Unity and Working Together

1Saturday morning in Ishimwe's village

Here is exactly what happened. This is our worked example.

• At eight o'clock, thirty neighbours came out. They brought hoes, shovels, buckets and baskets.
• Ishimwe's father and four other men dug a channel so the rainwater would run away from the road instead of across it.
• The women filled baskets with stones from the hillside and passed them along a line, hand to hand.
• Old Mama Umutoni could not dig, so she carried water and made tea for everybody.
• The children picked up the plastic bottles and papers along the roadside.
• By eleven o'clock the road was flat and firm again. Everyone walked home together, tired and laughing.

Three hours. One road. Thirty people.

Now think: if Ishimwe's father had worked alone, he would still be digging next month. Together, the village finished before lunch.

2So what is unity?

Unity means being one. It means people from different families, different hills and different homes deciding to live and work together as one people, and to care about each other.

In Rwanda we say: Ndi Umunyarwanda — "I am Rwandan." Not from this family or that one. Rwandan. One people.

3Umuganda: the day we build together

What Ishimwe's village did has a name. It is called umuganda.

• When? On the last Saturday of every month, in the morning.
• Who? Grown-ups all over Rwanda come out — in the villages and in Kigali too. Children help in their own way, at home and at school.
• What do people do? They repair roads, dig channels against erosion, plant trees, clean the streets, build a classroom, or build a house for a family who has none.
• Is anyone paid? No. Nobody is paid. Umuganda is a gift the people give to their own village.
• And afterwards? Neighbours sit down together and talk about the problems of the village and how to solve them.

4Other ways Rwandans work together

• Girinka — a family that has no cow is given one. When their cow has its first female calf, that family passes the calf on to a neighbour. So one cow becomes many, and kindness keeps travelling down the hill.
• Abunzi — neighbours chosen by the community to sit with two people who are quarrelling and help them agree, so that they talk instead of fight.
• Neighbours helping each other harvest, carrying a sick person to the health centre, or rebuilding a roof after a storm.

5How does this build peace?

Peace is not just "no fighting." Peace grows when people know each other and need each other.

When you dig beside your neighbour, you learn his name. You share his water bottle. Later, if there is a disagreement, you do not shout at a stranger — you talk to a friend you worked with.

Rwanda passed through a very sad time in 1994, the Genocide against the Tutsi, when many people were hurt and families lost the people they loved. Afterwards, Rwandans made a brave choice: to stop dividing people, to heal, and to build the country again as one family. Umuganda, Girinka and abunzi are some of the ways we keep that promise, one Saturday at a time.

6What can YOU do?

• Let every child join the game — nobody sits alone at break.
• Never use names that divide people. Words can build or break.
• Help clean your classroom without being told.
• Carry something heavy for an elder or a small child.
• If two friends quarrel, help them talk. Be a little umwunzi.

Try it yourself

Think first, then tap Show answer to check.