19 Years On...

April is the month when Rwandese get to celebrate the milestones they have overcome after the bloodshed of the 1994 genocide. A walk to remember saw thousands trek to Amahoro stadium and lit up candles to keep the departed in a restful place.

As we celebrate 19 years on, what position are women holding in society? What milestones have they moved in terms of governance, literally and access of resources. Impressive is the representation of women leaders in the Rwandan cabinet, it is the only African country that has upheld affirmative action. Charity begins at home and a woman who can lead a home can lead a nation without hiccups.

Kigali Memorial Centre

Beauty of Rwanda commends the women who have taken up daring careers previously male dominated such as engineering and medicine. They are challenging yes, but nothing can stop a willing spirit.
Anyone who invests in educating a woman has indeed educated a nation, after all,  children get 70 percent of their knowledge from their mothers. Let us not forget the active role of men in giving women the support, morale and advice to be better and shine beyond infinity. For a group to succeed, togetherness has to be upheld.

Amahoro Y'Imana abe kumwe n'amwe.

Because of You... A tribute to Aloisea Inyumba

On this day, Rwanda lays to rest one of her finest daughters, a heroine, Aloisea Inyumba. It is a sombre day for all Rwandans and all who believed in her fight for women and children empowerment, justice and reconciliation, family values and gender equality.

Many of us never got to meet you in person but your deeds always made us feel like we knew you because you always spoke for all of us. Rwanda has truly lost a great woman and leader.

"How important it is for us to recognise and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!" Maya Angelou

And ...

Because you ... many of our brothers and sisters got to fight for freedom and their death were not in vain. 

Because of you ... Tutsi and Hutu man and woman were able to sit on the same table to forgive and reconcile. 

Because of you ... orphans of the genocide that wiped out nearly over a million Rwandans were able to be housed with loving families. 

Because of you ... Rwandan girls and women today have a strong presence in making decisions for the country that you loved so very much. They hold their heads high with dignity. 

Because of you ...  your life and legacy can reconfirm that we can make a huge difference in this world. That we can hold our heads high with dignity and strive to follow in your footsteps. 

Aloisea Inyumba, you were much loved and you will be missed by your family, friends, colleagues and the entire Rwandan community. The gap you have left in our hearts is enormous. We pray that you rest in eternal peace.

Women Taking up Careers Formerly Dominated By Men.

Rwanda has seen numerous transformations in its education sector and most importantly enabling women to acquire academic kills. Areas such as engineering and ICT were formerly dominated by men but the National University of Rwanda (NUR) and Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) has seen a marked improvement in the number of women who are enrolling to study the previous perceived difficult courses.

Other sectors that women are really embracing fully is arts and literature. Women in Rwanda are in the fore front in organising "spoken word" poetry events to boost language and cultural diversities experienced in the fast developing nation.

Most businesses are headed by women and this goes to show that the long fought for equal status is finally coming to an end... women standing for road and industrial building projects, the economic zone which is part of Rwanda's vision 2020 has seen women in charge of the construction process.

The world is constantly changing and its a great joy to see that women are part of this globalisation in more than one ways ... as the saying goes, a happy woman makes a happy home.

18th Kwibuka: Jenoside Yakorewe Abatutsi.

Rwanda recently took a week off from daily routine to commemorate 18 years since the country went through 100 days of war.
The country concentrates on 7 days because the worst experience of the hundred was captured in seven days....
This year 2012, Rwandan nationals led by the president Hon.Kagame gathered at the Gisozi memorial Centre where the flame was rekindled to signify that the spirit of togetherness and peace is still alive especially in the hearts of the genocide survivors.
Gatherings were done at Amahoro Stadium and several survivors narrated their experiences. Some victims in the diaspora also took time to come back home to share their success stories as a sign of hope in the face of adversity.
Encouraging enough is that the diaspora community has founded trust organizations and built orphanages to accomodate and educate berieved children to help them achieve their dreams.
During this period, some of the people who took part in the murder activities have a chance to say sorry and also help families locate graves of the departed for purposes of better send-offs.
A walk to remember, as it is called, was led by president Kagame from the old parliamentary building to Amahoro Stadium, all these activities are done in Purple clothing which is the official genocide colour. The walk is in an effort to make sure the devastating event never happens again.
This is done annually so that coming generations get to know what happened in the past, its effects and learn peaceful ways of preventing future bloodshed.

All nations should learn from the experiences of Rwanda that war is not the solutions but peaceful coexistence is essential for development.

Rwanda: 18 Years After.

The 7th of April 2012 marked 18 years since the nation of Rwanda experienced a war between its two main tribes. The event was marked by the President, His Excellency Paul Kagame and his wife lighing the flame at Kigali Memorial Centre, Gisozi where hundreds of genocide remains are buried and where most events are put in an archive to tell the story of what happened. In the evening most citizens and also foreigners gathered at the national stadium (Amahoro stadium) to remember the departed by lighting candles, singing, praying and survivors narrating what they can remember. Purple bands were worn to symbolise the lives that were lost.

As a sign of respect, peace and progress in a nation that suffered the worst genocide Africa has ever experienced, businesses were closed for the day and security around the town was very tight to ensure everything ran smoothly. President Kagame has led his nation in diligence and applicable policies that have brought the citizens together and most who are in diaspora have also felt encouraged to come back home.

We pray and hope that the peace lasts forever as we continue to forge ahead in prosperity.

Gender Parity

This in definition is the equitable distribution of resources between men and women in society.
This however is not the case in many African Nations whereby assets, real land, are solely owned by the men, or otherwise inherited from fore fathers.

Giving an example of Kenya, prior to the new constitution, women were not allowed to hold title deeds and therefore had to be land owners under the shadows of either their brothers, spouses or significant others of the male gender.
Looking at the marital sector, men are allowed to marry as many as four wives, in this way they are able to bear large numbers of children who in turn provide free labour and continue increasing on their wealth whereas their wives have to fight with relatives when the husbands die. This shows that as Africans we have a long way to go as far as issues of equality, equity and parity are in play.

                      Female Parliamentarians 

Rwanda is however, one of the leading nation to recognize the importance of women in leadership, seeing that 56% of cabinet is comprised of women leaders who are given key positions in decision making processes. Kenya is still struggling to have at least 30% women representatives in all public office, this is disheartening because in the 21st century this are not the issues we are supposed to be tackling.

Leading NGOs such as the WHO have impressive leadership structures and their head Josette Sheeran is a lady, no bias, but most institutions led by women tend to receive more support and recognition, and most of the time, success is visible and tangible.
Beauty of Rwanda likes to recognize and appreciate the contribution of women in society because they comprise the biggest population on the globe and with combined effort, success is within reach, equal opportunities should be accorded to all regardless of race or nationality.

Eradication of Illiteracy

Illiteracy is the lack of knowledge in a particular field of study, it is a vice that many African women face because boy child education, for many years has been valued more than that of girls. In recent years, the women have come together and formed organisations that enable them to start up businesses, but still remain illiterate in the corporate and political affairs that are presently happening in their respective countries.
This is a plight that can be solved through the officiating of english as the official language especially in Rwanda where by most of the people who aren't educated mainly speak, english and kinyarwanda. Evening classes can be introduced and the services rendered free to encourage as many as possible to attend.
Once they have acquired the knowledge of the english languge they can be able to read business journals and be able to increase knowledge and capital base of their respective business ventures.
If we are to progress as Africans, it should be uniform development through regional integrations coupled by advanced GDP/GNP in the countries involved, this is facilitated through improvement in the academic qualifications and high technical skills in different fields.
At Beauty of Rwanda, we encourage women to learn english, attend conferences and exchange ideas with others from diaspora so that they can learn from elsewhere and implement locally.

Rwandan children reading (Super stock image)