Kigali, October 13 – On the 16th of October is World Food Day – an annual day of action against hunger. Every year on that day, people around the world come together for a common cause: to contribute to the eradication of hunger.
It all began in 1945 in Quebec with the creation of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to raise awareness and engage people in the fight against hunger.
Based on FAO’s research, 805 million people, and one in nine worldwide, live with chronic hunger. 60% of these are women, while almost 5 million children under the age of 5 die of malnutrition-related causes every year.
According to a 2015 World Food Programed report, 40 percent of children in Rwanda are malnourished. In honor of this day, food ordering app hellofood launches “You Say. We give,” a week-long campaign to encourage collective efforts and be part of this global movement.
From the 16th to the 22nd of October, hellofood will be collecting its customers’ wishes. One can choose between 5 stock food items (beans, potatoes, rice, pasta and flour) simply by commenting on our post on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. Hellofood will donate 1 kg of that on his/her behalf to the Peace and Love Proclaimers, a youth group focused on community development.
They will then give the donated food to poor Rwandese families. If the post is shared, hellofood will double the donation. So, the more people speak, the more hellofood gives. Also, if any customer makes an order through hellofood and uses the voucher code “WFD2015” at checkout, hellofood will give an additional 3 kg of food to families in need.
With a simple click, share, or order, you can alleviate hunger in Rwanda. Giving has never been so easy. Join the global movement to end one of the most persistent universal challenges. Be part of the solution and make a tangible difference with hellofood.
The church has a major role to play in helping Rwandans embrace government programmes in order for them to achieve socio-economic development, Prime Minister Anastase Murekezi has said.
The premier was on Saturday addressing the Catholic faithful who had gathered to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ruhengeri Diocese in Musanze District.
The golden jubilee brought together government officials, papal representatives and different religious congregations of the Catholic Church.
The premier urged the different Christian sects in the country to ensure that the Christian values they preach go hand-in-hand with national policies in order to speed up development.
“I urge the Church to keep mobilising Christians and encouraging them to heed government programmes such as modern farming, investing in businesses, saving, paying community health insurance, promoting education, promoting hygiene and family planning,” Murekezi said.
He said churches should also teach love among Rwandans, adding that it was the lack of love and tolerance that led to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
“We urge churches to keep preaching love and development, ” said Murekezi.
The premier hailed the Catholic Church and Ruhengeri Diocese, in particular, for its important contribution to different sectors such as education, health and hospitality.
“Particularly, we are proud of concrete achievements of Ruhengeri Diocese visible through various academic institutions, tourism facilities, health facilities and supporting the vulnerable,” he said
Responding to the premier’s call, the head of Ruhengeri Diocese, Bishop Vincent Harolimana, promised to continue ensuring the welfare of the area residents.
“We will never cease to promote the people’s welfare in education, health, justice and peace in collaboration with the government at all levels,” Harolimana said.
Ruhengeri Diocese established in 1960 by Pope John XXIII, has built over 130 academic institutions starting from nursery school to tertiary level. It has 13 parishes and over 70 priests who serve a flock of over 390,000.
Kigali, Rwanda. October 12, 2015: Rwanda’s national payment switch, RSwitch has facilitated the first of its kind e-money interoperability between Mobile Money Operators ahead of the biggest digital innovation summit, Transform Africa 2015.
The new interoperability platform will facilitate and enable e-money transfers between Rwanda’s mobile network operators allowing end customers to receive money directly into their Mobile wallets no matter what mobile network they are subscribed to.
Commenting on the initiative, RSwitch CEO Mr. Daniel Barrientos said, “Integration of payments is a key part of what we stand for as RSwitch. Our infrastructure stands on financial deepening and providing efficiency in the e-payments space in Rwanda, East Africa and beyond.”
He added, “Our mandate is to enable financial inclusion especially at the bottom of the pyramid and seamless e-payments solution which will go a long way in reducing the cost of electronic transactions between operators in the country. So far we are live on connectivity with Tigo and Airtel Rwanda.”
Sharing his remarks, Tigo Rwanda CEO, Mr. Tongai Maramba said, “Getting access to financial services via the mobile phone is a life changing experience for our customers. I am delighted that we have delivered Interoperability with Airtel to give our customers an all-inclusive mobile money experience.”
Rswitch further revealed that they are integrating several Micro finance institutions and SACCOs to deliver full financial inclusion both at the top and bottom of the financial pyramid in Rwanda. This will be the first of its kind solution bringing together entities into one bigger ecosystem.
Rwanda continues to see growth in e-payments with 105 million mobile money transactions performed last year alone. Over 7.2 million ATM transactions, 4.6 million mobile banking operations and half a million POS transactions were performed in 2014 alone. Additionally, over 72% Rwandans have access to financial services (bank and SACCO accounts, Mobile Financial Services), which calls for an integrated approach as provided by Rswitch enabling speed to market for participants and affordability.
A constitutional review team composed of the council of parliamentary committee chairpersons backed by the seven-member Constitutional Review Commission experts, was instituted to help Parliament work on amendments for the 12-year old Constitution.
The team, led by Speaker Donatille Mukabalisa, yesterday tabled before parliament the draft of the amended Constitution, a move that was welcomed by MPs, specifically commending the speed with which they have worked to have the first draft ready.
Having been amended four times since its adoption in 2003, the current amendments are unique, especially Article 101, which stipulates the term limits for the head of state, and can only be amended by a national referendum.
The proposed amendments were presented by the Deputy Speaker in charge of legislative affairs, Jeanne d’Arc Uwimanimpaye, who is the team’s rapporteur.
In the same respect, the team, according to Uwimanimpaye, sought to make the draft revision of the Constitution more user-friendly, easier to interpret and not conflicting with other legislations in place.
While the amendments were unanimously approved and endorsed by the Plenary, some lawmakers proposed a number of other changes that can be considered during an extensive review of the law at the committee level.
Genesis
The constitutional review process was triggered by demands by millions of Rwandans, who, beginning early this year, filed petitions at Parliament calling for the amendment to the supreme law to allow President Paul Kagame’s continued leadership.
Under the current Constitution, Kagame cannot lead the country beyond 2017 because he is serving his second seven-year term that expires that year.
Armed with the different milestones the country has achieved under Kagame’s leadership and outlining what more they expect from him, over 3.7 million Rwandans submitted to parliament their written petitions, specifically calling for the amendment of Article 101.
On July 14, both chambers of Parliament, in separate sittings, supported the wishes of the people and basing on the principle that power belongs to the people, and launched countrywide consultations to gather more views from Rwandans of different constituencies.
After the consultations, the legislators initiated a law establishing a Constitutional Review Commission, a team of seven experts that was to help the MPs in overhauling the Constitution before it can be put to a referendum.
Three weeks ago, the commission, which is headed by Augustin Iyamuremye, started its work with the committee of chairpersons of standing committees of the lower chamber and collectively, came up with the amendments tabled yesterday.
{
Happy International Customer Service week! It is a favorite celebration of the year because it gives us the opportunity to show our pride in our customer service teams. Indeed our employees, especially our front-line customer service teams, are the lifeblood of the organization. }
At hellofood, we deal with well over 1,000 customers every week! And trust me – there is nothing harder than telling a very hungry customer that his or her food is just around the corner! We recognize that without stellar customer service from both our call center and our fleet of riders (see picture below), people will not continue to use hellofood, so we put a lot of effort into ensuring the best possible customer experience.
Our team is passionate about their work and the customers they serve. Here are a few tips from the team on how to ensure a really good customer experience:
-* {{Promptness}}: We promise to deliver in 60 minutes. This means the food MUST be there in the promised amount of time. Delays and cancellations of orders must be avoided.
-* {{ Politeness}}: Politeness is almost a lost art. Saying ‘hello,’ ‘good afternoon,’ ‘sir’, and ‘thank you very much’ are integral parts of good customer service. For our business, using good manners is appropriate whether the customer places an order or not and whether they are polite in return or not.
-* {{Professionalism}}: All customers should be treated professionally, as if they are the only priority. Professionalism shows the customer that they are cared for. But don’t take our word for it! Hear from one of hellofood’s customer service agents.
{{Question}}: What is hellofood doing to improve their customer service? Answer from Maya, hellofood customer service agent: “Everything. When I say everything, I mean absolutely everything. We are trained almost every week to know how to perfect;y behave with angry customers, how to handle all the challenges you can face in this field. I absolutely love it, and it’s very exciting for the whole team when a customer is thrilled with their order. We now all use it in our daily life, because now I know how to handle different people with different attitudes.
1{{) Aids Digestion}}. Lemon juice flushes out unwanted materials and toxins from the body. It’s atomic composition is similar to saliva and the hydrochloric acid of digestive juices. It encourages the liver to produce bile which is an acid that is required for digestion. Lemons are also high in minerals and vitamins and help loosen ama, or toxins, in the digestive tract. The digestive qualities of lemon juice help to relieve symptoms of indigestion, such as heartburn, belching and bloating. The American Cancer Society actually recommends offering warm lemon water to cancer sufferers to help stimulate bowel movements.
{{2) Cleanses Your System }} / is a Diuretic. Lemon juice helps flush out unwanted materials in part because lemons increase the rate of urination in the body. Therefore toxins are released at a faster rate which helps keep your urinary tract healthy. The citric acid in lemons helps maximize enzyme function, which stimulates the liver and aids in detoxification.
{{
3) Boosts Your Immune System}}. Lemons are high in vitamin C, which is great for fighting colds. They’re high in potassium, which stimulates brain and nerve function. Potassium also helps control blood pressure. Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) found in lemons demonstrates anti-inflammatory effects, and is used as complementary support for asthma and other respiratory symptoms plus it enhances iron absorption in the body; iron plays an important role in immune function. Lemons also contain saponins, which show antimicrobial properties that may help keep cold and flu at bay. Lemons also reduce the amount of phlegm produced by the body.
{{4) Balances pH Levels.}} Lemons are one of the most alkalizing foods for the body. Sure, they are acidic on their own, but inside our bodies they’re alkaline (the citric acid does not create acidity in the body once metabolized). Lemons contain both citric and ascorbic acid, weak acids easily metabolized from the body allowing the mineral content of lemons to help alkalize the blood. Disease states only occur when the body pH is acidic. Drinking lemon water regularly can help to remove overall acidity in the body, including uric acid in the joints, which is one of the primary causes of pain and inflammation.
{{5) Clears Skin. }} The vitamin C component as well as other antioxidants helps decrease wrinkles and blemishes and it helps to combat free radical damage. Vitamin C is vital for healthy glowing skin while its alkaline nature kills some types of bacteria known to cause acne. It can actually be applied directly to scars or age spots to help reduce their appearance. Since lemon water purges toxins from your blood, it would also be helping to keep your skin clear of blemishes from the inside out. The vitamin C contained in the lemon rejuvenates the skin from within your body.
{{6) Energizes You and Enhances Your Mood.}} The energy a human receives from food comes from the atoms and molecules in your food. A reaction occurs when the positive charged ions from food enter the digestive tract and interact with the negative charged enzymes. Lemon is one of the few foods that contain more negative charged ions, providing your body with more energy when it enters the digestive tract. The scent of lemon also has mood enhancing and energizing properties. The smell of lemon juice can brighten your mood and help clear your mind. Lemon can also help reduce anxiety and depression.
{{7) Promotes Healing.}} Ascorbic acid (vitamin C), found in abundance in lemons, promotes wound healing, and is an essential nutrient in the maintenance of healthy bones, connective tissue, and cartilage. As noted previously, vitamin C also displays anti-inflammatory properties. Combined, vitamin C is an essential nutrient in the maintenance of good health and recovery from stress and injury.
{{8) Freshens Breath}}. Besides fresher breath, lemons have been known to help relieve tooth pain and gingivitis. Be aware that citric acid can erode tooth enamel, so you should be mindful of this. No not brush your teeth just after drinking your lemon water. It is best to brush your teeth first, then drink your lemon water, or wait a significant amount of time after to brush your teeth. Additionally, you can rinse your mouth with purified water after you finish your lemon water.
{{9) Hydrates Your Lymph System}}. Warm water and lemon juice supports the immune system by hydrating and replacing fluids lost by your body. When your body is deprived of water, you can definitely feel the side effects, which include: feeling tired, sluggish, decreased immune function, constipation, lack of energy, low/high blood pressure, lack of sleep, lack of mental clarity and feeling stressed, just to name a few.
{{10) Aids in Weight Loss}}. Lemons are high in pectin fiber, which helps fight hunger cravings. Studies have shown people who maintain a more alkaline diet, do in fact lose weight faster. I personally find myself making better choices throughout the day, if I start my day off right, by making a health conscious choice to drink warm lemon water first thing every morning.
Educationists from across the continent have committed to engage private sector players in skills development, more specifically in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
Speaking at a TVET conference in Kigali, yesterday, Education minister Papias Malimba Musafiri said integrating private companies in TVET will promote youth employment.
“We want to promote public and private partnerships for TVET to respond to market needs. We need good policies and strategies that encourage investment in skills development. Engaging the private sector in TVET will equip graduates with relevant skills for employment,” he said.
Musafiri said expanding TVET will lead to economic growth and bring innovative solutions to various challenges in the country.The African Ministerial Conference on Technical and Vocational Skills Development (TVSD) attracted about 100 participants from across the continent and beyond, including ministers in charge of TVET and representatives of the sector stakeholders.
Organised under the theme, “Promoting investment in skills and competencies acquisition by trainers and entrepreneurs in African countries,” the conference sought to create conducive conditions for TVET trainees to easily integrate employment skills into their trades, enabling them to significantly contribute to the national socio-economic development.
Oley Dibba Wadda, the executive secretary of Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), said prioritising TVET in African education will bridge the skills gap that the continent is facing.
“The 2012 ADEA meeting, held in Burkina Faso, found that the continent faces a skills gap, resulting into high youth unemployment levels and cross-border migration. In this regard, we are looking at technical, critical and cognitive skills to solve the problem across the continent and that has set us on the right track towards boosting employability,” the Ivorian said.
Thorough transition
Wadda said the continent needs a thorough transition from traditionally colonial education to Africa-initiated education, which responds to needs of the continent.
“We have realised that technical and vocational skills are the key to the continent’s development but in some ways, colonial ways of teaching did not resonate with the reality and needs of the continent. Now there is a need to promote skills which are relevant to the continent,” she said.
“It is, therefore, important that governments and partners sit together and discuss how to address the challenges in the continent and find solutions which fit with each country’s context.”
Wadda noted that all TVET actors need most importantly to work on people’s mindset towards TVET.
“Some people think that TVET is for school dropouts and academic failures. It is important that we start shifting that thinking and make sure we value this sector because it is so crucial to African economies,” she said.
Ministers on private sector
Ministers in charge of TVET from various countries including Ivory Coast, Angola, Burkina Faso, Madagascar, Niger, Liberia and Botswana, stressed the need for private companies’ engagement in TVET, saying governments alone cannot afford the sector’s cost.
“African economies have been growing but unemployment persists because of lack of skills and TVET is the solution. However, TVET is so capital intensive by nature that private sector engagement is needed to promote the sector. The long-neglect of TVET in African education has resulted into inadequate qualified human resource but this is the time to increase TVET pathways,” Kenneth Kgotla Autlwetse, the Motswana assistant minister for education and skills development, said.
Saku Siryon Dukuly, the Liberian assistant minister for TVET, said the entire continent should include adults and school leavers in TVET but insisted on involving enterprises, saying this education system is expensive.
Albert Nsengiyumva, Rwanda’s minister of state in charge of TVET, said the government has committed to partner with private companies in increasing the number and competencies of TVET graduates.
“We currently have over 94,000 in TVET schools, reflecting 40 per cent of all students but we want to the number to increase to 60 per cent by 2020. We are much concerned with the quality of trainers and the diversity of trades to meet the market needs. This is a big task which requires concerted efforts and, in this regard, we are encouraging investing in TVET,” he said.
Nsengiyumva said they are planning to integrate the unemployed university graduates in TVET to increase their chances to get employment.
Addressing the international TVET symposium, on Wednesday, Arnout Pauwels, the Belgian ambassador to Rwanda, said governments should work closely with private companies on TVET internships and called for concrete measures to ensure that both the companies and students benefit.
The Tunisian national dialogue quartet, a coalition of civil society organisations, has won the 2015 Nobel peace prize.
Kaci Kullmann Five, the newly appointed chairman of the Norwegian Nobel committee, said the quartet had formed an alternative peaceful political process in 2013 when the country was on the brink of civil war and subsequently guaranteed fundamental rights for the entire population.
Live Nobel peace prize 2015 goes to Tunisian civil society groups – live updates
Committee says prize awarded for quartet’s decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the 2011 Jasmine Revolution
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The peace prize is the only one of the six Nobels to be announced in Oslo.
The five-member committee had released no hints ahead of the announcement as to which of the 273 nominees – 205 people and 68 organisations – would win.
The Arab Spring began in Tunisia with protests that brought down the government of long-time dictator Zine Abedine Ben Ali in January 2011 but the country fell into crisis in the following years. The Nobel committee said the quartet had made a “decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia” at time of political assassinations and widespread social unrest.
“An essential factor for the culmination of the revolution in Tunisia in peaceful, democratic elections last autumn was the effort made by the quartet to support the work of the constituent assembly and to secure approval of the constitutional process among the Tunisian population at large,” the committee said.
“The quartet paved the way for a peaceful dialogue between the citizens, the political parties and the authorities and helped to find consensus-based solutions to a wide range of challenges across political and religious divides. The broad-based national dialogue that the quartet succeeded in establishing countered the spread of violence in Tunisia and its function is therefore comparable to that of the peace congresses to which Alfred Nobel refers in his will.”
Favourites ahead of the announcement were the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, for pledging to keep her country’s borders open to hundreds of thousands of refugees, Pope Francis, and the US secretary of state, John Kerry, and his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif for the landmark deal on Iran’s nuclear programme.
Others thought to be in strong contention were the Colombian president, Juan Manuel Santos, and rebel leader Rodrigo Londono, Mussi Zerai, an Eritrean priest who helps coordinate rescue missions for migrants crossing the Mediterranean, and Saudi blogger Raif Badawi.
The quartet is comprised four key organisations in Tunisian civil society: the Tunisian General Labour Union, the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade and Handicrafts, the Tunisian Human Rights League and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers.
“Papaoutai” is a song that gets people on their feet when it plays. A night out in Kigali is not complete if you don’t dance to this hit.
In June this year, fans were left disappointed when the singer of this popular hit called off his Kigali homecoming concert after suffering side effects from anti-malaria medication. Now, he is expected to perform in Kigali next weekend on October 17.
In the song, Stromae, real name Paul Van Haver, 30, broaches the subject of a childhood without a father and it is actually a situation he has himself experienced.Born to a Rwandan father and Flemish mother, many of his admirers know little about the singer’s roots in Rwanda.
{{Who is Stromae’s father? Where is his family? What’s their story?}}
It is said that Stromae’s father, Pierre Rutare, an architect, was absent for most of his childhood. He was killed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. His mother raised him and his four siblings in Brussels, before moving to a suburb outside the Belgian capital.
Stromae’s family, however, isn’t keen on talking about Rutare or the family for that matter out of respect for other members, some of whom are also departed.
However, Stromae’s 46-year-old cousin, who asked for anonymity, gave us selected insight into Stromae’s Rwandan roots.
{{Who is Rutare?}}
Born in 1958 into a family of seven, in Nyarugenge, Kigali, the young Rutare and his family initially lived in Nyamirambo but due to the strain of living in town coupled with the political tension at the time, Gabriel Gasamagera (Stromae’s paternal grandfather), an established farmer, then moved the family to Shyorongi. It was hard adjusting from town life to the harsh village setting, a location that was once home to elephants.
Rutare attended Collège de Rulindo for his secondary education. He later moved to Kigali and enrolled at Collège St. André in Nyamirambo. His younger brother, Paul, died of burn wounds he suffered under circumstances that remain mysterious to date.
Paul’s death at a tender age took a toll on Rutare, and he later decided to leave the country.
During his last year in high school at St. André, he ingeniously managed to acquire a passport—which wasn’t easy because Tutsis were barred from obtaining travel documents—and later, a Belgian visa.
He presented the documents to his father and asked for financial help to facilitate his trip. Taken completely unaware by the 19-year-old’s decision, Gasamagera couldn’t say no. That was in 1978.
Once in Belgium, Rutare completed his high school and proceeded to university where he studied civil engineering and architecture (génie civil et architecture), at a private university and graduated around 1986. He was registered as a foreign student.
Without a scholarship it was a very difficult situation—he had to think of ways to support himself.
His cousin says, “It is not easy at all to cope as a foreign student in Belgium without a sponsor or scholarship. He was busy day and night. He studied during the day and worked at night. Once, he worked as a night time fuel pump attendant. He didn’t sleep much as he needed to be awake most of the time; at least that is what he told me.”
Gasamagera tried to support his son but could only do so much. He had the money, but he also had an extended family to look after.
In March 1985, Stromae was born to Miranda Marie Van Haver. She met his dad in Brussels but nobody knows where exactly or the circumstances that led to their relationship. After Stromae’s birth, Rutare didn’t stay long.
After his graduation, he was informed that his father wanted him to return home.
Rutare was his most educated child; a perfect candidate to carry on his legacy. Gasamagera, who was in his sixties, needed somebody by his side.
“Stromae’s grandfather thought about his estate; he didn’t necessarily want to pass on the responsibility and was still able to run it himself but at that age, he had to look at life differently,” says the cousin.
When Rutare came back to Rwanda in 1988, the political situation was still tense. He opened up a private company in Kigali called “Bureau de Deux Génies” (B2G).
It was located at the top floor of the then popular building, Kwa Bayingana, which also housed the Kenyan Embassy. The building is still there but is now overshadowed by new buildings that have since come up.
As a rookie architect, Rutare should have struggled to establish the business, but luck was on his side.
Just before leaving Belgium, he had interned at a firm owned by a Belgian architect. The owner, however, was planning to close the firm and needed to get rid of the furniture and tools he used.
Seeing an opportunity, Rutare requested for the furniture and tools. When returning home, he hired a container and shipped the furniture to Rwanda, as his company’s initial assets.Rutare didn’t stop the hard work and spent sleepless nights drawing blueprints and estimates for his building projects. Among his projects was a fountain at the Kigali City main roundabout (pictured above).
According to Stromae’s cousin, Rutare asked the city authorities not to dismantle the concrete structure.
However, it would give way to the current look of the roundabout when, in 2005, Kigali underwent a facelift ahead of a major conference for the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Summit. It took six months to dismantle it.
Among Rutare’s other projects are well-designed villas in Kimihurura, a Kigali suburb, that stand to this day.
{{Papaoutai?}}
Many people have claimed that Rutare was an absentee father during Stromae’s early life.
But, his cousin says, “Claims that Stromae was abandoned by his dad hold no water. Rutare made trips to visit the boy every year. It was an expensive trip during those times but he tried his best. The song Papaoutai raises the topic of Stromae not knowing his dad. He calls to a dad and family who are not there. Listeners have interpreted the song in different ways.”
In the late 80s Miranda came with little Stromae to Rwanda. The cousin says, “They were given a hearty welcome by the family. It was a special get-together, especially with the grandparents. He stayed at the ancestral home for nearly a fortnight in Shyorongi but suffered from malaria which cut the visit short. The place was heavily infested with mosquitoes.”
Later, Rutare got married and had four more children. Ibrahim Cyusa is a singer based in Kigali; Kevin Rutare lives in Luxembourg and is a high jumper at the national level. The two girls, Cynthia Rutare and Ornelle Rutare, are students in Belgium.
His half-brother, Cyusa, a Gakondo singer known for his albums Migabo and Inama y’Igihugu y’Urubyiruko says, “I’m happy for Stromae, as my big brother, it gives me pride and joy to see how far he has come. It is a good thing for the family, it shows we have talent. We used to communicate but due to his busy schedule, we don’t as much. I guess he got overwhelmed.”
Stromae has other cousins who total up to 20 or so.The name Van Haver
{{The name Van Haver}}
Many wonder why Stromae doesn’t have a Kinyarwanda name.
According to his uncle, Stromae is Rwandan and having a Flemish name does not change that fact.
His first name, Paul, might have been influenced by his uncle whose demise as earlier mentioned certainly affected Rutare and instigated his move to Belgium.
In Rwanda, it’s also common to name a child after a relative or friend. The family referred to Stromae as “Popol”, which means “little Paul.”
{{A chip off the old block}}
There is undeniable likeness between Rutare and Stromae, as seen in photos.
“Stromae was cut from the same cloth as the father, they look alike. In fact, we say Rutare came back in Stromae’s body,” says his uncle.
As earlier mentioned, Rutare would stay up all night, drawing plans for his building projects, on his old-fashioned drawing boards.
The zeal to start from the bottom and make something of themselves shows the similarity in all three, Gasamagera, Rutare and Stromae.
“Gasamagera always encouraged his children to work hard and be self-reliant, and he led by example, it’s the spirit Stromae (his grandson) took.
“Even their dress code has something in common. Rutare used to dress like that too. He would never go out dressed in the same clothes as the ones he went to work with.
“Rutare had a music collection we didn’t know about, the ones that look like CDs and play on a gramophone.
Even when CDs came around he was among the first people to have a collection. They cost an arm and a leg but he had to have them, he really loved them,” his uncle says. However, many were borrowed by friends and never returned.
Among Rutare’s closest paternal cousins is Jean Marie Vianney Rubayiza, father to Miss Rwanda 2015 first runner-up, Vanessa Raissa Uwase.
{{A Jack of all trades}}
Rutare was also an avid basketball player, both in secondary school and at university. He even got to the semi-professional level in Belgium which at some point facilitated his stay.
Once back in 1988, he joined Terror Basketball Club (Inkuba), a team sponsored by National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) then.
He later started another club, B2G, named after his company. He was president of the team and it was mainly sponsored by his company.
However, it went into oblivion after Rutare’s death during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
The majority of the team members were recruited by Espoir BBC. Some of his colleagues include Fidel Rutagarama who is still very committed to the game and is president at Espoir and Gerard Ntwari, the Rwandan ambassador to Senegal.
A basketball tournament, the Memorial Gisembe, is held every year in which former Espoir player and coach, Emmanuel Gisembe, Rutare, and other basketballers killed during the Genocide are remembered.
{{
Grandpa nicknamed “Locomotive”}}
Born in 1924, Gasamagera, Stromae’s grandpa, was a native of Bumbogo, Rulindo District in the Northern Province, his ancestral home.
He had a hand in the construction of key roads in the country in the 1960s, working with Belgian engineers working under the then Ministry of Public Services (Minitrap), now Ministry of Infrastructure (Mininfra).
He was nick-named “Locomotive” because he was a trailblazer and worked tirelessly. His influence—solely because he was Tutsi—worried government officials who made sure he was confined to his home area, not letting him to move around freely for years.
He was one of the wealthy citizens who contributed to the welfare of Shyorongi. Gasamagera was an intensive farmer and employed as many as 300 labourers to work on his farm a day.
Gasamagera, Rutare and many other family members were killed during the Genocide.
{{
STROMAE’S SONGS}}
• Papaoutai (2013)
• Alors On Danse (2010)
• Formidable (2013)
• Tous les memes (2013)
• Quand c’est? (2013)
• Carmen (2013)
• Ta Fête (2013
• Ave Cesaria (2013)
• Bâtard (2013)
• Te Quiero (2010)
• Avf (2013)
• Humain à l’eau (2013)
• House’llelujah (2010)
• Moules frites (2013)
• Peace or Violence (2010)
• Merci (2013)
• Sommeil (2013)
• Bienvenue chez moi (2010)
• Rail de musique (2010)
• Je Cours (2010)
• Meltdown (2014)
• Silence (2010)
• Cheese (2010)
• Dodo (2010)
• Summertime (2010)
• Paproutri (2013)
• Enfants de l’An 2000 (2009)
• Up Saw Liz (2009)
• House’Llujah (2010)
{Nearly half of freelancers report facing payment problems. Here is a smart and comprehensive plan for getting your money.}
Piecing together a steady stream of work and keeping on top of your finances are two skills every freelancer needs to master early on to cut it as a solo worker. Still, often it’s getting paid–-and paid on time—that can become a freelancer’s biggest hurdle. The work is done and delivered, yet you’re still sitting on thousands of dollars in unpaid invoices.
It’s a common complaint for independent workers across industries. In a recent survey by the Freelancers Union, nearly half of participants reported problems with getting paid. According to Sara Horowitz, labor lawyer and founder of the Freelancers Union, member freelancers are owed more than $10,000 in unpaid invoices and spend an estimated 36 hours tracking down each missing payment.
The Freelancers Union has been vocal about the need to hold companies accountable for paying contract workers on time–-even launching a public ad campaign on New York subways this month to address the issue. Some startups are seeing this as a business opportunity. Fundbox, for example, focuses on lending to startups to help them pay freelancers without delay; Harpoon offers financial planning, invoicing, and goal-setting app features for freelancers; and sites like Shake let you create and send legally binding agreements.
But while advocates and startups are galvanizing around the issue, there are still practical and essential steps every freelancer should follow to protect themselves and take matters into their own hands.
{{Look out for problem clients from the start}}
Often the issue of not getting paid on time can be avoided altogether if you know the problem signs to look out for when approached by new clients, says Ilise Benun, author of the book The Creative Professional’s Guide to Money. “Before you even get to the contract and deposit stage, you need to know what the red flags are for the problem clients,” she says.
Benun identifies fives types of problem clients to watch out for:
1. {{The chaotic client}}: This is the person who flakes on every meeting, is always late, canceling, rescheduling, or seems constantly frazzled. We all encounter some chaos in our workdays, but if you’re working for someone who is continuously in a frantic and forgetful state, chances are they won’t be the most timely when it comes to getting you paid.
2. {{The clueless client}} :They want to hire you, but don’t know what they want and need and how much it ought to cost. From the start, work to establish clarity with this kind of client, but if they really don’t know what they want and aren’t willing to pay your rates, you’re better off not getting involved.
3. {{The jerk}}: You know who they are. It can be easy to spot these problem clients from the get-go. If they don’t treat you with the kind of respect you’re giving them, trust your gut and avoid the headache.
4. {{The cheapskate}}: Everyone wants a good deal. But remember what your rates are and don’t let anyone try to talk you into giving them a lower rate because they’re being cheap. “It could be that they don’t know what it should cost and you have to educate them,” says Benun. That, “or they are really cheap and don’t value your services in the first place.”
5. {{The big bore}}: Often work opportunities come up that really don’t excite you. There’s nothing wrong with the client per se; you’re just not into the work. “It’s a red flag when you don’t want the project,” says Benun. Hard as it can be to say no to work, if you really don’t care for a project, there’s a good chance you won’t do your best job and might build resentment towards the client hiring you.
The bottom line, according to Benun: “{Protect yourself by saying no to the bad clients}.”
{{Know what the work means to you before taking it on}}
Say your client doesn’t raise any major red flags and you’re ready to start a new assignment. Take time to consider what the particular job means to you, says attorney Nicole Page, partner at Reavis Parent Lehrer LLP, where she specializes in entertainment, intellectual property, and employment law. Are you in it just for the money? Do you care about the ideas and work you’re producing and hope to do something more with them down the line? Think this through in advance. “It’s hard when you’re just trying to build a career and get your work out there,” says Page. “But you need to think: ‘What do I want to do with this piece of material?’”
Thinking through what work means to you is important, because you’ll likely be signing some sort of copyright agreement that either passes off all rights to the client or enables you to license the work for a certain period of time or limited use. “If you’re contributing something of a creative nature, it might be very important to you, whether it’s an ownership deal or a licensing deal,” says Page.
Typically, there are three common options when it comes to ownership:
-* {Work for hire}: Everything you create is treated as if it was created by and for the client exclusively. They own the copyright and can do with it as they please.
-* {A license:} You license the use of the work for a certain amount of time or on a certain platform, but the copyright ultimately comes back to you.
-* {A straight buyout}: This has the same result as work for hire. You’ve created the work, and the client then buys all the rights for it.
{{Contract fundamentals}}
Don’t let the idea of an official contract scare you. “A written contract doesn’t have to be a really long involved legal document, which people tend to get intimidated by,” says Stephen Fishman, legal expert and author of the book Working for Yourself. As long as the fundamentals of the job are covered—who you are, what the job is, how much you’re getting paid and when, and who owns the work—you should have the basics covered. That said, it’s always important to have some sort of written document outlining these details—even if it’s an email or a simple letter agreement. Online resources like Shake offer a fairly easy way to generate contract agreements including your specific project details.
Page advises freelancers ensure certain specifics that too often get left out of contracts. For writers, for example, it’s important to indicate how many rounds of comments and rewrites are part of the project. Commit to two rewrites, and anything after that would require that you get paid an hourly or day rate for additional work.
A clause that protects you against legal claims and one that indicates a specific pay period—be it 10 days, 15, 30, or more—must also be included so that clients know what window of time they have to pay you in upfront, says Page.
Freelancers can get a bad rap as being flakey or unprofessional when they don’t follow those basic business procedures. “The biggest thing I tell people is read what you are signing. Don’t just sign it. Think about it. Don’t be afraid to ask questions,” says Page. “People think, ‘If I ask, the deal is going to go away.’” But that’s simply not true. “Look at it like: ‘This is my business,’” she says. “You have to learn how to be a business person.”
{{How to build the right client rapport}}
People often find talking about money extremely uncomfortable. But avoiding the topic is a major mistake. “A lot of people have problems talking about money in the first place, especially if they are charging hourly and not letting the client know how much money and time is being racked up,” says Benun. Be sure to communicate how much time you’ve put into work throughout the process to make sure clients don’t feel sideswiped when your invoice arrives. “You have to over-communicate,” says Benun. “Just make it part of your process to send your client a regular update of where you are budget-wise.”
{{What to do when payments are late}}
It’s inevitable that even after taking all the right steps, your payments still aren’t coming in on time. When following up on invoices, there are a few fundamentals to keep in mind. Often the problem isn’t that a freelancer doesn’t have a contract in place, it’s that they aren’t using it properly. “It needs to be done in the most impersonal way possible,” says Benun. “You really have to be very professional about it.”
Revisit your contract. If a payment is past the window of time you specified it should be made in, let your client know the payment terms have been breached. “Don’t harass immediately,” says Benun. Often late payments are a result of miscommunication, invoices getting lost in the shuffle, or other internal hiccups. If it’s been 32 days since you filed an invoice and you haven’t been paid, let them know the payment is two-days past due. If that’s not enough, keep following up. “The squeaky wheel gets the grease,” says Benun.
{{Pulling out the big guns}}
There’s only so much pestering you can do when a payment isn’t being made. If the amount of money you’re waiting on is significant enough that it’s more important for you to be paid than to continue working with that client in the future, you can always take what Fishman calls the “nuclear option” and sue the client in small claims court. “It’s a great way to collect a relatively small debt,” says Fishman.
Still, before going that route, it might be more effective to simply have a lawyer write a letter to let the client know you’re serious.
{{Planning so late payments don’t ruin you financially}}
The key to keeping late payments from devastating your finances, says Benun, is having a solid marketing plan. “I need to know where I am according to my monthly income and what I need to do between now and then to make my goal,” she says. “The way you do that is through marketing.”
By marketing, she means having a regular plan in place to hustle up more work that you can turn to when your finances indicate you might be short. That could be as simple as committing to going to one networking event each month to help generate new leads, sending out a monthly newsletter to your contacts, or spending an hour each month making phone calls or emailing former clients about potential new work.
“There is definitely a feast or famine quality to freelance work,” says Benun. “When people get stuck, they have no foundation to build on.” Get that foundation in place, and you’ll be in a much better position to take control of your finances—late payments or not.
