RICHARD BARIGIRA GOTZEN, the author of ‘Customer Satisfaction of Hotels in Rwanda’, has released a new book titled In a Minute that thematically tackles sexual violence and highlights its effects on children, adults as well as the perpetrators. The author said the urge to connect the worlds of the older and the younger generation and his need to address the persisting sexual violence are the main reasons that pushed him to release the book. If there is something that makes me worry, it is how a girl child, especially from a rural area, faces unplanned pregnancy. In a research Ive done, I figured out that many do not converse with their parents because they are not comfortable with it,” he said. copies of his new book ‘In a Minute “The older generation fear to talk about sex with their children and children get information from people they are comfortable with which most of the time is false and results into problems. I wrote this book to highlight those problems for parents to notice and act accordingly and for children to realise they should trust their parents.” “In a Minute” features a story of the main character, Cyusa, born of rape and facing judgment, abhorrence, and resentment. He meets the love of his life, Lina and she becomes his refuge, and he is hell-bent to love, protect, and keep her. While Cyusa is busy loving and living, fate is being tricky and so he eventually faces the effects of sexual violence that happened to his mother. Then in a minute, his life becomes an impeccable city joke. Barigira is aware that when sexual violence happens, the victim largely appears as a problem in society, adding that most single teen mothers are bullied, but society do not see their heroic hearts of not aborting as well as their sadness. “Instead,” added Barigira. “They choose to cast them out of society and yet what they did was even an accident.” If possible,” he continued, “we can all listen to a girl child who faced unplanned pregnancy, talk to her and help her get integrated in society. She has a burden of parenting a child while she is also a child. Barigira named the book In a Minute after one of the characters in the book, Giramata, who gets raped as she tries to save a neighbour, and then in a minute, her vision of life gets ruined. According to the author, sexual violence also triggers mental health issues. Some Rwandans have depression resulting from their harsh life or family issues,” he said. “We should learn to have humanity and to understand people instead of judging them. Through listening, we will figure out a better way to advise them. We need to give life through what we say. Barigira noted that for him, writing a book is his worthy way of communicating with a generation he belongs to as well as the generations to come because a book is a treasure that never gets old. His satisfaction blooms whenever he teaches people and they change and by getting a privilege as an author. Talking about his challenges, he said that in Rwanda, getting best printing services for a book as well as a publisher to help is still hard, adding that some old authors with experience hesitate to support the younger and offer good direction. “Some elders are in a system that other authors cant penetrate into. They should help the young writers,” he said. He plans to launch the book this year, visit schools and libraries in order to teach and connect with different readers and other people so that the information in the book can reach and change society. “In a Minute” can be found on Amazon. By contacting the author on Instagram: Gotzen_rw or Twitter: @gotzen_rw or email: brgotzen@gmail.com, one can also get a copy. He is also planning to distribute the books to libraries.
