluate our values and standards together as a nation?