Garfield/Palouse students meet official from Rwanda

Forty-four students from Garfield-Palouse High School Friday met with Dr. Theogene Rudasingwa, the former Secretary General of the Rwandese Patriotic Front and former Chief of Staff to the President of Rwanda, and the former Ambassador to the United States for the Republic of Rwanda. The students are members of Dennis Griner’s U.S. History and Current World Issues classes.

Dr. Bill Smith, director of the University of Idaho’s Martin School of International Studies, arranged the meeting while Dr. Rudasingwa was on the UI campus as part of the Borah Symposium.

The students discussed with Dr. Rudasingwa the implications of the Ruwandan genocide on current world issues and the underlying factors that have contributed to such actions around the world.

In response to their question of what students could do to become part of the solution to these issues, Dr. Rudasingwa told them to gain knowledge in order to gain understanding of the issues. They should get connected to a network of individuals of like concern, join an organization or start a local club. By focusing their energy they could be part of a larger movement, he said.

The students were also challenged to gain a “world vision” of issues that face all people.

As citizens of a global power, they have been given opportunities and material wealth that set them apart from most of the world citizens, especially the third world nations of Africa.

To illustrate his point, Dr.

Rudasingwa related how as a young boy he learned English in a refugee camp in Uganda while sitting in the shade of a tree and being taught by a teenager who only had a stick in which to write out the lessons in the dirt. He added his own children, now residing in the U.S., have the same mind set to overcome as other American teenagers.

They take what they have in this country for granted.

Dr. Rudasingwa ended the discussion by challenging the students to “cultivate” their life around seven basic concepts:

—Cultivate an open mind as if you were a child.

—Be open to new ideas and look at old issues from new perspectives.

—Cultivate a farmer’s patience. As a farmer works the entire year to reap a crop, students must be patient to achieve their goals.

—Cultivate a mind set of a teacher and acquire knowledge and the ability to teach what you know to others.

—Cultivate the mind set of a businessman. Sell your ideas and your passions to others.

—Cultivate the mind set of a monk. In a world of noise and busyness, nurture the mindset of listening. Force yourself to listen to the concerns of others. Individuals and nations should do more listening to the needs of others rather than imposing their views upon them.

—Cultivate the mind set of a prince. Think about how privileged you are as American youth and then practice a life of giving to those who are in need. Finally, cultivate the mindset of a disciplined soldier. Your life will reflect your degree of discipline and how diligently you work to apply it.