Hundreds participate in ‘walk to remember’

Hundreds of youths from various schools in Kigali yesterday conducted a march code-named ‘walk to remember’. According to the organisers, the youths who belong to Peace and Love Proclaimers (PLP), walked in solidarity with those who died in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The walk was also aimed at rallying the populace to fight the Genocide ideology. The march began at St Famille and ended at Gisozi Memorial Centre where other activities like lighting of candles of hope and reading of some of the victims names was done. The Minister of Sports and Culture, Joseph Habineza, commended the initiative saying that it gives immense hope about the future of the country. “I thank PLP for this activity. Seeing our youth mobilise themselves into an activity of great importance like this shows that the future of our country is bright, given the fact that these are the next leaders,” he said. He castigated the elements of the genocide ideology which are still prevalent in some schools. He called upon the youth to be the positive change and help the entire nation experience that change for the betterment of our tomorrow. “The wicked generation, where some people took themselves to be more human and more Rwandan than others, thereby killing them, is long gone. We should completely change from that and adopt a prudent approach to life where we see an opportunity in every one around us” underscored Habineza who was also the Chief Guest. PLP president, Marc Gwamaka, called upon the youth from all over the country not to only embrace the aspects of remembering and learning from our past only during periods like this. He urged them to absorb them in their daily lives as a measure of how to live constructively as opposed to being destructive. “The youth today have a big challenge of being the change that our country needs. Change doesn’t come easy but with people’s collective effort it always comes. Our country lost a lot and it thus through us that our priceless values and strength have to come back,” Gwamaka noted. Darius Gasatura, the Headboy of Lycée de Kigali and one of the participants, expressed enthusiasm about this activity. He pointed out that it makes the younger generation remember what happened and provides many lessons to them on how to live responsibly. “The more we remember, the more we realise how terrible the Genocide was.” According to the organisers, the ‘Walk to Remember’ will be taking place every year and there are plans of extending it and its related activities to other regions of the country. Ends