How we can tap into the great potential of Rwandan youth abroad

Whenever I have had an opportunity to interact with Rwandan youth who live abroad, mainly Europe and the Americas, one thing I have always noticed is that many are faced with a serious problem; identity crisis. 

This is mainly attributed to the fact that many of them, once in a blue moon, happen to travel back home and reconnect with their roots and the rest of the time, they are hassling for a living in their respective countries of residence.  Even worse, only a handful of them have had the chance to have parents who expose them to the Rwandan culture and its ideals. 

Therefore, transforming this identity crisis into an identity clarity is all that needs to be done to tap into the great potential in this important cluster of our population to further the country’s ambitions. Recently, a group of young women and men from the Rwandan Community Abroad, mainly from Europe and the United States organized a trip to Rwanda that aimed at helping them to reconnect with their motherland. 

It was an activity they dubbed “The Rwanda Tour”. During their stay, they had the opportunity to visit a number of historical places that marked the liberation struggle, different museums and Akagera National Park. However, the most important part of their visit was their highly interactive session with some of the country’s high ranking officials, including ministers Dr Vincent Biruta of Foreign Affairs and Rosemary Mbabazi of Youth and Culture.

Also part of the discussions was General James Kabarebe, who thanked them for their great initiative and invited them to make more visits, and with more of their colleagues to develop the identity clarity to enable the country to benefit more from them. Most importantly, it will be an opportunity for many of these young Rwandans to play their role in the country’s development, something many of them were eager to do.

For many of these youngsters, it was their very first time to visit Rwanda. They all alluded to the fact that, the impetus to be part of this maiden tour, was their desire to connect with their roots and to see how they can make a contribution to the country’s development. To achieve this, they all said; they had to start by addressing the identity crisis that they have been facing for a long time.  But why exactly is identity crisis a common problem in the Rwandan youth living abroad?

One can hardly disassociate this problem from other historical challenges that our country has faced over the years. In the first place, majority of Rwandans who live abroad, found themselves in these far-flung lands due to different circumstances that cannot be divorced from our country’s history.

Some of those problems were self-induced while for many others, historical injustices forced them out of their country against their will and their only option for survival was to seek asylum in foreign countries.  Most people first became refugees for many years in Rwanda’s neighboring countries before being able to relocate to other countries in Europe and Americas and other parts of this World. 

This is the case for Rwandans who were forced to flee their country as early as 1959 and some others who, after losing their entire family members and their dearest ones in the genocide against the Tutsi, felt that the best solution for them was to totally disassociate themselves with anything that had to do with Rwanda and tried to forge a new life elsewhere.

The actual feeling about their country of origin, has for many years been that of discontent and consequently, over the years, they have tried to distance themselves from anything that had to do with Rwanda. 

For some others, especially those that left the country after taking part in the Genocide against the Tutsi, being able to get in a foreign country was for them an exclusive opportunity to disguise themselves from their original identity to foreign ones.  Some of them have even changed their names and their nationality of origin. Actually, some of these youth are three generations down, which makes the whole scenario complex.

In both scenarios, the main victims have been the children, some of them three generations away from these challenges that led their parents into exile and this has left them with no option but to adapt to these alien cultural norms at the expense of their ancestral identity.

Consequently, and very encouragingly I would say, many of these youths are now trying to re-establish themselves with their true origins and to catch up with some of the historical truths. Some of these, I would say, are doing so against the wishes of their parents. This drive to reconnect with the Rwandan culture and its values and catching up with Rwanda’s history is no doubt the best way to address the identity crisis that blights the majority of the Rwandan youth abroad. 

Looking at how enthusiastic and curious many of these youngsters were during the tour, the one thing that clicked in my mind is, how can Rwanda tap into the opportunities of technological advancement and come up with an online platform that can make it possible for many of these youth to virtually visit all the historical places of Rwanda such as museums and other important places?

For there are many young Rwandans who despite them being motivated and willing to be part of the same initiative are still held captive by their parents’ attitude towards Rwanda, again due to the historical realities explained above.  The e-Itorero platform that was launched a few months ago should be a permanent mobilization platform not just an improvised platform that was created out of the difficulties associated with Covid-19 restrictions.

Special mobilization programs targeting the youth living abroad should be crafted and implemented by our missions abroad in a way that promotes shared responsibility to mobilize these young Rwandans. Finally, I think the Rwanda Tour program is an outstanding mobilization activity that should attract full backing of different government bodies and all Rwandans and should be organized on a regular basis.