WINNY NTAGANIRA BAHO and Zuhla Bagirinka are two young rising poetesses with a desire to preserve the wellbeing of Rwandans by using their voices and thoughts to tell the Rwandan story, without forgetting who they are and where they came from. The duo, who live in Kigali and are both 21-years-old, are studying law in the University of Rwanda (Kigali campus). They first embarked on their journey of writing poems in 2019, writing and sharing them on Instagram. They however, were not ‘discovered’ until this year – during the Genocide commemoration period. “We always wrote short pieces; poems and shared them on our Instagram pages but none of them ever got out,” said Bagirinka, during an interview with The New Times. “Our goal is to show the Rwandan youth that our story is for us to tell and not by others.” It’s during the commemoration week that they shared a poem ‘we against genocide’ in a memorial service to remember the youth victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi, known as Igihango cy’Urungano (loosely translated to ‘the pact of peers’). The poem highlighted the history of Rwanda before the Genocide against the Tutsi and after; the way Rwanda rebuilt itself, and how Rwanda is still fighting Genocide deniers. The two poetesses also spoke on their poetry being a bridge to healing transgenerational trauma and the wounds of the victims still being fresh. “It is true that wounds are still fresh and still need to heal, which is what is causing the new generation trauma but with the help of our government that still gives us hope for life and a better future, it is our task to show the youth that wounds are not on our parents only but on us as well and that we are able to heal,” says Bagirinka. To communicate their message, they use English and Kinyarwanda as they believe Rwandans can understand them well and relate to their poetry, but when they write on their own, they use a language that they feel will give out their message with utmost clarity. Not only do Baho and Bagirinka write and perform poetry to tell their stories about Rwanda but they also write on life in general. Why team working? On why the duo decided to work together, they said they find it to be the best way of spreading their messages to the Rwandan community. “We decided to work together as a team because although someone always has something better to share, we believe it can be best when shared together,” said Baho. From team working, they learned that everyone is capable on their own but also a help from your colleague is needed for your message to satisfy your audience as different perspectives and knowledge are joined together. The poetesses said that the biggest challenge they face is the lack of a strong support system for writers and poets, and urged the government to integrate written arts into the showbiz initiatives it supports.
