Rwanda's future biggest challenge?

In 2010 while I was on a visit tour of graduate schools, I ended up at Tufts University in Boston where I met Dr. Peter Uvin, the dean of Fletcher School. One of the questions he asked was "What is Rwanda's Future Biggest Challenge?"

I felt comfortable telling him what I thought but it wasn't too long before I realized my answers bored him at lunch table. I tried to convince him that unemployment is the country's biggest economic challenge that could lead to serious future problems.

I went one-step further and offered suggestions: "The Rwandan government should invest in manufacturing industries and prepare a conducive terrain for business investment." If not, I added, "I fear Rwanda would have to deal with consequences of Brain Drain and possibly Capital Flight." The body language never lies - Mr. Uvin did not like my answer.

If Peter asked me the same question today, I would have a different take. The Youth - if there is one thing I worry most about the future of Rwanda, it is the Youth. It is they who will carryon the success story of Rwanda or let it slip way. They bridge our parents' generation; and can be entrusted with the preservation of Rwandan values and pass them onto the next generations.

But I am mostly concerned with the generation of 1990's who seem to live in globalized Rwanda. They are giving new meanings to taboos and suppress cultural values with new norms of life. Drinking alcohol used to be a privilege of the elders. Today, being drunk is a fashionable thing among teens. Those who choose not to drink alcohol, they get high by smoking weed or sniffing cocaine. Sexuality and family orientation is slowly reflecting an influence of the west.

Call it consequences of technology or globalization, these kids are adapting faster to changing world than any other generation before them. Information sharing and use of mobile devices is redefining relationships and communication. They are nakedly exposed in the waves and ripples of the 21st century. What is at stake is losing the flavors of our culture.

This very same generation is one that Rwanda is nurturing with expectations to move the country forward and deliver on shortcomings recorded in the past. The ground has been prepared for them√¢‚Ǩ¬¶ the country is more unified than it's ever been. The economy is doing well and the political obsession to maintain security and promote peace in the region has been at the core of Rwanda's foreign affairs.  What to do about this generation I still don't know. 

There is another group of youth. I like to call them "the chosen ones" -The ministry of education has established funding for young students who outperform in sciences - math, physics, chemistry and other fields of engineering. Those with interest in computer sciences, Information Technology and Human Health Sciences are the lucky ones. Their stars are aligned with the government's priority of investment.

I am not in favor of such selective priorities especially in a country like Rwanda that is still finding its way in a globalized world. I cannot think of one country in the world that succeeded on engineering alone. Countries like Germany, USA, Japan, now China and more, did not ignore the necessity soft sciences. In Rwanda, the Humanities and other Social Sciences were simply put aside -an intended omission. This is a recipe for a big problem in the future.

The calls of President Kagame reminding Africans particularly Rwandans to own and tell their stories echo loud in my head. Has it ever crossed your mind that maybe, just maybe Art and Literature aren't as important? At least that's what priorities tell me. But Rwanda needs historians, political scientists, journalists, and more just as it needs mining engineers and biochemists. Why not give a chance everyone who is willing to work hard?

If the youth holds the future of Rwanda, I think investing in an all-inclusive education is a way to eliminate unnecessary loopholes in the future. Of course the government is not doing this blindly -they know the urgency of creating a scientific platform on which Rwanda can depend and compete on. But this scientific infrastructure needs other pillars to hold it.

That said I look forward to the time Rwanda will be the Silicon Valley of the Eastern Africa Community. In that future, I would love it more if there would be writers, business people, artist and more who will enjoy the return of this investment.

If the options remain closed to hard sciences you can do more on your own. Maria Popova wrote, "When you step away from the prepackaged structure of traditional education, you'll discover that there are many more ways to learn outside school than within."      Should you choose this path, educate yourself in things you truly love -and that will be a rewarding investment.

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Louis Gakumba can be contacted at louisgak@gmail.com