Rwandans mark Heroes' Day

 

President Kagame lays a wreath at the Heroes Mausoleum in Remera, Kigali, today.

Nothing could overshadow the path they took. If it came to life and death, they would give up the former for the freedom and tranquility of Mother Country. That ultimate sacrifice, we still cherish,  years later...

Rwandans will for the 19th time today mark the National Heroes’ Day, an auspicious event that is expected to be celebrated at village level across the country.

Ignatius Kamali Karegesa, the executive secretary of the Chancellery for Heroes and National Orders and Decorations of Honour, said the day will be celebrated under the theme; “Heroism is the Foundation of Dignity and Development.” 

“This year’s event does not have a special character. It is not very different from the past celebrations. What we will emphasise, and perhaps undertake on a larger scale, is the coverage of the Rwandan population in terms of delivering talks to a whole range of audiences,” said Kamali during an interview with The New Times. 

Laying wreaths

Ordinarily, the day is characterised by the laying of wreath both by top government officials and family members of the heroes, whose remains lay at the Heroes Mausoleum near Amahoro Stadium in Remera.

Kamali said the commission is working on identifying more persons to add on the list of national heroes, who are in three categories of Imazi, Imena and Ingezi.

“We are still sorting out a few administrative issues. Once we are done, we will embark on research to make the heroes known,” he said.

The heroes laid at the mausoleum include Maj. Gen. Fred Gisa Rwigema and the ‘Unknown Soldier’. They represent the ultimate price during the liberation struggle from 1990-1994. Both rest in the Imanzi category. Those in the second category include King Mutara Rudahigwa, Michel Rwagasana, Agathe Uwiringiyimana, Felicite Niyitegeka and the Nyange students.

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New maternity ward brings smile to mothers

 

Ndejuru interacts with a mother at Matyazo Health Centre in Huye yesterday.

A new maternity ward has been commissioned at Matyazo Health Centre in Huye district, bringing joy to hundreds of expectant mothers who use the facility.

The construction of the health facility, which cost more than Rwf75m, was funded by the Imbuto Foundation and the UN International Children’s ducation Fund (Unicef).

The support saw the maternity wing renovated and upgraded by adding three rooms for HIV/Aids counselling and testing, a delivery room and a common room.

It is expected that the renovated and upgraded maternity ward will offer services which respond to the needs of expectant mothers, including provision of antenatal services, safe delivery, as well neonatal services.

According to the health centre’s officials, an estimated 80 pregnant mothers report to the facility each month.

After the wards were commissioned, residents expressed gratitude and said they hope to get quality healthcare services.

Donatha Mutungirehe, a mother of two, who is among the first mothers to have delivered in the new upgraded maternity block, said she was delighted to deliver in a proper and clean environment.

“The place is very clean, suggesting it might also be very safe,” the 30-year-old Mutungirehe said.

“The place is very different from where I delivered last time,” she added.

Speaking at the function, Radegonde Ndejuru, the director-general of Imbuto Foundation, reaffirmed their commitment to contribute towards improvement of the health of mothers and children.

Improvement in health

“Imbuto Foundation will keep advocating for programmes to promote good health of families, especially the health of mothers and children,” Ndejuru pledged.

She said Rwanda has made significant achievements in improving the health of mothers and children, but added that there is still a long way to go to reach the desired level.

She told residents that their contribution is crucial and critical in improving family health.

Ndejuru urged parents to always seek medical assistance whenever needed to avoid putting their lives at risk.

Dr Uzziel Ndagijimana, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, commended Imbuto Foundation and Unicef for their efforts to support the development of a healthy society in the country.

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Nyange survivors: Unity is an important aspect of life

 

The school’s current director, Leonard Gapasi stands at Mujawamahoro’s tomb. Inset, Father Mvukiyehe.

Tuesday, March 18, 1997, was a cold, rainy day at Nyange Secondary School, Ngororero District. 

Students and teachers at this boarding school went about their business normally. But shortly before 8 pm, after they had had dinner, the students were surprised by a number of unknown ‘visitors’, some in military uniforms.

The strangers, were armed with automatic firearms and other traditional weapons, according to eyewitnesses.

After killing a night guard at the school, the infiltrators – commonly known as Abacengezi – ordered the students to separate themselves according to their ethnicity.

Separation along percieved ethinic identities would have seen the attackers slaughter Tutsi students. 

Young, vulnerable, unable to physically protect themselves and with no weapons to use for self-defence, the school boys and girls immediately understood what that meant.

But, to testify to their unity, oneness, solidarity, love, moral righteousness, and patriotism, the students defied the orders and refused to separate. 

Between unity and disunity or division, they opted for the former: stick together and perish together with, their dignity.

The infiltrators then shot indiscriminately at the students. Six of them – Sylvestre Bizimana, Chantal Mujawamahoro, Beatrice Mukambaraga, Seraphine Mukarutwaza, Helene Benimana, and Valens Ndemeye –  were killed immediately.

Around twenty others were left in critical condition after being wounded in the shooting spree.

Almost 16 years after the fateful night, bitter memories still linger. 

But, the teenagers’ bravery is celebrated and serves well as an inspiration for so many people who wish to emulate their deeds.

A monument at the school campus serves as a reminder of the sad events that took place not in 1994, but on a single day in 1997, three years after over a million lives were taken during the Genocide against the Tutsi.

Taken for regular army

Father Jean Baptiste Mvukiyehe, 35, was at the time a Senior Five student at the school.  He was at the school on the fateful night and witnessed the bloody night attack. As he recounts the incident, he divulges every single detail as if the attack happened yesterday.  Mvukiyehe remembers how he first spotted the assailants on his way back to classrooms after dinner.

“Our dining room was about 250 metres from classrooms. As we finished dinner and headed back to class, I saw a group of about six men in military fatigues. At first, we thought they were regular soldiers. They even told us to hurry up and go to our classes,” he recalls. “Until then, nothing strange or suspicious had happened”.

But, as they reached their classrooms,  the armed infiltrators suddenly became violent. 

“They pushed the classroom door with such violence that we were all frightened,” he says. “We took cover under desks.”

The assailants were armed with Kalashnikovs, grenades and traditional weapons.

“One had a lengthy machete and another welded an object that looked like club,” he remembers.

After entering the classrooms, the assailants gave their orders. 

“Tutsis on one side, Hutus on the other”, they said according to Mvukiyehe.

But, the students opted to stay together rather than separate. The infiltrators threatened the young students with their weapons, ordering them to separate but to no avail.

“They shot the first student. A girl. They shot her in the head and she instantly died,” the priest remembers. “May be they wanted to coarse us into submission, but no one moved.”

“We are all Rwandans”

Realising their failure to separate the students, the assailants started shooting randomly.

Thereafter, the order was repeated. But, the students remained firm.

“There are no Hutus or Tutsis here, we are Rwandans,” a girl in the class shouted, according to Prisca Uwamahoro, another survivor who was shot at thrice – in the head, on shoulder and arm.

 “We had made it clear that we shall not separate. We kept telling them that we are all Rwandan, which increased their frustration because it was clear that they would not achieve their objectives.” 

After the shooting, the assailants ordered the students to stand up so they can choose Tutsis by themselves.

But, the students took the opportunity to run for safety, and more students were killed in the process.

“They [assailants] kept shooting and hurling grenades at us”, the clergyman says. ‘They were so many. At one point we just saw bullets and not the shooters.”

The exact number of the attackers remains unknown, but estimates put it to over 20.

“I managed to escape and hid in a nearby banana plantation till the next  morning.”

Others survived by hiding in bushes around the school premises.

“The next morning, everyone was left devastated. We could no figure out what happened. It was and it remains so hard for us to comprehend,” Mvukiyehe observes.

Responsibility

But, what was the force behind the students which helped them dare to defy the armed assailants whose intentions was clearly to kill innocent teenagers? 

According to the survivors, the unity and love which existed between them was the main force behind their resistance.

“Our leaders always told us that unity was our strength,” Uwamahoro narrates. “Due to the education we were receiving at school, we entertained brotherly relations between us. We were not just friends, but rather it was as if we were relatives. The mood at the school was like that of a family.”

“The attack is one of the darkest moments of my life,” Father Mvukiyehe notes. “But, it has taught me that unity and oneness are important aspects in life”.

 “Getting a national hero accolade comes with new responsibilities rather than it being an achievement. It is a call to uphold that unity and oneness, the love for human life and remain brave during difficult situations,” Mvuyekure says.

“March 1997 is gone but we always face situations which require us to remain united.”

Sixteen years after the gruesome incident, survivors of the Nyange school attack have started a new life.

The former Nyange students are now scattered across the country, contributing to the national development in one way or another.

But, their bond remains.

In 2002, the survivors of Nyange attack started an association to uphold their legacy and named it Komezubutwari (Uphold heroism).

The association is engaged in keeping together Nyange Heroes and their families and promoting the culture of peace building and heroism.

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