From Dec 18th, 2010 NUR students under the Japan-Rwanda Youth Cooperation (JRYC) are attending a three week conference in Japan. The same students are members of NUR’s INDANGAMUCO culture ballet. The conference aims at further enhancing collaboration between them (NUR students) and Japanese youth from Universities like Osaka, Yokohama city, Tokyo, Nagoya city, Waseda and many others.

During their stay in Japan, the NUR students will also propagate messages of cultural exchange between them and Japanese students through several debates, cultural entertainment, publications (in books & on web sites), documentaries and through other channels of communication.

It is in this regard that on December 27th, these Rwandan students organized a cultural festival in collaboration with their Japanese counterparts and through panel discussions, they exposed the mission of their collaboration , a brief history about Rwanda and their daily activities of the INDANGAMUCO University cultural ballet. In their panel discussions, they also interacted with Prof. Hiroyuki SUZUKI, a researcher and professor of art history at Tokyo Gakugei University who is also known for his research about culture in West Africa.

According to the JRYC coordinator in Rwanda Maurice HABIMFURA their group looks forward to learning a lot from this collaboration so that they can pass on new skills to the entire Rwandan population.

Together with the Tamabi group from Tama Art University and other artists, the Rwandan group staged a fantastic cultural performance which was attended by many Japanese, the Rwandan Diaspora in Japan and Rwanda’s Ambassador to Japan H.E. Antoine Juru Munyakazi. The Ambassador stressed the fact that the pride which characterizes Rwandans is very much embedded in their culture. He also expressed his gratitude to the Japanese who attended the festival in large numbers

Emmy Nuwamanya & Maurice HABIMFURA