I have resolved that during a time like this, especially for us youth and especially, those of us who weren’t directly affected by the tragedy, should  step out of our own old perspective of the memorial season and formalities that we are caught in for a moment and try discovering what someone else’s take on the value of commemoration might be.

Believe me you’ll be surprised to find out various things like; the weight of its impact over the last 17 years and maybe the rest of their lives, the significance of Rwanda’s participation in the commemoration of their loved ones, and so on.

I think this because many of us may not attach any big value to this particular season in our country. I’m almost too sure that some of us are busy saying how boring it is, how we’re attached to anything that’s not TV Rwanda or radio or news papers even if it means watching foreign news channels or sleeping the whole day.

All just to escape the emotional sadness because ‘life is meant to be happy and not sad’: But if we consider ourselves useful people to our community altogether then we ought to be able to see the value and significance of participating in the healing of somebody else even in the least way as just paying attention to it and actually being there for someone else rather than for yourself during this time. That’s why I dedicate this poem to you.

You have no idea how much you and I are needed during this time, in fact, more than ever. It doesn’t have to be a huge contribution it just has to be that heart.

It is what Thomas Carlyle mentioned that I agree with "the work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green.”

Humility

The seed from which grows
The sweet fruits love and peace.
To send a hand not at your waist or chin;
But rather to someone’s aid.
To walk out the door of your home
Thinking not of your next meal,
But wonder if your neighbor slept well.
Don’t look too far, too hard…
To find the best time, the best way how
The best words and the best occasion
To reach out to someone in love and comfort
It will never be just right. The time is now.
The person’s right next to you.
Think of that million, their families
Put them right before yourself
Then, will oneness and hope make sense.
Rwanda of tomorrow, at such a time,
This is what we need;
To remember our people with honor and humility.

Ends