One of the causes of poor reading culture in Rwanda is linked to limited access to reading materials. Although the youth are steadily gaining interest and started writing, it is unfortunate that they lack platforms to share their work for the public to access it with ease. Some writers have even slumped their writing passions and dreams. It is for this reason that William Niyonzima, is inventing a mobile application where all his poems will easily be accessed. The 29-year-old poet is a histopathology lab analyst and tutorial assistant at INES-Ruhengeri, Higher Institute of Applied Sciences in the Northern Province of Rwanda. One of his poems. Reading short stories, he said, was his passion since childhood. At a tender age, like many children with diverse dreams, he had a strong desire to be a journalist and on many occasions, he recited stories and other writings, just as journalists do. In 2005, he perfectly recited a poem of one of the famous playwrights, Perepetuwa Mukahigiro, at a Primary school closing ceremony that he was given the title of poet. That was the genesis of his composition of poems and songs for different competitions in high school; however, his strong incentive then was only in competitions. In 2007, he focused more on compiling poems for diffirent functions such as, wedding ceremonies, genocide commemoration, school competitions, both in English and Kinyarwanda. As a believer and a voluntary evangelist in the gospel of Revival and Reformation (Abagorozi), he believes that he ought to use his talents to bless humanity to prepare people for the second advent of Christ. Today, those that are empowered by his pieces reach out, which motivates him to do more. In 2020 he started a daily scriptures quote, where every day, he designs and shares quotes from Holy Scriptures in three languages; English, French and Kinyarwanda, a program he says that people have embraced and are blessed. So far, 569 quotes have been shared. “I have also written about 40 personal quotes (most of them are in both English and Kinyarwanda), and 44 poems (most of which are in both English and Kinyarwanda versions). Being a member of Writers Space Africa-Rwanda (WSA-R) has enabled me to improve my writing skills and I have been motivated to write so much since I joined,” he stresses. According to Niyonzima, writing and poetry is a way of preaching, educating, motivating and inspiring the society. To him, the beauty of poetry is that it enables a poet to expose his thoughts, and yet communicate messages that can cause people to love, heal, trust, and learn about things in someone else’s view through just written lines.
