EASTERN PROVINCE

GATSIBO — Hundreds of mourners recently turned up in Kabarore for a funeral service of Joseph Kanyamuhungu, 99, one of the elders respected for his work ethics during his time.

Formerly an educationist / veterinary doctor in Kabarore, Kanyamuhungu died on February 6 at King Faisal Hospital Kigali of heart failure, his son, Francis said.

Born in 1909 in Gikomo, Kanyamuhungu joined teaching in 1932, in Gikoma from where he was transferred to Kiziguro reportedly because of his extraordinary dedication. He was a staunch catholic and devoted religious man who loved and feared God.

He was dynamic in his duties. In 1940’s he started business along side other duties; he could go to Uganda and bring goods for sale.

He managed to combine work of trader, farmer, teacher, veterinary doctor and church clergy in Kiziguro, according to his son. While the work kept Kanyamuhungu exceptionally busy and required much traveling, he also found it very rewarding.

"He was a workaholic,” Francis Kayuba said. "He would work 60 hours a week and he loved it. He was one of the very few people who wanted to keep going even when he hit 65, the mandatory retirement age.”

"His commitment to work ethics was unbelievable,” said one mourner "He was a very good teacher, doctor, business man and very loyal.”

He later shifted with his family to Nyagatare (Mwinyiko) in 1950’s during a time of political upheavals. He fled Rwanda in 1960 to a refugee camp in Nyakivara in western Uganda (Mbarara).

From Nyakivara, he went to Toro in Kabarore District (Rwamwanja camp) in the 1970’s. After the Genocide in 1994, he returned with his family and settled in Kabarore in Gatsibo District.

He was educated by the first white settlers in Gahini in the 1920’s. He was the soul child for his mother though his father had other children from another wife.

It so happened that during that time white settlers were not accepted by the local people and when they started schools, those children who insisted on learning were disowned by their families because education was regarded an alien thing.

However, because he loved to acquire knowledge he left his family and joined Gahini as a boarder knowing that he will not be allowed back home. They were taught to read, write, Mathematics and were also taught to treat people and cows.

After his education, he was accepted back in his family because he had become a useful member of the society, who could treat people and animals yet people of such qualifications were scarce then.

In his life he appreciated and loved two things; he was dedicated to his work and devoted to educating his children.

He was also a herdsman who loved his cattle because they made it possible for him to educate his children. He is survived by two wives and ten of his fifteen children and many grand children.

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