Never give up, Kagame tells young generation

President Paul Kagame has stressed the need for people never to give up when faced with challenges. The Head of State delivered the message, yesterday, while interacting with over 100 Rwandan and international fellows of the Global Health Corps (GHC), who gathered in Nyamata town of Eastern Province’s Bugesera District to celebrate the end of their 2014-2015 fellowship year. With the mission to engage the youth in leadership for health equity worldwide, GHC was founded in 2009 by six young American health advocates, including former President George W. Bush’s daughter Barbara Bush. The organisation provides a year-long fellowship for young professionals with diverse skill sets to work with existing health organisations and government agencies, where they partner to deliver excellent work to improve healthcare access and outcomes in different countries. Global Health Corps Fellows take notes at the function. President Kagame encouraged the youth from GHC to always have the will to contribute in making a difference, explaining that sustainable solutions can only be attained when everyone participates. “Young leaders like you, men and women, everyone has something to contribute. It can only work if we make it everyone’s business,” he said. Drawing from Rwanda’s 1994 Genocide experience, the President explained how those who are committed to making a difference can overcome any challenge. If youth from the GHC were to succeed in their plans to improve access to health programmes, they ought to understand that all they need is commitment to do so, the President observed. “The simple message is: never give up. There ought to be people who don’t give up and who give hope to others. Nations and people have to live on. People tried to make a section of our population disappear, but people refused to disappear. We never gave up and we survived,” he said responding to a question from a GHC fellow from Nepal who asked what message the President would have for Nepalese who have to rebuild their country from scratch after a devastating earthquake. GHC Fellows are currently working in Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia and the United States. President Kagame spoke to the organisation’s fellows on the invitation of Barbara Bush, who is now its Chief Executive Officer and co-founder. Global Health Corps Chief Executive Officer and co-founder, Barbara Bush, speaks at the event. The President thanked fellows of the GHC for their hard work in Rwanda and around the world and promised them that the Rwandan government is ready to support their initiatives. “We promise to contribute in whatever modest way we can,” he said. Speaking about foreign aid, President Kagame described the need for foreign aid as a problem that should only be temporary: “Needing foreign aid means you are not capable of standing on your own feet. But the question arises; do you need help forever, or do you need help so you can stand on your own two feet? “We need foreign aid to use it to build our own capacity so we don’t need it in the future,” Kagame said. GHC Fellows in Rwanda have worked with various organisations working in the health sector, including the Ministry of Health, Care International, Partners in Health, African Evangelistic Enterprise (AEE), and Clinton Health Access Initiative, among others. While nearly 50 fellows in Rwanda have continued to work at their places of placement even after their fellowship, the organisation plans to grow the number of its alumni in Rwanda to 250 by 2018. A Global Health Corps Fellow raises a point. GHC was founded in 2009 by six young American health advocates, including former President George W. Bush’s daughter Barbara Bush. GHC Fellows are currently working in Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia and the United States.

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Never give up, Kagame tells young generation