A stadium once filled with those fearing for their lives in the Rwandan genocide, now symbolises a place of hope for 13-year-old Virginie Uwijuru.
Eighteen years ago, Tutsis sought refuge in the Amahoro stadium, protected by the United Nations. Now, at the same stadium, there is no Hutu. There is no Tutsi. Citizens – irrespective of their tribes or historical differences – are coming together to run in the Kigali International Peace Marathon.
Thirteen-year-old Virginie walks into Rwanda’s national stadium having never competed in a race this big. It brings together 5,000 runners from East Africa. She is one of 46 registered children from WV Rwanda running a five kilometre youth course.
“This is a way to train children to be peace-makers. It’s also a way of motivating children to work harder since those who were chosen had good behaviour and performance in school,” says George Gitau, national director – WV Rwanda.
Virginie lines up at the starting line with other children ages 11 to 15. And then she starts moving.
At two kilometres, all are doing well. Virginie next struggles to catch up with kids a few metres ahead at three kilometres. She’s still in the front group and leads as the only runner from a rural area.
Now she has left hundreds of children at kilometre four, running along with a group of older boys. “This is amazing! The girl in a World Vision t-shirt is promising to be number one among the girls,” reports Amazing Grace Radio. At this point, no one knows Virginie’s name.
Her photo appears on a large screen, the crowd cheers and Virginie rounds the last corner closing in on the finish.
The crowd’s cheers and staff running beside her help her run faster. Five boys cross the finish line first. Virginie: the girl who has never been in Kigali and the girl who has never ran in a professional race is the first girl to cross the finish line!
“I did not know how long was five kilometres. I started at a high speed. Later, I realised we were getting far from the stadium and I felt discouraged. Other children a few metres ahead of me encouraged me to move on,” she explains.
Virginie receives awards from officials and WV Rwanda prizes. “I will give the money to my mother as soon as I get home. She will be happy and proud of me.”
[Martin Tindiwensi, – WV Rwanda]
