The Thought Behind Walk to Remember: A note from Marc

Walk to Remember was created after thinking for quite some time what we could do as young people to make genocide history.  I learned that after the Jewish Holocaust, the international community promised that nothing of the same kind would happen again to humanity, yet it did in Rwanda. The reason was because the world said "no" but they had no action to back up their words.  They also never set up any education program to teach the new generation.  

As a result, I thought a walk would be an effective way to create awareness since it would gather as many people as possible. Prior to the walk, we would use tools, such as testimonies, documentaries and debates, to educate people and give people firsthand information regarding the effects of the genocide both on the victims and the entire community.  The climax would be the walk where we would walk with people who are aware of why they are walking and what they are standing against. 

The vision for Walk to Remember is to reach out to all people worldwide teaching them about Genocide and how they can fight against it by protecting and preventing the death of any one person, just because of who they are. This will help us fight racism and any other form of discrimination which is a disease in our world today. The future plans for the walk will be to help each community to learn from Rwandan Tutsi genocide, Jewish Holocaust and all the other mass atrocities. So the walk can be used in their own way to resolve their conflicts before they get to far, as it happened in Rwanda. The world needs to learn from its past and communities need to learn from one another. If we don’t we will taste the fruit of forgetfulness which is repeating the same mistakes that our forefathers did. 

Meet Dadi

Dadi is also a founding member of Peace and Love Proclaimers (PLP). He serves as the Head of Departments and is involved in many of PLP's community service projects, such as, Mentor a Child. Dadi has played an instrumental role in launching Walk to Remember since its inception and, in 2010, lead Walk to Remember activities in Kenya. He is a leader among his peers who is highly respected for his work-ethic and integrity. Dadi works in Business Development for AXIS, the leading IT firm in Kigali, and is currently assisting in the coordination of Walk to Remember activities in Rwanda and throughout East Africa.

1) Why do you participate as an organizer for W2R? What drives you?

Reasons for being one of the organizers of Walk to Remember are many, some of them being personal and others, social reasons. Walk to Remember intends to promote unity and reconciliation and having seen what divisionism and hatred can do a country I must do everything I can to have a united society so that it never happens again.

2) What makes you proud to be Rwandan?

Hummm, well…a lot of things, the culture, the values, the 1000 hills, and the leadership of the country

3) What do you wish people knew about Rwanda?

Well, I just wish they knew Rwanda the way it is now. I wish people would just update their views on Rwanda.

4) What is your vision for Rwanda and the entire continent in ten years?

The vision I have for Rwanda in the next ten years is a united people and a stable country, economically and socially. For the continent, I’d love to see Africa stable politically and self-sustainable in terms of production.

5) How do you bring about change in your community?

I think the best way to bring change in a society is by being the change yourself. I always try to do the right thing so that I can bring change.

6) What do you think is the leading cause of war or genocide in one word?

Hatred (and evil)

7) If you were asked to describe yourself with one word, what would it be?

Calm

8) What do you want to be remembered for?

Someone who had a good impact on people’s lives.

9) Favorite Rwandan delicacy?

Ikivuguto (milk)

10) Your definition of success?

Accomplishing good acts

Bonus: What song makes you want to bust a move? 
"Back it up and Dump it" by Cali Swag District, but I don’t "bust a move", I retired :P

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Thanks, Dadi!! 

Overcoming Fear Fuels Change: A note from Jean Michel

Walk to Remember 2010

A few days ago, I asked my friends on Facebook what their dreams for Rwanda were and I got the same response that I was expecting. People have great dreams for the nation, many people said that they wanted a nation of dignified people, a nation that was free from any kind of evil, division etc.. When I asked the question however, it wasn't because of a genuine interest (though I was interested) but it was more out of a need of assurance. For the past few days, I had been dealing with mixed emotions, on one side I was excited and inspired for greatness but on the other side I was scared. I was scared of many things but most of all I was scared of uncertainty. In one moment I was pysched and working towards building a great future but also on the side something in me was telling me that I was mad, that I was playing with fire.

Complexed I felt that maybe I wasn't genuine so I talked to some friends of mine and they told they feel the same way and this opened my mind. If we are to create the future, it's okay to be scared, its ok to be uncertain it's ok to feel fear. However, what's not ok is to let fear control our lives. when we let fear control our lives, it cripples us, it paralyses our lives and makes it impossible for us to live free. 

To bring change one has to comfront their own fear, the fear of failure, the fear of rejection and most of all the fear of death. Think about all the great people in history the Mandelas, the Gandhis, they all faced those fears and some of them paid the highest price and that's Death. But the common character trait that they had in common was courage, "Courage is not the absence of Fear but its the judgment that something is more important than fear."

Walk to Remember 2010

So, if you want a Rwanda that is free of division, you have to dare to question and challenge those division.

If you want a Rwanda that is dignified, you have to dare to work hard to give worth and value to people.

If you want Rwanda to be free economically, you have to dare to create businessess.

If you want a Rwanda that is reconciled, you have to dare to forgive and be moderate in a society of extremes

The world will always tell you to go for the comfortable things, get a job, just accept that that's the way things are and you cant change anything about it but then remember that nothing in this world came by accident. History has always been shaped by men and women who dared to be different.

I would like to share two quotes that usually get me back on track when fear cripples me the first one is a verse in the bible and the second one is a quote from Obama

"Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.For I am the LORD your God, who upholds your right hand, Who says to you, 'Do not fear, I will help you.' 14 "Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel ; I will help you," declares the LORD, "and your Redeemeris the Holy One of Israel" Isaiah 41:10,12,14,15

"We always knew that hope is not blind optimism. It's not ignoring the enormity of the tasks ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. It's not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it and to work for it and to fight for it.  Hope is what led a band of colonists to rise up against an empire. What led the greatest of generations to free a continent and heal a nation. What led young women and young men to sit at lunch counters and brave fire hoses and march through Selma and Montgomery for freedom's cause.  Hope is the belief that our destiny will not be written for us, but by us, by all those men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is, who have the courage to remake the world as it should be." Obama 08

- Jean Michel 

Meet Jean Michel

Jean Michel is one of the founding members of Peace and Love Proclaimers (PLP).  Launched in 2007 in Kigali, Rwanda, PLP is a movement for the youth, by the youth that currently consists of over 200 members worldwide who take an active role in "being the change" in their communities. Walk to Remember was initiated by PLP in 2009 and since then has spread to eight countries around the world.  Jean Michel is currently a student at Towson University in Maryland, USA studying International Development and Policy. Jean Michel is a leader among his peers who is full of wisdom and compassion. He is currently coordinating the Walk to Remember activities in the USA. 

1) Why do you participate as an organizer for W2R? What drives you?

For a long time I have always thought that Rwanda owed something to the world, in the sense that we had a responsibility to teach the world how hatred and bigotry can lead to genocide and how once done its really hard to repair!! W2R gives us that platform.

2) What makes you proud to be Rwandan?

A lot of things from the customs, music, language but most of all I am proud of Rwanda because I see it as a work in progress.

3) What do you wish people knew about Rwanda?

I wish people knew the stories of the people I work with! People who lost their families, friends etc. but who are working day and night to bring peace and healing to a nation that is hurt.

4) What is your vision for Rwanda and the entire continent in ten years?

I want to see a Rwanda with people who are dignified and who can be the best that they can be. I want to see a Rwanda and an Africa that is self-sufficient where its people are not killing each other or dying of hunger and disease.

5) How do you bring about change in your community?

I try to live a changed life that inspires others to do the same. Am working on different projects with PLP, projects to bring about dialogue among the young people projects to help the needy etc..

6) What do you think is the leading cause of war or genocide in one word?

EVIL

7) If you were asked to describe yourself with one word, what would it be?

FREE

8) What do you want to be remembered for?

I want people to remember me as someone who tried to be the hands and feet of God on the earth.

9) Favorite Rwandan delicacy?

Ubugari  nisombe (I miss it)

10) Your definition of success?

Someone who changed the life of people around him in a positive manner.

Bonus: What song makes you want to bust a move? I don’t know the title but the song that goes "I got a feeling uuuuuuuuhhh that tonight is gonna be a good night" 

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Thanks, Jean Michel!! 

Walk to Remember

Walk to Remember is organized as an active commemoration of genocide victims around the world. Young leaders in Rwanda are connected to their fellow leaders in different countries – particularly within the East African Community - to raise awareness about the lessons of the Rwandan genocide

Aim:

• To commemorate the genocide in Rwanda and remember victims of other genocides

• To educate young people about the causes and consequences of genocide and to highlight the role and responsibility young people have to help prevent such atrocities now and in the future

• To provide a platform from which the youth of the world can speak out

• To make ‘Never Again’ truly ‘Never Again’ by equipping students with necessary tools and understanding to take a stand against genocide within their own communities and abroad

Objectives:

• To actively engage the youth of Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and DR Congo in an ongoing commitment to the concept of ‘Never Again’

• To deliver awareness raising events in each country by holding film screenings and discussion sessions on what happened in Rwanda and its relevance today

• To organize a commemorative walk in all of the countries in East Africa, DR Congo, India, USA and UK in April 2011, engaging approximately 800 people in each location

Outcome:

• Young people empowered to act against mass atrocities or genocide - whether in their own community or in other parts of the world.

• Links established between young people in East African communities to act together on the issues of racism, prejudice and genocide ideology

• Young people equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to speak out against genocide and promote unity within their own communities and abroad.