There is this belief that Rwandans fear rain more than anything else. In fact, it is more efficient in confining people than the threat of COVID-19.

It only needs a few drops to see people scampering in all directions seeking shelter. However, there is another section of Rwandans who are only too grateful when it rains as they owe their lives to it.

Yesterday afternoon’s sudden heavy rainfall brought back to mind the fateful 100 days 26 years ago. The usual heavy presence of the police who enforce the lockdown was nowhere to be seen. That is exactly what saved many during the Genocide; the rains cleared the roads.

At the height of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, hordes of marauding Interahamwe militia and soldiers scoured the countryside hunting for Tutsi. Roadblocks were mounted on even the smallest path.

Suddenly the skies would open up and down came the rains, sending killers running for shelter and opening a path for fleeing Tutsi to pass and live to die another day.

Today, those born during that time, in makeshift shelters and under the heavy pounding of the rains, are now young adults who should see rain as a sign of life. They were born under those difficult circumstances for a reason.

They are the new blood now getting into the driving seat to drive this country forward. They, of all people, are in a better position to appreciate the sacrifices of those who liberated the country. To clearly drive the message home, most of the liberators and their commanders were younger than 26.

When it comes to patriotism and nation-building, age is just a number.