English
Kinyarwanda
Members of the Rwanda Youth Volunteers in Community Policing (RYVCP) from Muko Sector in Musanze District, yesterday, visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre, to pay homage to over one million victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre is a home of over 250, 000 victims of the one hundred days' horror.
Venuste Surwumwe, the coordinator of youth volunteers in Muko Sector, said the visit was organized to help the youth “get deep understanding of Rwanda's past bad politics that led to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.”
“Majority of us were less than three years when the Genocide occurred. So, visiting this memorial centre is very essential to us to get reminded about the tragedy that befell our country,” Surwumwe said.
“From here, we draw stronger measures to individually and collectively fight any one that may want to take us back to that dark history” he added.
He called upon the young people to join hands to protect and sustain what the country has achieved.
He emphasised the need for collective efforts to fight negative ideologies that can lead to the similar tragic past, by breaking silence and reporting anyone with such criminal and inhuman intentions.
Catherine Manaraguha, another member of the Youth Volunteers, recounted that, the atrocities in Rwanda in 1994, are “far beyond human understanding.”
She appealed to the youth in the country, to learn from the lessons of the dark past, and be drivers of the transformation process.
Currently, there are 161 members of RYVCP in Muko sector, and according to Surwumwe, the overall target is to have at least 400 members by the end of this year.
With about 150, 000 members currently, the youth organization is dedicated to driving national agendas both in security and development through anti-crime awareness campaigns and supporting the disadvantaged groups.
Meanwhile, at Kigali Memorial Centre, where they laid wreaths and given an insight on Rwanda's past, the youth were accompanied by 28 women also from Muko, organised under their umbrella Hugukirwa Muko Cooperative.
Peragie Ayinkamiye, one of the women, recounted that the leadership in Rwanda before 1994, had was characterized by segregation and hatred, and that Genocide was inevitable.
She, however, added that the existing good leadership challenges everyone to be responsible in the restructuring of the country and the social wellbeing of all.
