The long holiday only comes around once year. It is therefore excusable that you spend as much time as you want (or as much time as your parents allow you) watching television, eating, sleeping and ‘hanging out.’ However, it won’t do you any harm to be adventurous, to be physically active. So if your friend invites you to a football game, just go and have fun and get your heart rate up. It’s good for you to sweat a little. But of course, not every physical activity is necessarily healthy for you and you should thank your lucky stars that the Rwandan government is ready to protect you, should anyone try to involve you in an activity that compromises your health. Act 222 of the Penal Code specifically talks about exploiting a child by involving him/her in sport activities harmful to his/her health. It states: “Any person who exploits a child by involving him/her in sport activities that are harmful to his/her health shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of three (3) years to five (5) years and a fine of five hundred thousand (500,000) to one million (1,000,000) Rwandan Francs.” Of course, it is upon you to decide whether or not an activity is harmful to your health. I am no medical expert so I am just going to tell you to contact a health expert before you decide to join a sport you have never done before. The good news is that it would be easy for you to seek and receive medical attention since paragraph 3.3 of the Integrated Child Rights Policy (ICRP) indicates: “Every child will be covered by the health insurance scheme (Medical insurance). However, there are some obviously dangerous activities. If for instance, someone asks you to join an arm-breaking competition, (far-fetched, I know), you already know what you’re going to get out of it. Report that person, especially if you find out there are some children who are recruited for such a competition. Since we are talking about health, you might also want to know that your rights as regards health do not only stop at sports activities. Article 41 of the Constitution says, “All citizens have the right and duties relating to health. The State shall have the duty of mobilising the population for activities aimed at promoting good health and to assist in the implementation of these activities.”
