The Rwanda Day 2012 concluded on Saturday in Boston, Massachusetts, with President Paul Kagame, calling on the Rwandan Diaspora to increasingly partake in the country’s development process.More than 2,000 people from around the world descended on Boston to celebrate Rwanda’s remarkable progress over the last 18 years and renew their commitment to supporting their country as it aspires to become a middle-income economy.The role of Rwandans living abroad in the country’s development cannot be overemphasized. Official figures show an upward trend in remittances from the Diaspora in recent years, from US$63.31 million in 2008, to $88.21m in 2009, $98.21m in 2010, and $103.12m in 2011.The remittances are projected to rise to $111.37 million this year, to $120.28m in 2013 and $129.90m in 2014.These statistics are self-explanatory; they reasonably reflect the importance the government has attached to the Diaspora community in the country’s reconstruction and development process since the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.Nothing beats the sense of belonging and the pride that comes with identifying with a country you call home, no matter how far away from it you may be. That is the spirit that characterizes the Rwandan Diaspora of today, contrary to the yesteryears when so many Rwandans had been deprived of the fundamental right to a homeland.Needless to say the thousands of jubilant Rwandans who attended both the Chicago (last year) and Boston Rwanda Day events have an enormous potential to help change their motherland for the better. They increasingly want to get involved with laying down a new, solid foundation for a country, which successive future generations will be proud to call home. A country at peace with itself and with its neighbours, and devoid of the past discriminative policies and practices – of any kind.What should and must be done is to continue creating an ideal environment that enables each member of the Diaspora community to play their part in one way or another.
