As we are ready for 24th Commemoration of the Genocide against Tutsi, Hora Rwanda Association made by the youth survivors of the Genocide, claims that they are always worried about their young counterparts who stay busy at home entertaining while the commemoration takes place.
Normally, commemoration event starts from 7 to 13 April where all Rwandans in their respective villages attend the public talks that emerge from the annual theme. Through this, Rwandans share ideas so that the genocide may never happen again. Unfortunately, these talks are mostly attended by aged people.
«Our primary purpose is to work together with other groups of genocide survivors to sustain what has been achieved by mobilizing young people to attend the commemoration events, teaching them the country’s history and fight against the Genocide» claims Hora Rwanda. The association explains the reasons that make young people not to attend the commemoration public talks including the mindset and that most of them use social media platforms from which they read some fake facts about history which is sometimes wrongly narrated. So our objective is to let young people know the reality from those who master the history.
«Our aim is to let young people know the history not from the social media» says Habineza Felix, the spokesperson of Hora Rwanda. «We are always anxious about the youth, mainly those who were born after the Genocide Against Tutsi, who stay at their homes watching movies and read fake facts on the history of Rwanda from social media during the commemoration, so we always fight that these young people learn history from genuine sources mainly from people who lived it» He adds.
Nyamwasa Abdoulkarim, a member of Hora Rwanda Association says that the youth has not to think the commemoration is a concern of one part of Rwandans. Commemoration does not only concern genocide survivors but it is a shared responsibility for all young people. Here Makala Gylain, the Coordinator of Hora Rwanda says the fact of the youth not to attend the commemoration events may cause them to forget what happened. «Commemorating teaches the youth the history and helps them to fight the Genocide so that it never happens again. These times the youth is driven by the fashion which makes them abstain from attending the commemoration and the youth that does not remember forgets.» he says.
The Executive Secretary of National Youth Council, Mwesigye Robert has mentioned this absence of the youth in the commemoration during the preparations of the 23rd Commemoration of the Genocide against Tutsi and he advised that the youth should attend this period more actively.
Hora Rwanda Association was founded in 2014 and it is made by 150 members who are subdivided in four families, composed by parents and children, to get them out of solitude. Among other activities of the Association are: commemoration, visiting the EX Combattants who liberated the country as well as community work(umuganda) at various genocide memorials. This year, Hora Rwanda will do the community work at Kamonyi Genocide Memorial together with the authorities and survivors of the Genocide in Kamonyi District on March 31, 2018.
The Express News
