I am not going to complain about anything this week. Well okay about this teensy one. This Friday, I do not know enough clubs in Kigali to hit for my Heroes’ Day celebrations.Usually, I let my dad do the itinerary for Heroes’ Day. Yes, we celebrate, but that should be used lightly. In our household, Heroes Day is renamed careers day. That is when we talk about what we want to do when we grow up. (This is the part where I want to scream. I am a grown woman, for crying out loud!) My brother as always, steals the show, only because he throws his fist in the air and says, “I want to be a hero, and yes I can!” I think it’s a bit idiotic but maybe I am just jealous. I tend to be addicted to attention.The heroes in Rwanda all had one goal in common; they wanted a Rwanda that would be for all Rwandans. I agree. Rwanda belongs to Rwandans now. Walking down Remera, Giporoso en route to Kanombe, I pass by hundreds of people. A few of their conversations strike me and I am astounded to hear different languages spoken, something which most probably did not happen until a few years ago.Swahili, Luganda, Kinyarwanda, Lingala, French and German are some of those that are found on that road and every day, I feel like I should go home by that road, if only to get a feel of what United Nations meeting recesses feel like. Another area I feel like the heroes would be proud of is the number of buildings that have come up in three short years. I came to Rwanda for the first time in 2009. My first feeling as I looked at Kigali through my bus window was exhilaration, I was finally home. The second was much more complex; I started wondering where the sky scrapers I was used to were. (Yes, I am a sucker for cities). I wondered when they would get here and I felt genuinely sad that I would have to go back to where I was from to enjoy proper civilization again.I am happy to say, in the three years I have been here, I have felt nothing but total joy not only at the amount of infrastructural development that has occurred, but also that I have been a part of it. I know the heroes would be proud of Rwanda if they were here to see it through my eyes.
