Green Hills students’ gesture: Rwanda at its best

Haiti is a nation that is in the world’s conscious because of the catastrophic earthquake that claimed thousands of lives and left millions homeless. The massive earthquake struck Haiti on January 12 leaving the biggest part of Port-au-Prince, the capital, in rubbles. Assessments from Haiti’s government put the number of victims at 150,000. Rwandans had already expressed solidarity with their Haitian brothers and sisters by availing $100,000 to the relief effort, and the wider Kigali community, in conjunction with an NGO Partners in Health, also played its part in an auction/ fundraising held in Kigali. But while all these responses to the tragedy were to be expected, the students of Green Hills Academy have truly moved into the realm of the extraordinary. According to the students, the fundraising initiative was part of their efforts to reach out to their fellow children in Haiti, who are suffering consequences of the earthquake. With a generation like this, full of empathy and a go-getter spirit, Rwanda has every chance of realizing its aspirations. It is not very often that teenagers initiate and realize such a monumental effort. In less than two weeks after the event, they had collected the funds to donate. They did not procrastinate and they didn’t think their efforts were too small. The older generation could learn a thing or two from these students. The fact that they could, without income, raise Rwf 1m is a harbinger of great things to come. This is proof that the young generation is ready and willing to play their part. Ends

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Green Hills students’ gesture: Rwanda at its best