Focus: United in peace building

The crafters of the genocide ideology in Rwanda were cynically cunning. They made sure that it permeates through all the layers of society from generation to generation. They made it a point that the ideology is preached to the youngsters just like how a vital culture of a certain society is conserved and passed on to the young ones by their elders. This is evidenced by a confession by one of the genocide perpetrators in a book entitled a ‘Time for machetes, the killers speak’ where he says they grew up listening to hate statements directed towards the Tutsis and how they are bad people who shouldn’t be tolerated. Lucky enough Rwanda is currently blessed with a prudent leadership. It is doing all it can to cleanse the country of an ideology that led to over a million deaths. It has empowered and mentored all layers of society to cleanse it of the grave ideology of genocide and to stand up against it as well as promoting peace and reconciliation. The Minister of Sports and Culture Joseph Habineza during a recent press briefing on the 15th commemoration of the genocide, made a statement that genocide is not about numbers of people killed but it’s a matter of ideology. He said that it shouldn’t be measured in numeric terms but a generational plague which eats up society in its totality with immeasurable consequences. To fight the genocide ideology, the government has put up a number of institutions and engineered many initiatives aimed at passing the message of peace and reconciliation as well as castigating the genocide ideology. Among these establishments are the genocide memorial centres which keep alive the memory and pain genocide can cause to a society. During an interview with Honore Gatera the head guide at the Kigali Memorial Centre, he said keeping the memory of genocide is one way of bringing about unity and reconciliation since through this vivid memory everyone clearly sees how far hatred and divisionism can take a country. Other programs at the Kigali Memorial Centre is an education program benefiting children who were made vulnerable by the genocide, Trauma Counselling and psychosocial support, they also have a Social Support program for the widows and orphans of genocide which supports in shelter and other basic provisions. Among other unsung heroes in the efforts of cleansing our society of the plague of genocide ideology and promoting peace and reconciliation are our youths. Many Rwandan youth have formed Voluntary organizations which devote their efforts in helping fellow vulnerable youths and children through paying school fees for orphans, soliciting clothes and other basic provisions within their reach, such that fellow youths can have a smile on their faces. Among these youth organizations I managed to visit is Peace and Love Proclaimers (PLP) which is made up of 271 members all between the ages of 12 to 27. What is more intriguing is the fact the fact that PLP members who are significantly Secondary students thereby not earning any salary, get the money they pay for their fellow children in school from their pocket money. However they are planning to start up income generating projects to get a steady financial base for their charity activities and they are seeking help from the public to get them started. The commitment of Rwandan youths to the cause of peace and reconciliation was also manifested in the preparations for the 15th commemoration of genocide against Tutsis, where hundreds volunteered in various activities like crafting of the ‘Message of hope’ which was lit on the night of 7th to mark the beginning of the commemorations at Amahoro stadium. During an Interview with the PLP president Marc Gwamaka he revealed that Rwandan youths have the heart of sacrifice and selfless commitment to the cause of peace, unity and reconciliation, pointing out that given support and full empowerment they can be a formidable tool for a better Rwanda. Among other activities they participated was ushering in visitors on commemoration grounds, acting in plays and songs against genocide ideology among others. Given their priceless values of hard work and sacrifice the Rwandan youths if supported, mentored and involved, they can contribute immensely to the peace and reconciliation process as well as development of the country as a whole. Ends