FRIDAY evening was no ordinary one as the Umesekeweya team, a local radio show and fans celebrated the show’s 10th anniversary at Sports View Hotel in Remera. The event that started at 3:30pm featured traditional dances, poems, drama, eating and dancing. The highlight of the day was a performance by Urban Boyz who entertained the crowd with their energetic act. Clad in black and white stripped basket ball jerseys and jeans, the Kelele hit makers did not disappoint, despite the terrible sound. Backed by queen dancers, Urban Boyz kicked off their performance with a creative dance before doing songs like Chagua, Kelele, Kubita that were received with wild cheers from the audience as others hopped on stage to dance with them. Fans also got to take pictures with the group. Umusekeweya, a local radio show that was founded by radio Labenevolencija Humanitarian Tools Foundation in 2004, talks about unity and reconciliation after the Genocide. George Weiss, the CEO of Labenevolencija Humanitarian Tools Foundation, said that they were privileged to take part in Rwanda’s healing and reconciliation process after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Narcisse Havugimana from Ngororero is one of the people whose lives have been changed by Umusekeweya. He said the drama’s messages of unity and reconciliation helped him return home. “I was a soldier in the former government, during the 1994 Genocide I went in exile in Congo and had no hope of returning home. All this changed when I started listening to Umusekeweya in 2007 because I got courage to return home together with my family and all has been well since then,” he said.
