15 years ago, we lost our role models

I think it is supposed to be a natural instinct and inclination for all human beings to strive for a better life. I also think that unlike other animals, we were not made to be satisfied with the status quo but to always aim higher. To some extent even Adam and Eve’s sin was based on their desire to be better. They wanted to know the difference between good and bad and to be more like God, so the devil told them. The same principles can easily be fitted into the education setting. Many a time, learners attend learning sessions with the sole purpose of setting for themselves a foundation that will later enable them to live a better life tomorrow. A life that is not just better than their current one but one that is also better than what their ancestors had to go through. If your father owned a bicycle, then you are probably looking at a car in future. In order to achieve the better life that we all aspire for, we often need a few clues as to what it is supposed to be like. To get to this point we need people to look up to. People, who have achieved a lot in life, acquired a lot of wealth or changed the world in a better way. These we call role models. People like Nelson Mandela, Barrack Obama, Bill Gates and others can easily be on anyone’s list of role models. Making a list of role models in Rwanda’s situation became particularly hard after the 1994 genocide against the Tutsis. In only 100 days, Rwanda did not just lose so many lives but more significantly so many role models ceased to be. As a teacher, my work is supposed to be mush easier when my students are aware of some successful Rwandans that they can look up to and thus work hard to meet their academic goals. Unfortunately, that is something that was made so difficult by the genocide and it is still affecting the education system in a number of ways. During the genocide, doctors, engineers, lawyers, teachers, musicians and so many other professionals were killed. This has not only resulted in a terrible shortage of professionals to steer Rwanda’s development but also robbed our learners of their would-be role models. A student in secondary school will not work hard enough to become a professor probably because he does not know any one in his extended family holding a similar position. The one he probably knows is lying in a mass grave somewhere in Rwanda, buried with all his knowledge and skills simply because he belonged to the wrong group in April, June and July of 1994. This problem is more like a double edged knife. This is because even the professionals who were not murdered but instead were involved in the killings, they too lost the tag of a role model. A doctor or leading businessperson (like the fugitive Kabuga) who got involved in the killings lost it in the eyes of the young ones for he/she had stooped to the lowest point of cruelty. The result has been that our children do not have enough role models to look up to. They lost their parents who would be helping them with homework and vital tips about life. They saw previously important people turn into ‘important’ killers. They saw that those who had achieved a lot academically and financially were not spared by the marauding Interahamwe militia. They know of journalists who threw all their ethics away and preached hatred on the airwaves and in the print media. As we remember the innocent lives that perished in 1994, it is also a time to reflect on how to get identify for our learners, new role models they can look up to and aspire for excellence. May the good Lord rest the souls of those who perished. Never Again ssenyonga@gmail.com