Ibuka appeals for support for survivors

MUHANGA – The Umbrella association of survivors (Ibuka) in Muhanga district has called on residents to support survivors address issues of trauma and social welfare. Fidèle Mupagasi, the chairman of Ibuka in Nyamabuye sector, made the call while closing the commemoration week at Kabgayi Genocide memorial site yesterday. “The government has done its best to help survivors forge a new life, but it is still the responsibility of the wider community to come up and support poverty alleviation initiatives to help survivors,” he said. The commemoration was attended by hundreds of residents, who paid tribute to genocide victims at the site.Mupagasi, suggested that survivors be helped to form cooperatives and micro projects to transform their lives. During the ceremony a sombre mood engulfed a couple of genocide survivors who got traumatised later on. Bishop Smargade Mbonyintege, of Kabgayi Diocese and other religious leaders led the requiem mass. The religious leaders prayed for peace, unity and reconciliation and asked residents to seek spiritual healing and embrace forgiveness. The Nyamabuye Sector leader, Jean Baptiste Mugunga, urged residents to fight genocide ideology and stressed the need to support genocide orphans and widows in the sector. Ends