Children have urged parents to build and nurture families characterised by love and Rwandan values, while protecting them from harmful practices that can undermine family unity, including alcoholism, sexual immorality, domestic conflicts and promiscuity.
The children made the remarks on Friday, August 28, 2026, during celebrations to mark Umuganura celebration with Children’s Day held at the Heritage House of the History of Rwandan Social Life in Huye District.
The celebrations were also held to mark the conclusion of a holiday programme organised at the heritage site to teach children to love work and their country, while helping them appreciate and preserve different aspects of Rwanda’s cultural heritage.
The seven-week programme was conducted at four national museum, where children as young as six years old were taught about Rwandan culture and values, as well as traditional skills, crafts and knowledge.
Speaking during the celebrations, tThe Director General of the Rwanda Cultural Heritage Academy (RCHA) Amb. Robert Masozera, said celebrating Umuganura with children should also remind parents that children do not learn only from the advice they receive from their parents, but also from what they see and the behaviour of the adults around them.
“If we want them to learn values, we must also uphold those values and be good examples to them. If we want them to avoid things that harm their bodies, we should also avoid them and talk to them so that we can understand what is troubling them,” Masozera said.
Masozera said problems that enter a family do not affect only one individual, but can have wider consequences for children and the future of the family.
“When harmful practices enter a family, they do not affect only one person; eventually, they become a problem for the entire family. Children may drop out of school, and the consequences can even extend to the country. Let Umuganura be a time for us to reflect and ask ourselves whether the way we are living today could deprive us of tomorrow’s harvest, which is our young people and our children,” he said.
The Mayor of Huye District, Ange Sebutege, also said Umuganura should not be viewed merely as a day to celebrate the harvest, but as an opportunity for families and communities to reflect on their lives and identify challenges affecting family wellbeing.
He identified immoral behaviour, alcoholism, teenage pregnancies and conflicts within families among the challenges that need to be addressed to prevent them from continuing to affect young people.
“All these harmful practices that are not part of Rwandan values have serious consequences when they reach young people. These consequences affect both the present and the future. Let us strengthen our efforts to fight anything that could undermine the journey towards the future we aspire to,” Sebutege said.
The Umuganura and Children’s Day celebrations followed the conclusion of the holiday programme at Rwanda’s heritage sites, which began on July 14, 2026.
The programme was conducted at the Heritage House of the History of Rwandan Social Life in Huye, the King’s Palace Museum in Nyanza District, the Rwesero Art Museum in Nyanza, and the Rwanda Art Museum in Kicukiro.
The initiative was designed to give children an opportunity to use part of their school holidays to learn about Rwanda’s culture and values, acquire traditional knowledge and skills, and develop a stronger sense of patriotism and responsibility towards preserving the country’s cultural heritage.
TUYISENGE Yedidiya / Pacis Tv