Last month David Dagan wrote an article entitled “The cleanest place in Africa” which was published in the Foreign Policy Magazine.
In the article he highlighted some of remarkable achievements of Rwanda and Kigali in particular.
However, he missed a point on Iwawa Rehabilitation and Vocational Development Centre where he referred to it as a ‘confinement centre on a remote island in Lake Kivu.
He based his point on a story New York Times published last year which missed the realities on the ground and was based on falsehoods.
This story was even refuted by those in Iwawa’s Rehabilitation and Vocational Development Centre.
Iwawa is not a detention centre, on the contrary it is a vocational training centre and it has not only taught the youth life changing skills but also helped them get off drugs.
In May 2011 Iwawa’s Rehabilitation and Vocational Development Centre held its first graduation ceremony.
About 752 graduates celebrated in a ceremony- singing, dancing, chanting and showing off their new hard-earned skills.
The young men went through a rehabilitation and training process and are now clean, sober and ready to work in commercial farming, bee-keeping, tailoring, carpentry and construction.
Iwawa, which was established by the Rwandan government in February 2010, is organized into five different learning sections, as well as having several dormitories and a health clinic.
There are the fields where young men learn to be commercial farmers. Passing by, students waved and smiled as they worked, cultivating food like eggplants and mushrooms.
The Rehabilitation and Vocational Development Centre has given a new lease for life for street children to get off the streets.
Now the first graduates have started their business and are active members of youth cooperatives in Kigali.
Therefore, it is improper for one to call Iwawa’s Rehabilitation and Vocational Development Centre a confinement centre while it is rehabilitating the Rwandan youth and also helping them become productive members of society.
Bruno Rangira is the Director of Communication
Kigali City
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