First Lady Mrs Jeannette Kagame on Sunday, February 23 told men and women that were widowed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi that their lives are an example of resilience to the future generations.
The First Lady was speaking during the celebrations to mark the 25th anniversary for the founding of the Association of Widows of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi (AVEGA), an organisation that was established in 1995 by Rwandans that had lost spouses during the genocide.
At its founding, AVEGA aimed at forming a platform where genocide widows would comfort each other in the light of what had happened to them; putting efforts together to forge a living, as well as help raise orphans left behind by the 1994 massacres.
Speaking to the members of AVEGA and other officials that turned up for the anniversary celebrations, Mrs Kagame praised the widows for the resilience despite what happened to them, and their zeal for living as well as supporting each other.
“You came together, comforted each other, built each other, brought up the orphans – nurturing children for Rwanda and building the country,” she said, adding that in the country’s vision 2050, members of AVEGA will be “a source of values of resilience to the young ones,” as well as an example for the coming generations in regard to what it takes to regain the nation.
Giving a flashback of what AVEGA members have done, Charles Habonimana, a survivor who lost both parents during the genocide spoke about how the widowed mothers supported him and other children in the aftermath of the atrocities.
“When the genocide had ended, I became a child of the widows, just like many other children that didn’t have parents. You could find about 20 children together living in one place, and supported by widowed women,” he said.
Valerie Mukabayire, the President of AVEGA thanked the leadership of Rwanda for among other things stopping the genocide against the Tutsi in 1994. She thanked the First Lady for the efforts of supporting AVEGA in form of advocacy that helped them get resources to among other things establish a health centre and equip it with medicine.
Solina Nyirahabimana, the Minister of Gender and Family Promotion expressed gratitude for what has been achieved in restoring hope to the widowed women and survivors as she urged for efforts towards protecting what has been achieved so far.