A group of Rwandans living in the diaspora have started a movement, ‘Rwanda My Home Country,’ which aims to spotlight all positive developments taking place in Rwanda as well as opportunities that are available in the country. The movement, whose motto is ‘Protect the brand,’ will be based in the United States but have members across different countries worldwide. According to Nsengiyumva Rutsobe, the initiator of the movement, the initiative was created to support and accelerate what the country is already doing. “We take our country as our personal business. Being Rwandan is our identity. That pride is what we want to protect and sell. We have to fight for it,” he said. He added: “Our movement’s uniqueness is that it’s strictly patriotic. We aim at spreading patriotism by heart. What will be done is purely volunteerism.” He also mentioned that different people have made sacrifices for Rwanda to be where it is today, hence their movement is set to sustain what has been achieved, adding that it will work with different institutions to reach its goals and objectives. Innocent Habumugisha, who lived in diaspora but currently lives in Rwanda, said the movement comes at a time when people, who oppose the Government of Rwanda, disgrace it and spoil its image, have emerged and thus it is going to help fight them. “Rwanda has achieved a lot 28 years after the Genocide against the Tutsi. That is the brand we are going to protect, not forgetting that people are embarrassing our country and are denying Genocide. We are going to fight them by using facts,” he said. He said that they also aim to feed Rwandans who were born in diaspora with the right information, adding that they expect new testimonies to be given in line with sharing Rwanda’s facts. Habumugisha also noted that they are set to create task forces with different people in various countries, adding that they will be admitting new members who will also be trained on how best they can use social media to collect and provide true information about Rwanda hence protecting its image. Teta Kananga, who is part of the Canadian diaspora, said that they are also looking forward to expanding a pool of Rwandans who are able to learn and understand core values of Rwanda, its culture and most importantly Kinyarwanda, so that they can be able to move conversations with the language. She declared that they are also encouraging Rwandans in diaspora to remember where they came from and visit Rwanda given that they have found it as a life-changing opportunity. Renowned traditional singer, Intore Masamba, who is also part of the initiative, noted that throughout his travels abroad, he has found out that Rwanda’s art and music is loved and therefore can be used by the movement to gather people and mobilise them on protecting Rwanda’s image and achievements. He is aware that some Rwandans in diaspora have established troupes as channels to ‘embarrass’ the country, he said, and that some singers have also made songs that encourage people to hate the country. “Rwandan artistes can also use their art to tell positive facts about Rwanda, exposing those providing false information. We want people to know that this Rwanda is not a gift,” he said. “People sacrificed their lives so that we can have it. We also plan to involve friends of Rwanda so that they can help us to spread the truth.” editor@newtimesrwanda.com
