Community welfare mobilisers in Itorero

Burera–Over 500 community-based welfare advisors yesterday began a civic training under the culture-based platform, Itorero ry’Igihugu, at the Rwanda Peace and Leadership Centre in Nkumba, Musanze District.The group, which will serve as trainers of trainers, is composed of selected representatives of historically marginalised, youth representatives and those in charge of social affairs at local administrative levels.The welfare mobilizers who formed the 13th phase of Itorero ry’Igihugu, will promote values of unity, truth, culture of hard work while avoiding attitudes and mindsets that deter progress, as a mechanism to expedite sustainable development.Speaking at the opening of the training, the State Minister in charge of Social Affairs, Dr Alvera Mukabaramba, said Rwandan values should be adopted as guiding tools towards development, good service delivery, and to find solutions for their own problems“Our work will determine our welfare, we still have 45% of the population below the poverty line, we have to change our mindset and working procedures in order to achieve the development levels we desire,” Mukabaramba said.The two-week civic training will be followed by Itorero for all Cell Executive Secretaries.The Executive Secretary of National Unity and Reconciliation Commission, Dr Jean Baptiste Habyalimana, said the civic training aims to rebuild the traditional Rwandan core values that were shattered by the Genocide against the Tutsi, and shaping a new chapter involving everyone in national development.“Unity will release us from the past bondage of ethnic divisions, in this new era, every Rwandan should play a part, we don’t want any category of people being left behind, Rwanda belongs to us all,” Habyalimana said.The home-grown initiative brings people together to share lessons on how to solve their problems, promote national unity and with a major task to execute all government development programmes at all levels.Itorero ry’Igihugu, was established in 2007 as a forum for discussing national development issues.The opening ceremony, marked by songs, poems and commitments, was attended by Boniface Rucagu, the chairman of national Itorero Task Force, as well as other senior government officials.