Apart from schoolwork, it is equally important for students to actively take part in community development activities to get exposed to life outside school.

The Executive Secretary of Rukiri 2 Cell, Remera Sector, Gasabo District, Martha Niyonzima, said made the remarks, observing that such occasssions were critical in bridging the gap between community members and students.

"Students belong to the community. Therefore, instead of spending all their time indoors even when other members of the community are engaged in joint activities for our collective good, they, too, should come out and render a hand. We all need to join hands as a team to develop our areas,” Niyonzima said.

She made the remarks in appreciation after students from Kampala University joined the area residents to participate in the monthly community work (Umuganda) on Saturday.

"These students had the right to come and visit other interesting parts of Kigali and then return to Kampala, but they decided to work with us. This should be a lesson to other students,” she said.

The 50 students from the university came to Kigali for a study tour, and among other places, they visited Kigali Genocide Memorial to pay their respects to the victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

Speaking to The New Times after a guided tour, the university`s guild president, Agnes Nassuna, encouraged Rwandans to uphold nationalism to ensure that what happened then never recurs.

"This is my first visit, but for sure, I had never seen what I saw today and I personally do not wish it should ever happen elsewhere in this world,” Nassuna said.

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