Author: Théophile Niyitegeka

RNP, local artistes and journalist hold workshop on community policing

{The Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIGP) in charge of Administration and Personnel, Juvenal Marizamunda has hailed the role local artistes and the media fraternity plays in informing and sensitizing Rwandans on “responsible and inclusive policing.”}

The Deputy Police Chief made the remarks on March 29 while officially opening a one day consultative workshop of artistes and media practitioners organized under their forum – Anti-crime Ambassadors – held at the Rwanda National Police (RNP) General Headquarters in Kacyiru.

The workshop aimed at strengthening cooperation and collaboration in policing as streamlined under the existing agreement between RNP and Anti-crime Ambassadors.

The forum consists of over 30 members, who include musicians, comedians, gospel singers, movie actors, producers and journalists.

DIGP Marizamunda thanked them for using their talents and professions to raise awareness against crimes, and supporting the police efforts to ensure safety, security and respect to the rule of law.

“Police values your contribution in anti-crime awareness, and believe that if this partnership is sustained, the end results will be enormous, and this workshop will draw a common roadmap and understanding towards that line,” the Deputy IGP said.

“A collective understanding, approach and voice, is what community policing means to ensure that our country remains safe from all sorts of crime… for the social wellbeing of the people and an ingredient to sustainable development,” he added.

“Your talents are both tools for transformation and development; continue to use your celebrity platforms to spread messages of peace and security, for without which you cannot hold music concerts and other personal development activities.”

The artistes and media practitioners pledged to utilize community policing methods to raise awareness about the dangers of crime.

Emery Gatsinzi known by stage name Riderman noted that it was high time young people shun the habit of drug abuse and excessive alcoholism.

“I urge all my supporters and all Rwandans, especially the youth who are the majority involved, to desist from abuse of illicit drugs and alcohol. These drugs are both illegal and criminal, but they are also harmful to users. We are lucky to have a country that values our wellbeing, which we shouldn’t take lightly,” Riderman said.

Another musician Muyombo Thomas alias Tom Close, said: “Avoid crime to avoid prison and enjoy life.”

Anita Pendo, a radio and TV presenter at Rwanda Broadcasting Agency (RBA) pledged to utilize her shows and other platforms to “warn and advise people on the dangers of crime and everyone’s responsibility in policing and ensuring safety of their neighbourhoods.”

Last week, the group engaged residents of Nyarugenge Sector in Nyarugenge District in fighting drug abuse, and reporting drug dealers.

The partnership between RNP and the Anti-crime ambassadors focuses on crime prevention, raising awareness against drug-related crimes, human trafficking, radicalisation, gender based violence and child abuse.

Other areas of partnership include promoting community policing initiatives of real time information on anti criminal activities, neighbourhood watch activities, environmental protection, protection and promotion of the rights of vulnerable groups, and active involvement in government development programmes.

Source:Police

March 30, 2017
Natural chemical helps brain adapt to stress

{A natural signaling molecule that activates cannabinoid receptors in the brain plays a critical role in stress-resilience — the ability to adapt to repeated and acute exposures to traumatic stress, according to researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.}

The findings in a mouse model could have broad implications for the potential treatment and prevention of mood and anxiety disorders, including major depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), they reported in the journal Nature Communications.

“The study suggests that deficiencies in natural cannabinoids could result in a predisposition to developing PTSD and depression,” said Sachin Patel, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Division of Addiction Psychiatry at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and the paper’s corresponding author.

“Boosting this signaling system could represent a new treatment approach for these stress-linked disorders,” he said.

Patel, the James G. Blakemore Professor of Psychiatry, received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers last year for his pioneering studies of the endocannabinoid family of signaling molecules that activate the CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors in the brain.

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active compound in marijuana, binds the CB1 receptor, which may explain why relief of tension and anxiety is the most common reason cited by people who use marijuana chronically.

Patel and his colleagues previously have found CB1 receptors in the amygdala, a key emotional hub in the brain involved in regulating anxiety and the fight-or-flight response. They also showed in animal models that anxiety increases when the CB1 receptor is blocked by a drug or its gene is deleted.

More recently they reported anxiety-like and depressive behaviors in genetically modified mice that had an impaired ability to produce 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), the most abundant endocannabinoid. When the supply of 2-AG was increased by blocking an enzyme that normally breaks it down, the behaviors were reversed.

In the current study, the researchers tested the effects of increasing or depleting the supply of 2-AG in the amygdala in two populations of mice: one previously determined to be susceptible to the adverse consequences of acute stress, and the other which exhibited stress-resilience.

Augmenting the 2-AG supply increased the proportion of stress-resilient mice overall and promoted resilience in mice that were previously susceptible to stress, whereas depleting 2-AG rendered previously stress-resilient mice susceptible to developing anxiety-like behaviors after exposure to acute stress.

Taken together, these results suggest that 2-AG signaling through the CB1 receptor in the amygdala promotes resilience to the adverse effects of acute traumatic stress exposure, and support previous findings in animal models and humans suggesting that 2-AG deficiency could contribute to development of stress-related psychiatric disorders.

Marijuana use is highly cited by patients with PTSD as a way to control symptoms. Similarly, the Vanderbilt researchers found that THC promoted stress-resilience in previously susceptible mice.

However, marijuana use in psychiatric disorders has obvious drawbacks including possible addiction and cognitive side effects, among others. The Vanderbilt study suggests that increasing production of natural cannabinoids may be an alternative strategy to harness the therapeutic potential of this signaling system.

If further research finds that some people with stress-related mood and anxiety disorders have low levels of 2-AG, replenishing the supply of this endocannabinoid could represent a novel treatment approach and might enable some of them to stop using marijuana, the researchers concluded.

Source:Science Daily

March 30, 2017
Hair spacing keeps honeybees clean during pollination

{With honeybee colony health wavering and researchers trying to find technological ways of pollinating plants in the future, a new Georgia Tech study has looked at how the insects do their job and manage to stay clean.}

According to the study, a honeybee can carry up to 30 percent of its body weight in pollen because of the strategic spacing of its nearly three million hairs. The hairs cover the insect’s eyes and entire body in various densities that allow efficient cleaning and transport.

The research found that the gap between each eye hair is approximately the same size as a grain of dandelion pollen, which is typically collected by bees. This keeps the pollen suspended above the eye and allows the forelegs to comb through and collect the particles. The legs are much hairier and the hair is very densely packed — five times denser than the hair on the eyes. This helps the legs collect as much pollen as possible with each swipe. Once the forelegs are sufficiently scrubbed and cleaned by the other legs and the mouth, they return to the eyes and continue the process until the eyes are free of pollen.

The Georgia Tech team tethered bees and used high speed cameras to create the first quantified study of the honeybee cleaning process. They watched as the insects were able to remove up to 15,000 particles from their bodies in three minutes.

“Without these hairs and their specialized spacing, it would be almost impossible for a honeybee to stay clean,” said Guillermo Amador, who led the study while pursuing his doctoral degree at Georgia Tech in mechanical engineering.

This was evident when Amador and the team created a robotic honeybee leg to swipe pollen-covered eyes. When they covered the leg with wax, the smooth, hairless leg gathered four times less pollen.

The high-speed videos also revealed something else.

“Bees have a preprogrammed cleaning routine that doesn’t vary,” said Marguerite Matherne, a Ph.D. student in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. “Even if they’re not very dirty in the first place, bees always swipe their eyes a dozen times, six times per leg. The first swipe is the most efficient, and they never have to brush the same area of the eye twice.”

The research also found that pollenkitt, the sticky, viscous fluid found on the surface of pollen grains, is essential. When the fluid was removed from pollen during experiments, bees accumulated half as much.

“If we can start learning from natural pollinators, maybe we can create artificial pollinators to take stress off of bees,” said David Hu, a professor in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and School of Biological Sciences. “Our findings may also be used to create mechanical designs that help keep micro and nanostructured surfaces clean.”

The study, “Honeybee hairs and pollenkitt are essential for pollen capture and removal,” is published in the journal Bioinspiration and Biomimetics.

Source:Science Daily

March 30, 2017
Climate change’s toll on mental health

When people think about climate change, they probably think first about its effects on the environment, and possibly on their physical health. But climate change also takes a significant toll on mental health, according to a new report released by the American Psychological Association and ecoAmerica entitled Mental Health and Our Changing Climate: Impacts, Implications, and Guidance.

Climate change-induced severe weather and other natural disasters have the most immediate effects on mental health in the form of the trauma and shock due to personal injuries, loss of a loved one, damage to or loss of personal property or even the loss of livelihood, according to the report. Terror, anger, shock and other intense negative emotions that can dominate people’s initial response may eventually subside, only to be replaced by post-traumatic stress disorder.

As an example of the impacts natural disasters can have, among a sample of people living in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, suicide and suicidal ideation more than doubled, one in six people met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD and 49 percent developed an anxiety or mood disorder such as depression, said the report.

The impacts of climate on mental health are not relegated to disasters alone. There are also significant mental health impacts from longer-term climate change. Changes in climate affect agriculture, infrastructure and livability, which in turn affect occupations and quality of life and can force people to migrate. These effects may lead to loss of personal and professional identity, loss of social support structures, loss of a sense of control and autonomy and other mental health impacts such as feelings of helplessness, fear and fatalism. High levels of stress and anxiety are also linked to physical health effects, such as a weakened immune system. Worry about actual or potential impacts of climate change can lead to stress that can build over time and eventually lead to stress-related problems, such as substance abuse, anxiety disorders and depression, according to research reviewed in the report.

Climate change is likewise having mental health impacts at the community level. Both acute and long-term changes have been shown to elevate hostility and interpersonal and intergroup aggression, and contribute to the loss of social identity and cohesion, said the report. Certain disadvantaged communities, such as indigenous communities, children and communities dependent on the natural environment can experience disproportionate mental health impacts.

The key to combating the potential negative psychological effects of climate change, according to the report, is building resilience. It includes a section dedicated to offering guidance to aid professionals in supporting and promoting the mental health of individuals and communities and helping them build psychological resilience. One recommendation is to guide people to support and maintain their social networks.

“Individuals’ personal capacity to withstand trauma is increased when they are connected to their networks off- and online,” said the report. “Researchers have found that higher levels of social support during and in the aftermath of a disaster are associated with lower rates of psychological distress.”

The report also emphasized that adopting environmentally friendly policies and lifestyle choices can have a positive effect on mental health. For example, choosing to bike or walk to work has been associated with decreased stress levels. If walking or biking to work is impractical or unsafe, use of public transportation has been associated with an increase in community cohesion and a reduction in symptoms of depression and stress, according to the report. Also, increased accessibility to parks and other green spaces could benefit mental health as spending more time in nature has been shown to lower stress levels and reduce stress-related illness, regardless of socioeconomic status, age or gender.

The report, which was produced in collaboration with psychologists Susan Clayton, PhD, of the College of Wooster, and Christie Manning, PhD, of Macalester College, is an update to Beyond Storms and Droughts: The Psychological Impacts of Climate Change, a report released by the American Psychological Association and ecoAmerica in 2014. A seminal work on the relationship between climate change and psychology, Beyond Storms and Droughts was cited in the U.S. Global Change Research Program’s scientific assessment, The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States. This 2017 update builds on the findings of the first report with new research, expanded emphasis on inequity, deeper guidance for individuals and communities and stories from professionals who are studying and supporting mental health in a changing climate.

Source:Science Daily

March 30, 2017
Kigali city has 34,000 households in disaster risky zones

{The City of Kigali has 34,000 households in disaster risky zones prompting authorities to carry out a study on the means of relocating such residents to areas matching with the master plan of the city.}

This was unveiled yesterday in a meeting that brought together officials from the Ministry of Infrastructure, Ministry of Local Government, Kigali City among others including security organs and private sector to discuss the government policy regarding the development of cities.

The Kigali city vice mayor for economic affairs, Parfait Busabizwa said that the management of Kigali city is concerned on improving population settlement mobilizing them to better settlements respecting the master plan of Kigali city.

He explained that they have recently made a census which found over 34,000 households in disaster risky zones.

“Some residents inhabit zones reserved for forests because the master plan was designed in 2013 after they had been settled. Others are living in risky zones where the slope surface is beyond 30 meters. You have seen it at Mont Kigali, Gatsata and in other areas reserved for forests where people have settled. It requires relocating them gradually. Our census found 34,000 houses located in disaster risky zones below 10 meters near waterways and others living in forest buffers,” said Busabizwa.

“You understand that relocating 34,000 households is not easy but we plan to ask them to relocate gradually,” he said.

The mayor of Kigali city, Nyamurinda Pascal said that people in risky zones and shanty settlements is worrying stressing the need to relocate them.

“We have to identify where to relocate residents from such 34,000 households, from risky zones,” he said.

Statistics released in February 2017 indicated that Nyarugenge district has 15,000 households in disaster risky zones.

Nyamurinda urged local leaders and top leadership of the city to collaborate in getting the master plan of Kigali city respected.

The Minister of State in charge of Socio-Economic Development in the Ministry of Local Government, Vincent Munyeshyaka said that corruption is the top cause of haphazard planning in the city and towns calling for more efforts among various stakeholders to address the matter.

March 30, 2017
Banking sector makes Rwf 60 billion in profit 2016

{The National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) has unveiled that Rwanda’s banks earned Rwf 60 billion in profit in 2016 before taxes up from Rwf 57 billion in 2015. }

The BNR Governor, John Rwangombwa revealed this yesterday during a meeting of monetary policy and financial stability committee members where he noted that Rwanda’s economy grew in 2016 amidst international crisis adding that there is hope that it will keep improving in 2017.

The financial stability committee explained that the financial sector grew by 11.5%.

BNR explained that interest from insurance companies rose from Rwf 21.9 billion in 2015 to Rwf 24.6 billion in 2016.

March 30, 2017
In Uganda and Rwanda, Gorilla trekking enters a new chapter

{You’ll come close (really close) to giant silverbacks in these volcanic jungles on the rebound.}

Any walking safari requires more than a casual acquaintance with the treadmill. But try trekking for two to four hours at 9,000 feet, up steep muddy trails and over fields of stinging nettles, stopping to take photos of cloud-ringed Mount Sabyinyo as an excuse to catch your breath. Just then, your guide machetes through a bamboo curtain to reveal what you’ve been climbing for: a 400-pound silverback napping in the shade, mothers ambling with babies on their backs, and an adolescent who daringly taps your leg as it darts by.

There are roughly 880 mountain gorillas left in the wild, nearly all of them in the protected forests of Uganda and Rwanda. But that’s a couple of hundred more than 20 years ago, after the 1994 Rwandan genocide, when more than a million Tutsi were killed over 100 days.

Today,Rwanda and Uganda have bounced a long way back, with major luxury hotel openings, a busy optimism in Rwanda’s capital of Kigali, and a new East Africa visa that allows for easy border hopping.

That said, coordinating a trip like this isn’t easy—you’ll need a guide and permits—so recruit a specialist to help. Start in Rwanda, where the terrain is easy to navigate. From the airport in Kigali, it’s a three-hour drive to Volcanoes National Park. The charmingly rustic Volcanoes Virunga Lodge, which pioneered tourism in the area with its bang-on views of Lake Burera, will be feeling the heat in June, when Wilderness Safaris opens Bisate Lodge and six modernist thatched villas nearby.

Only 80 trekking permits are given out each day, which limits the crowds. Just plan on more than one outing in the event of lousy weather or luck—though the trackers who climb up early generally do deliver. And yes, you’ll want to do the day hike to the crater lake atop Mount Bisoke and the cabins at the Karisoke Research Center, founded 50 years ago by primatologist Dian Fossey, who’s buried there.

Save at least some gorilla-trekking mojo for Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, a six-hour drive across the Ugandan border (you’ll break that up with lunch on Lake Bunyonyi). As the name suggests, hacking through Bwindi’s tangled undergrowth and thick tree canopy will give you Mowgli vibes, but you’ll have the jungle pretty much to yourselves. For more of a “ski in, ski out” approach, stay at Buhoma Lodge, a polished tree house–style compound so close to the park that gorillas use it as a backyard.

Three nights will give you ample time to check out the lakes, waterfalls, and cheeky families of golden monkeys—plus, you’ll have the evenings for a well-deserved massage and nap by the fire.

[In Uganda and Rwanda, Gorilla Trekking Enters a New Chapter->http://www.cntraveler.com/story/in-uganda-and-rwanda-gorilla-trekking-enters-a-new-chapter]

By Andrea Whittle

Source:Traveler

March 29, 2017
Call Rwanda offers discounts for updated telecommunication devices

{Call Rwanda is committed to reducing communication costs whether verbal or sending messages. It has this time round offered discounts to institutions ranging from small and big enterprises under a program dubbed ‘Digital IP Telephone Solutions’. }

{{Here below are devices receiving discounts and availed to clients in need:}}

{{-IP Phones: }} These are mobile phones seen in banks and other corporate institutions used for communication among employees and external one for free.

{{-IP PBX :}}It is a machine enabling a mobile phones to operate through LAN
{{-Call Center Dialers :}}The machine is reserved for Call Center to five people
{{-GSM Gateways : }} It is a tool in which a Simcard can be inserted enabling call at one’s office
{{-PRI Cards:}} It is a system of using cards enabling an institution to have network from telecommunication companies

Call Rwanda encourages banks, hotels, insurance companies, hospitals among other institutions using old communication systems to embrace the technology because it cuts down communication costs. Indeed using such tools enables concentration on services and following up satisfaction of services delivered to clients via phone.

For more details call 0788302371 or email: crispin@call-rwanda.com

You can also visit them at Umutako Plaza, 8th Unit at the opposite side of Kigali city headquarters to see the devices.

Call Rwanda informs that an institution buying such devices receives free SMS services to advertise its activities.

March 29, 2017
Ijambo Toastmasters Club introduces speech competitions

{For the first time, IJAMBO Toastmasters organized a speech contest between club members from Rise and Talk Toastmaster club in IPRC-Kigali, Ijwi Toastmasters from UR-Nyarugenge and the host Ijambo Toastmasters from Huye Campus an event that took place on 24th March 2017.}

The competition aimed at shaping young people to become potential leaders and excellent public speakers.

The winner UWAYO Yves Rene whose speech was entitled; “The United States of Africa” took the day with his remarkable account of how Africans should work together for the betterment of the continent.

The third best performer, KARARA Jackson whose speech focused on people’s zeal to bring a change in the world, was titled “why, why?”. In his speech he urged to never complain about what happens in one’s life but to look beyond into finding solutions.

Jean Paul Iranzi, President of Ijambo Toastmasters which orginised the speech contest advises people to join Toastmasters to master public speaking skills.

He said;”I had a poor me attitude until toastmasters motivated me through their wonderful evaluation. Public speaking is my new hobby now. ”

Ijambo Toastmasters meet every Wednesday and Saturday in KOICA offices room 224 from 8 to 10PM.

Closing the event the University of Rwanda, Professor Philip Cotton thanked the clubs for their commitment towards fostering good communications skills among university students and urged more students to join the club.

Ijambo Toastmasters club is sole Toastmasters club situated in the UR-Huye campus but is part of the global network of clubs that make Toastmasters International.

Toastmasters in Rwanda was introduced by the first lady’s Imbuto Foundation to empower young Rwandans to gain public speaking skills and building their confidence to reach their full potential.

March 29, 2017
AEGIS empowers Rwandan researchers to take lessons to the world

{AEGIS Trust is holding a two-day capacity-building workshop to support Rwandan researchers to share their knowledge and experience with the world. Themed ‘Research Methodologies, Publication, Dissemination and Uptake’, the workshop is being attended by researchers, academics, policy-makers and practitioners and is taking place at the Kigali Genocide Memorial Peace School from 28-29 March 2017. }

During the first day of the gathering, participants shared insights on methods that contribute to produce robust, reliable and informative research results. Dr James Smith, CEO of Aegis Trust, opened the workshop by emphasising how important researchers are for the work of Aegis but also other peace building stakeholders in Rwanda and around the world.

“As with cancer research, there is no ‘magic bullet’ for preventing atrocities. Aegis’ approach or theory of peace education needs testing,” Dr Smith said. “The research community is needed not only to evaluate outcomes and the impact of peace education but also to inform peace building with new approaches,” he added.

The discussion topics included an analysis of research methods in the social sciences, using theories in research, and strategies for successful fieldwork. Great Lakes Programme Coordinator at Never Again Rwanda, ReverienInterayamahanga, gave an overview of approaches to research in social sciences including qualitative and quantitative methodologies. He underlined that research purposes are instrumental in knowing whether to use qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods approaches.

Other presenters contributed by discussing research ethics and how best to engage with fieldwork in different settings. On identifying appropriate theories to be used for a given research, experienced researcher and former Director of Aegis’ Research, Policy and Higher Education programme, Dr. Phil Clark, said that the researcher has the independence to use applied or tested theory but also to build tailored theories fitting the specific community or phenomena being studied.

“Theory is not one-size-fits-all. Neither does it always come out of literature. It could involve day-to-day behaviour from people that are entirely involved in the phenomena being studied and include different variables,” Clark noted.

So far, the workshop has been a significant learning platform for participants who aspire to conduct impactful research in Rwanda. Dr Ibrahim Ndagijimana, a Rwandan researcher, commended the initiative:

“The workshop was fantastic. We gathered as researchers from different domains, and shared challenges and strategies that advance research,” Ibrahim said. “It has enriched us with information on research approaches in Rwanda,” he added.

The workshop, which is funded by the UK Government through the Department of International Development, is part of Aegis’ Research, Policy and Higher Education programme and continues today with a focus on publishing research for academic and non-academic users, research dissemination and uptake.

March 29, 2017