Under the banner “Together, Connected, Stronger,” families from across North and South Carolina gathered in Charlotte to share a meal, celebrate Rwandan culture and take a milestone step toward the community’s shared future.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Members and friends of the Rwandan Community of the Carolinas (RCC) gathered at Freedom Park on Saturday, October 31, for the organization’s inaugural Fall Gathering. The afternoon brought together a shared meal, a debut performance by a Raleigh-based cultural troupe and an important piece of community business: the adoption of RCC’s first bylaws, a significant step toward the organization becoming a registered nonprofit.
More than 100 people attended, from elders to young children. Some families traveled to Charlotte from Raleigh, Greensboro and the wider Triad, and Columbia, South Carolina, to take part.
A message about building community
RCC President Godfrey Biravanga opened the program by welcoming guests and introducing the executive committee elected this summer. He thanked the planning committee and the volunteers whose work made the day possible, along with the families who cooked and brought dishes to share. He gave special thanks to those who traveled from afar, citing the proverb Ifuni ibagara ubucuti ni akarenge, literally “the hoe that weeds a friendship is the foot,” meaning that friendship is maintained through regular visits, communication and small acts of consideration. “You showed up,” he told them, “and that is how community is kept alive.”
Biravanga spoke about the importance of cultural identity for families raising children between two cultures. “Our elders hold our memory. Our young people hold our future. Parents hold the bridge in between,” he said, describing parents as the bridge that carries Rwandan language, values and heritage to the next generation.
More broadly, his message centered on building community “from many directions at once”: across generations, across the two Carolinas, across the skills members bring, and across the ocean to Rwanda. While encouraging members to dream big about what the community can accomplish together, he urged them to start with the community’s needs closer at hand, citing the proverb Ijya kurisha ihera ku rugo, literally “the one that goes out to graze starts from home,” meaning that everything begins at home.
“A committee can organize, but only members can build,” Biravanga said. “Structure is not the opposite of community. It is what allows the warmth you feel in this shelter today to reach the next family, and the next generation.”
