Editor,

In modern society, museums enrich educational process by letting the youth and the public in general see, touch, and feel their cultural heritage. Rwandan youth ought to understand and appreciate their history, culture and take pride in the achievements from their past.

It is on record that having no idea of one’s own identity and heritage has proven to be detrimental to the youth as our future generations. Knowing who you are, and where you come from, is a very critical component in creating better citizenry.

Education being a basic necessity for development, if it is devoid of people’s culture, there is less or no progress at all in that given society. In other words, it is empty and incomplete.

In the past, many schools had eliminated or cut back on museum trips, partly because of the tight budgets and partly due to the growing emphasis on "seat time” strategy to cover class work.

To bridge this gap, Rwandan museums are taking their lessons to schools, through "Museums in Schools” outreach programme that goes an extra-mile in covering a wider perspective of the public especially the young, as our future leaders.

The future of our nation is safe in the hands of more informed young generation on the social, political, historical, and cultural trends about our past.

We do not need to interact with the past on special occasions, but, rather, history must be in our hands and let the past be part of us.

David Nkusi

Reaction to the story, "Students urged to love their culture” (The New Times, October 1)