The “Forum pour la Mémoire Vigilante, FMV”, organized a conference on the work of the organization, self-evaluation in addition to exchanging New Year’s greetings in Kigali, Rwanda, Saturday February 10, 2024.
“The meeting to exchange views on the work of our organization is an opportunity for us to work collectively on the evaluation of all activities and projects carried out in all departments of the organization, so as to move forward more quickly and efficiently”, said Mr. Révérien Gahimbare, Executive Director of FMV.
Eight members of the organizing committee took part in the session.
After the prayer led by one of the participants and the opening remarks by the Legal Representative and Chairman of the Executive Committee, all participants immersed themselves in the leadership training led by Mr. Godefroid Sindayigaya, Head of the Education and Leadership Department.
As activist in Transformational Leadership, Godefroid Sindayigaya focused his training on leadership and teamwork principles.
Godefroid takes a reference as a model for team management, John Wooden, the American basketball coach and player.
“John Wooden was a coach of the basketball team, in addition to his teaching on the court, he taught his team principles and values with a philosophy of life, which he describes in his pyramid of success. He was a great man”, he says.
John Wooden, he adds, gives five cornerstones of success. Almost all leaders share four characteristics. “They get people on board, they believe in themselves, they seek out opposing ideas and they visualize success.”
The speaker also dwelt on twelve leadership lessons John Wooden developed for success or achievement including the right values, love and emotional control.
“It takes ten hands to make (shake) a basket, little things make big things, make each day your masterpiece, the carrot is more powerful than the stick, make greatness accessible to all, seek meaningful change, don’t look at the scoreboard and adversity is your trump card,” Mr. Godefroid Sindayigaya emphasized. Success also depends on a good leader and the right choice of collaborators or team.
“The team needs a good leader to be successful, and a good leader has a positive influence on the whole team. A leader who loves his team stimulates a good change in mentalities, and a good leader knows how to surround himself and choose good collaborators” insisted Mr. Godefroid Sindayigaya.
He advised all his colleagues to always put their common interests first, to work in synergy with all their strengths to achieve good results, to remain open to constructive advice and criticism, not to make hasty decisions, and to respect everyone. He informed his colleagues of the Bible verse on which John Wooden’s leadership was based.
“If today you do service to this people, yield to them, and answer them with kind words, they will be your servants forever,” foundation taken from the Holy Bible, ( 1 Kings, 12:7).
“No one can succeed alone in a collective or relational context. Nothing is more important than collaboration within a team, and it’s thanks to the whole team that the most ambitious objectives are within reach”, acknowledged the participants in turn after the training session.
Self-evaluation…
After the training, the heads of the various departments carried out a self-assessment of the projects in progress.
The Executive Director, Reverien Gahimbare, presented the general situation of FMV, plus the working strategy employed over the past six years.
Education Project Manager Vincent Nzisabira presented the results achieved and difficulties encountered in the 5-year project to support the education of refugee children. Some thirty pupils and schoolchildren are supported by FMV partners. Mr. Nzisabira, who is closely monitoring the project, added that some twenty pupils and students have received a one-off offer of school fees and home tutoring during the Covid-19 period.
The General Secretary, Jean de Dieu Niyongabo, in turn presented the current status of the pig breeding project, carried out with the financial support of Spirit In Action, SIA.
The “Truth Telling, Community Dialogue and Human right Educational programs” project manager, Godefroid Sindayigaya, gave a brief overview of the current status of the project, carried out with the financial support of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience-ICSC.
Participants then followed a presentation of the achievements and difficulties encountered in the fields of health, protection, languages and cultures, as well as environment & energy.
Madame Jeanine Niyoyankunze, Head of the Languages and Culture Department, asked her colleagues to support the Languages and Culture team in their search for partners interested in providing films and theatrical productions for her team and the organization.
For her part, Mrs. Alice Kanyambo, head of the Protection Department, emphasized that her section touches on all FMV’s areas of intervention because, she insisted, it aims to ensure that the needs of all beneficiaries and members of the organization are taken into account, to support their physical, emotional, intellectual and social development, and to preserve their education, health, culture, safety and morality.
To conclude, the legal representative of the “Forum pour la Mémoire Vigilante”, Mr Ferdinand Ndayiragije, is delighted with the progress of all the projects.
“We are in any case satisfied with the progress of all the projects; they are well done and being followed up. I’m also delighted with the team, which is giving its all without pay or bonuses. It’s a job worthy of a humanitarian. The success of the beneficiaries of these projects is our satisfaction. And then we are members of the community that benefits from our projects’ activities, so they are our children, our brothers and sisters…”, he declared before thanking the entire FMV organization team.
Some photos
