Home NewsNational If The World Doesn’t Give You Kindness, You Must Create Your Own−Mrs. Kagame

If The World Doesn’t Give You Kindness, You Must Create Your Own−Mrs. Kagame

by Williams Buningwire
12:14 am

The First Lady Jeannette Kagame is on a three-day working visit to Stockholm, Sweden where she is expected to attend various events and activities.

The First Lady started the visit on September 14 with a tour of the Karolinska University Hospital’s Play Therapy Pediatric Department.

Karolinska is one of the biggest university hospitals in Europe, leads in innovation and medical advancement.

Speaking at an exclusive dinner yesterday, the First Lady recalled Rwanda’s dark history of the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi which cost life to more than 1 million Tutsi and suggested: ‘If the world does not give you kindness, you must create your own.’

“We had refused to forever lose our rich mother soil, to hateful divisionism. And yet, what was initially said of our rebuilding efforts, which have now borne their fruits, was everything but kind. But I hope you will agree, Ladies and Gentlemen, that if the world won’t give you kindness, you must create your own,” Mrs. Kagame said.

She pointed out that for a longer life, to lead to a better life, empowerment must begin from youth.

“This speaks to me, to us Rwandans, personally; as 40% of our population is under 15 years old. Serving under this demographic structure, Imbuto Foundation has pushed for solutions to our particular challenges,” she said.

Karolinska University Hospital visited by the First Lady has numerous areas of expertise, including women’s health, inflammation and aging, cancer, pediatrics, emergency and reparative medicine, heart, vascular, and brain, among others.

Along with other dignitaries, the First Lady toured the hospital with Dr. Diane Gashumba, the Rwandan ambassador to Sweden.

The First Lady shared the contribution of her organisation, Imbuto Foundation to the vision of Rwanda towards socio-economic transformation.

She said that 100,000 children were enrolled into Early Childhood Development Centers (ECDs) while 10,000 were provided scholarships for brilliant secondary school students, from financially disadvantaged backgrounds.

Another 5,113 Young girls were awarded academic excellence while 300,000 young people were given access to adolescent sexual reproductive health services, including HIV screening.

“We believe that the fight of every responsible Rwandan citizen, and of every institution supporting Rwanda’s progress, must echo our Leadership’s efforts, to re-invent our story, to retrace our trajectory,” Mrs. Kagame said.

“So, hand in hand, as a nation, we have sought to create a humane, community-centered cycle of mutual support, and innovative Homegrown Solutions, pursuing Economic Transformation.”

The First Lady also visited the hospital’s outpatient services and ward and was given a tour of the library, play school, and other facilities relating to the pediatric department, according to Svante Norgren, head of the pediatric division.

“It’s a great pleasure to welcome the First Lady to discuss areas of mutual interest where we might be able to find some collaborations. I understand that Rwanda’s population is very young and we are looking at ways to improve the highly specialized care. We have members of our staff who have visited and worked in Rwanda,” Norgren said.

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