FRED MFURANZIMA is one of those young people that have stepped up to tell Rwanda’s story by use of pen and paper.
The 24-year-old has authored about six books talking about topics like Rwanda’s history, culture and values as he seeks to make contribution to the rebuilding of the country.
His most recent book "Child, Rwanda is Poetry” tells untold stories of the Genocide horrors in a poetic form and reflects on the Rwanda’s journey to reconciliation, freedom, unit, peace and development.
In an interview with The New Times’ where he discussed his passion, his recent works, and his call to young generations, among other things.
Excerpts:
Tell me about who you are and your passion for writing.
I am Fred Mfuranzima. I was born 1997 in Rwanda. I am a publishing author, poet, creative artist, performer, designer, peace activist and trainer.
I am the CEO and Founder of Imfura Heritage Rwanda, a social enterprise works in books publishing, arts, culture education and other services related to inspire sustainable peace and change.
How many books do you have so far?
I have 6 books. The recent ones are: "Child; Rwanda is poetry,” "The broken,” and "A speech demanding future.”
Tell me about your latest book "Child, Rwanda is poetry”
Our future depends on stories. As the world advances, literature has the ability to ground us—in our humanness, our imaginations, and our enlightenment. Writing history is like holding a conversation across the ages, responding to people who passed on long ago, and posing questions to individuals that are yet to be born.
The book tells untold stories of the Genocide horrors in poetic form and reflects on Rwandans’ journey to reconciliation, freedom, unit, peace and development.
As a young Rwandan, why is history important to you?
I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions. I believe that when we write our history, it will assist the young people to understand the past conflicts so that they will be able to avoid any violence that would come from it.
To study history is to make history. And the only way we can make history is to examine the available records from the past and then write about them. This is because history is not like waters of a river that flow and don’t come back. History can repeat itself if nothing done.
We are commemorating the genocide against the Tutsi. What can you say about the need for books in the struggle to tell the truth?
Truth is the first casualty of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Killers, planners of the genocide, and its supporters keep denying and seeking to hide the crimes, distort statistics, deflect attention and even rebrand themselves as heroes, not villains.
My book (Child, Rwanda is Poetry) tells the stories and testimonials of survivors, perpetrators, experts and people who were here in Rwanda during the time.
One of the survivors says in the book that; "Our true story-can heal as much as medicine can.” Truth only dies when true stories are untold.
Are there some more works that you are working on? What are they and what topics do they cover?
From April 7, I started an initiative titled ' 100 Days/ 100 Essays' for Kwibuka27 via my Blog.
How hard is it to publish such books and is it worth the effort?
Writing is quite hard, especially when it comes to history. It requires courage, time, money and patience. I keep my head up, because life is a process of learning. A good writer possesses not only his own spirit but also the spirit of his community. I wish to write more, and I would like to request the government or institutions to support me and my writer colleagues so that we can have many of our stories written.
Have you got any feedback about your works? How has it been like, what are people telling you?
People tell me to keep writing more, some say they were healed by the writings. Some say they learned more. On international scene, the feedback is that my stories reflect Africans’ authentic voice.