Hollywood star moved by Rwanda’s progress

URUGWIRO VILLAGE –The visiting Dean of African American actors, Danny Glover has expressed profound delight over the determination of the Rwandan people to transform the country after the 1994 Genocide. Following his meeting with President Paul Kagame at Urugwiro Village yesterday, the winner of four Emmy nominations as an actor said his visit to the country has been one of the most remarkable tours he has ever made on the continent and the world over. “The way in which the Rwandan people have invested their energy, passion and love in transformation is a remarkable lesson for men and women all over the world,” he said as an observation of Rwanda’s determination to build the country. Nominated the ambassador of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) since 1998, Glover also chairs the board of the Trans-Africa Forum, a non-profit organisation that helps to elucidate the economic and political effects of American foreign policy on Africa and among the children of the African Diaspora in the Caribbean Basin and Latin America. About his meeting with the President, Glover said that he was very proud to have met a person who accepted to share his “precious time”. “He does the valuable work of making this country as best as he can,” he noted referring to President Kagame. Widely respected and well known both as an actor and a humanitarian activist, the lethal weapon actor has been to Rwanda on invitation of Rwanda Cinema Centre (RCC) as a guest of honour at the just concluded Rwanda Film Festival. The Centre’s Chief Executive Officer, Eric Kabera described Glover’s presence in Rwanda as a very important milestone in the country’s cinema industry. “Him being in Rwanda is very important to see basically the growth, the resilience and dynamic that we have in Rwanda and to make sure that spirit he carries around the world is also shared with us,” he said. Kabera disclosed that during his stay, Glover got a chance to speak to RCC students and that there was hope he would become their mentor and advocate hence playing a vital role in building the theatre and training filmmakers in the country. Apart from remaining one of the top character actors working in cinema, Glover has also established a reputation as an outspoken activist. While attending San Francisco State University, Glover, 62, was a member of the Black Students Union which, along with the Third World Liberation Front and the American Federation of Teachers, collaborated in a five-month student-led strike to establish a Department of Black Studies. The strike was the longest student walkout in U.S. history.It helped create not only the first Department of Black Studies but also the first School of Ethnic Studies in the U.S. Glover was an early supporter of John Edwards in the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary until Edwards’ withdrawal. Glover then endorsed Barack Obama. Ends

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Hollywood star moved by Rwanda’s progress