Bradford students get to meet Kagame

KIGALI - President Paul Kagame, yesterday at Village Urugwiro, hosted a delegation of 16 students and two faculty members from the University of Bradford, in the United Kingdom.The students have been in the country for the past two weeks, as part of a study on post conflict societies, organized through the University’s Centre for African Studies.

Saturday, March 26, 2011
Maria Ambrozy, one of the Bradford students speaks to reporters after meeting President Kagame at Village Urugwiro (Photo Village Urugwiro).

KIGALI - President Paul Kagame, yesterday at Village Urugwiro, hosted a delegation of 16 students and two faculty members from the University of Bradford, in the United Kingdom.

The students have been in the country for the past two weeks, as part of a study on post conflict societies, organized through the University’s Centre for African Studies.

"We discussed a lot of issues with the President…. Our experience is that the issues and problems in Rwanda are more complex than what we read in books,” Maria Ambrozy, one of the students said.

She added that during their stay in Rwanda, they travelled to various parts of the country and interacted with the local population.
The group spent a week at the National University of Rwanda, where they interacted with students.

"We spent a lot of time with students and this whole situation helped us to understand the problems in Rwanda much deeper. We discussed all those observations with the President,” added Ambrozy.

Accompanying the students was John Ruzibuka, a Rwandan national, and faculty member at the UK University.

"We asked (the President) how Rwanda is approaching the issue of unity and reconciliation and at the same time addressing the development challenges,” Ruzibuka said.

The Minister of Justice, Tharcisse Karugarama, who attended the meeting, said that the students would be Rwanda’s ambassadors to the rest of the world.

"Out there, people say things about Rwanda which they barely know; they describe the country depending on information picked from the internet. The tour by the students gives them the real picture of what happens in Rwanda,” Karugarama explained.

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