Marc J. Gwamaka wears many hats. He is an entrepreneur, peace activist and an educator, so he describes himself. He is also the co-founder of Peace and Love Proclaimers (PLP) which is behind the now popular ‘Walk to Remember’, an annual event that takes place during the Genocide against Tutsi memorial week, in April to honour the over one million lives lost in the 100-day massacre. He was only six when Rwanda was liberated on July 4, 1994. His mother had left him and his sister at their uncle’s so that she would join the RPA (Rwanda Patriotic Army (the armed wing of RPF-Inkotanyi). Gwamaka was only 3 and his sister 5 when his mother left them to join the liberation struggle. Marc J. Gwamaka. The only option for her, if her mission to be a soldier was to be fulfilled, was to move from Tanzania where they lived, to Uganda, where the children were to stay with their uncle. “My mom is a very patriotic woman and had really wanted to serve. She had this burning love for her country that was beyond anything; that she was willing to leave her two toddlers to serve. “It is a decision that now, myself as a parent, I think would be very difficult to make. But I think, when a mother chooses to make such sacrifice, it is for the deeper love, for the country.” During the time his family was in exile, Gwamaka heard many stories about Rwanda. He would sit with his grandmother, who told him about Rwanda. To him, it sounded like paradise. But when they came to Rwanda, after liberation, they found a destroyed country. The rubble he found was a complete opposite of the paradise he had always envisaged. However, now that he has grown, he has come to appreciate that liberation means sacrifice, committing one’s self and life. “It is also carrying on the baton from the older generation and carrying on the legacy of what they want to achieve.” He adds that liberation for the younger generation is so much more than just enjoying what the older generation fought for, but more of contributing and innovating, so as to have a better country than there is today. “For the sacrifice that the older generation gave, I think there is a bigger requirement for me to even sacrifice harder because; they didn’t get the same education that we got, the freedom that we have, they didn’t have a country at our age. There is a lot that we need to do to make Rwanda better.” Gwamaka thinks better needs to be done so that when the young ones today grow up, will be able to acknowledge what is being done today by the youth. “It is pure joy when you don’t need to hide who you are. It is happiness that you cannot tell anyone, to have a country. It is a joy that I live in a peaceful Rwanda, the one that I miss when I leave for a few days.” He adds that liberation brings a sense of ownership that makes the youth think that none other than them can take care of Rwanda. “That is what it means to a person who has an identity they don’t have to hide.” He gave an example of how the government sent planes to bring back home Rwandans that were stranded due to the Covid-19 pandemic. All this, Gwamaka says, brings a sense of pride to the citizens. Much as it is more work from the older generation, he says the youth should be asking themselves, “What more can I do?” Gwamaka’s understanding when he hears ‘Liberation in the context of Rwanda’ is “freedom from bondage of ethnicity. Not thinking of ‘Tutsi, Hutu, Twa’, but thinking of a united people ‘Abanyarwanda.’” Freedom from bondage of poverty where Africa is widely believed to be poor, pride of a nation where Rwanda was known for the worst but now for bigger and better, education, and opportunities, are among things Gwamaka considers when thinking about Liberation. He says that for the present generation to give better, they need to love to serve. “We need to love our country with all our hearts. Because, what are you without a country?”
