On the 15th annual forum of Unity Club, the leader of Mizero Care Organization, Iréné Mizero was among the ten who were awarded the Protectors of the Friendship Covenant award (Umurinzi wigihango) by Unity Club. He was recognized for his outstanding acts of humanity in helping and instilling unity among Rwandans in the aftermath of the Genocide against the Tutsi.
This event was held at the chamber of parliament and hosted by Her Excellency Mrs Jeannette Kagame, the First Lady of Rwanda and the Chairperson of Unity Club.
Your Excellency First Lady
Many Rwandans have in one way or the other been affected by the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi. Each one of us has a unique past, a past that might be traumatizing and impeding our daily lives if no help is offered. Thanks to the guidance of Unity Club, we have seen first-hand that choosing resilience is the way to healing. The way Unity club has healed so many of us Rwandans motivated us to try and do the same, that way we shall honour our promise to protect Rwandan unity and pass on the responsibility to those that will come after us.
I am a good example of this healing, both my parents were imprisoned for genocidal crimes in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. The responsibility of leading the household and the shame I felt because of my parents lead me into depression. I started to feel alive again soon after I was selected among the beneficiaries of MINALOC and started getting financial aid for my education. That’s when I realized that the Rwandan Government does not segregate, instead all of us are given equal opportunities.
While in university I was fortunate enough to give my testimony in the unity and reconciliation programs being hosted by ONAP. As I continued to attend the Ndumunyarwanda programs, I got the healing I so much needed. In 2013 we started the Mizero Care Organization to help heal the youth that was affected by the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
Unity club’s Mission to promote Rwandanness as our shared identity as Rwandans, is the light that will guide us to development on an individual level and of course as a nation. Rwandanness is the cure to the wounds Rwandans have been inflicted on by history. I thank Her Excellency The First Lady for the path they lighted for us, a path that is taking us to a brighter future, a future that we as Rwandans are proud of.
Your excellency The First lady, I cannot thank you enough for the love and support you have shown my organization. In 2017 you appreciated our efforts to help the youth in coping with mental health issues and our overall role in developing the country. In 2021 You recognized our project VUGUKIRE as a very much needed IT solution which later on helped us to become among the 30 small Business in Africa that were chosen to work in Health Tech Hub Africa at Norsken Kigali House.
In addition, today we have been given the “umurinzi w’Igihango” award as a testament to our efforts. Your Excellency The First Lady, we are eternally grateful for love and support you keep showing our organization, as such we promise to always honour this award.
Your Excellency The First Lady. On behalf of all the 10 recipients of the Protectors of the Friendship Covenant award today, we promise to love our country Rwanda and its citizens. We promise to carry on the legacy of Unity and resilience and spread it across the entire nation. We shall help heal the wounds Rwandans carry, fight against any ideology that aim to destabilize Rwandan unity, we shall work together to promote the development of the nation and we shall live and abide by the calling of “NDUMUNYARWANDA”. “
