FRIDAY JAMES

IT’S OUR GENERATION Many times, a generation has to fight to be better than the previous; it’s definitely like a goal and a vision. Easier said than done! I call this term the “ The Heart of a Lion’’—a lion can use its strength to chase the prey but mostly, use his heart not to give up on its target. One fascinating character I like about lions is that they usually attack in groups, which is a very key point to note. Great and many achievements are based on working together (unity). Rolling my eyes back, I have tried to study the struggles Rwanda has come across starting from the monarchial rule, where the kingdom of Rwanda had to fight to expand it’s territories from Bwanacyambwe and Gasabo, the coming of the colonialists, the conflicts in 1959 to the massive Tutsi Genocide in 1994. This clearly shows that many battles have been fought, won and lost in the previous generation, many mistakes have been committed in the past that our families still carry the fragments on their hearts but, thank God for how far we have come. Now, it’s our generation today…us the teens have to take initiative to build our country, learning from the past mistakes and improving our future vivaciously without vitiating the foundations that are now existing. A question may be asked, ‘’how is that going to happen?’’ this may be answered in just a few points. • We have to be a visionary generation; goal oriented. Teens who have dreams about their motherland’s future, bonded with love, justice and unity…working together as lions and most importantly exhorting one another in our weaknesses. • We have to be a culture based generation; teens who love their culture and its co-values, since it’s a heritage from our forefathers. Sometimes, l am very critical towards xenophiles who imitate other cultures, in terms of music, clothing, speech, etc and forget our culture which will always give us the dignity and respect we are worth if we promote it. • We have to maintain a positive attitude, become optimistic in all situations. Respecting ourselves and our elders, living our lives on strong pillars of self-worth, dignity and patriotism not pleasure, beer and sex. Seek honour first, pleasure will follow later. • We have to study and also become creative. “necessity is the mother of invention.” We need so many things here in Rwanda and in the region too. Education and innovation will push us to higher heights as the upcoming generation of Rwanda. Fight for your country’s worth in your youth, you will enjoy the peace and safety in your old-age. The author is a S.6 student at Lycee De Kigali.