Last week, the Head of State addressed over two thousand young professionals living in the country and in the Rwandan community abroad.

The president advised the youth to take care of their health, prioritise education and to strive to give the best of themselves, among many other lessons. Sharon Kantengwa asked some of the young professionals that attended, about the lessons that they took home.

Allan Karemera, Photographer

It’s not often that you see a country or president give a platform to young people and get to listen to them. If people want to know why Rwanda is emerging as one of the fast growing countries they should look at initiatives like Meet the president.

It is a privilege that we have and we should take advantage of it to build the country. From the president’s speech, I learned that there is no shortcut. Every day we have to chase opportunities around us. Also, life is about picking lessons from the failures learning why some things work and others don’t.

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Vanessa Rukundo, president Rwanda Toastmasters club

My lessons were drawn from what our president said and also the different questions, solutions and pieces of advice that were shared by the different people that attended. I learned that opportunities are to be chased, as for failure, it will always chase me but I don’t have to let it shut me down.

We have got very many opportunities that we can and should be able to exploit as youth. There is power in networking and sharing of ideas among the youth. It is important to question and hold institutions accountable, much as it is to help suggest solutions. Also, the time to change, work and build is now.

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Christelle Kwizera, Founder Water Access Rwanda

It was an engaging session as the president met with young people and answered all of their questions. The highlight of it all were the important lessons that the president delivered. I learned that I should not just sit but chase opportunities and not give up.

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Arnold Kwizera, Radio presenter

The summit was more about the president showing up to meet young people which shows continuity and consistency in regards to not only understanding the issues of the various demographics but also pass on lessons to the young people.