President Kagame departed with a few gifts from the University of Hartford from student athletes Mark Nwakamma, Ruthanne Doherty and Omar Tall who presented him with a basketball signed by the men’s team, a basketball jersey, and a soccer jersey and scarf. Brian Izzo | The Informer
President Paul Kagame of the African nation Rwanda visited the University on Tuesday, March 12, to deliver a speech in front of a sold out crowd on the progress of Rwanda since its genocide in 1994.
Kagame’s visit to UHA was due largely in part to alumnus Joseph Olzacki, special advisor on genocide and Holocaust education at the Maurice Greenberg Center here at UHa, who met with the president when he visited Rwanda.
University of Hartford President Walter Harrison welcomed Paul Kagame to the stage, along with Professor of Modern Jewish History, Dr. Avinoam J. Patt. Dr. Patt then spoke about the Holocaust and genocide education initiative in the Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies.
He acknowledged some of the main accomplishments and goals of the education initiative, including an interview project, an informative website, awards and scholarships, a video of Dr. Patt’s experience seeing a buried detention camp in Poland, and further work into the Museum of Jewish Civilization.
To introduce Kagame’s speech, Hartt student Frank Tedesco performed an original piano composition that he wrote, titled “The New Rwanda: From Dark to Light.”
When Kagame took the podium, he thanked the Maurice Greenberg Center for its efforts to increase education about genocide, expressing that it aids our “universal desire for more dignified lives for our citizens.”
It was thirty years that Kagame spent as a refugee in Uganda, before he returned to Rwanda and led the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) to defeat the Hutu government. It was the RPF that was mainly responsible for ending the100-day genocide in 1994 that resulted in 500,000-1,000,000 deaths, about twenty percent of the country’s population.
Kagame then became the vice president of the country until 2000, and for the last 13 years has served as president.
He went on to discuss Rwanda’s transformation initiative entitled Vision 20/20.
Since then, Kagame has promoted peace building in Rwanda trying to create social cohesion between the Hutus and Tutsis. He has improved political inclusiveness, good governance, and has been a strong supporter of human rights and women’s rights.
Over the last ten years, Rwanda has seen an eight percent economic growth, a 12 percent decrease in unemployment and inflation has been kept in single digits. The World Bank recently recognized Rwanda as the country with the second highest economic growth.
Improvements in the social sphere are incredibly impressive as well. Rwandans have been able to receive better health care and education, as well as increased involvement in politics and industry. Partnerships with schools in the U.S. have improved the vocational skills of many young Rwandans.
“A nation is what it is because of the education it provides its people,” Kagame said. “I look
forward to the day when our young people from Rwanda will graduate from the University of Hartford.”
Though many praise these advancements, Kagame is not satisfied. He will continue to dedicate his presidency to the economic, political and social development of Rwanda. More than anything he wants to ensure that a national disaster like that of the 1994 genocide never happens again.
When asked what lessons can be learned from the recent developments in Rwanda, Kagame answered, “We have to face certain realities.”
Rwanda is a small pawn in a large game and so relative dependence on other nations is required. Kagame said people must learn to forgive one another, because that is the only way to move forward.
But the main lesson Kagame stressed was if Rwanda can do it, anyone can.
When speaking of the lessons Rwandans can pass down to future generations, Kagame stressed that first and foremost people must understand what went wrong. Only then can they do better.
In the genocide of 1994, no one benefited – not those who committed the crimes and certainly not those who suffered them. And so Kagame offered yet another piece of wisdom: Those who do wrong are the ones who can turn it around.
The last question posed to Kagame came from Dr. Patt: “How does economic development ensure future peace and prosperity in Rwanda?”
His answer was straightforward. “In a country that is deprived and hungry, [most people] do not care about democracy, equality or freedom. They care about getting food in the next hour.”
President Kagame departed with a few gifts from the University of Hartford. Student athletes Mark Nwakamma, Ruthanne Doherty and Omar Tall presented him with a basketball signed by the men’s team, a basketball jersey and a soccer jersey and scarf. Wearing the scarf and flashing his inspiring smile, Kagame left the stage to a standing ovation.