{"id":4833,"date":"2021-11-19T07:56:33","date_gmt":"2021-11-19T07:56:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/why-are-we-not-there-yet-the-case-of-yankee-battalion"},"modified":"2021-11-19T09:33:59","modified_gmt":"2021-11-19T09:33:59","slug":"why-are-we-not-there-yet-the-case-of-yankee-battalion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/why-are-we-not-there-yet-the-case-of-yankee-battalion","title":{"rendered":"Why are we not there yet? The case of Yankee Battalion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>SO I FINALLY did the liberation trail and to be honest, I almost cried my eyes out. But you know Rwf100k is not little money, so I had to consume my services, please.<\/p>\n

The first hill we climbed was Nyabwishongwezi where Late Fred Gisa Rwigyema was shot. It felt like climbing a wall, literally. If I had slipped, I would have rolled like a tennis ball down to the valley.<\/p>\n

Every time I thought \u201cthis is it, I\u2019m only human,\u201d I lost sight of my team and I had to run. As I was panting my lungs out and sweating every liquid that I had in me, I couldn\u2019t stop myself from thinking that some people climbed the hill with machine guns, heavy bags, probably hungry and afraid for their lives. And of course, their legs tired and shaking, because unlike myself, the bus did not drop them just where the hill begun.<\/p>\n

They also were under the pressure to make it. Not for themselves alone, but also for every man, woman and child whom they had left behind. Since they had taken this life threatening risk and left their parents, partners and children crying, at least this had to be worth it; bring all of them home. Sadly, they had to fight for their lives to see the sun the next day and never got to make it, except for a few of them.<\/p>\n

Apparently, despite that the first RPA Inkotanyi leader was shot at the peak of a hill, Rwanda\u2019s mountainous nature worked in their favor for the battles that followed. One of the key positions was another hill called Shonga located in Nyagatare District. This one you climb hanging on to your dear life. You don\u2019t get to think or speak because its wasting your glucose. I had to crawl up sometimes and it didn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n

The peak has a breathtaking view except for people scared of heights. This was the first strategic position for RPA, and it\u2019s where they captured Kabuga, the first strong enemy position to be defeated. When the tour guide was explaining how difficult this was for them, he mentioned battalions that were cutting supply for Kabuga as they had surrounded it. \u201cYankee, which was female dominated and led\u2026\u201d I said \u201cpause!\u201d No one had told me this story and I had never read it anywhere before. To be honest, this was my key takeaway.<\/p>\n

I knew RPA had women officers, but I didn\u2019t know they were at the level of having their own battalion and leading it. Not that I ever question women\u2019s capabilities, but even now, three decades later, women in armed forces remain very few compared to their male counterparts. Besides, these were part of a rebel movement, not flying choppers or patrolling but dodging bullets and firing others.<\/p>\n

One may think RPA\/F\u2019s successful move to achieving gender parity and equality in key leadership positions and elsewhere is a new thing. But considering stories of women who left toddlers, families and everything people still consider a hindrance for women, to fight for this country\u2019s liberation is a lesson that gender equality has and will always be at the heart of RPF. Because of them, women\u2019s rights are human rights.<\/p>\n

Years later, when RPF assumed power, one of the main challenges was that women had almost no rights. They couldn\u2019t own land, open bank accounts or even go to work if their husbands didn\u2019t want them to. Only two decades later, this country is exemplary in not only having women\u2019s rights in place- although basic, but also in policies aimed at bridging the gap through affirmative action.<\/p>\n

Although we have a long way to go in giving justice to women victims of sexual and gender based violence, implementing policies that protect women from sexual harassment and changing the society\u2019s mindset towards all that, at least we have seen that inclusion has worked for us, since the beginning.<\/p>\n

Of course misogynists will always be there (shame on them), but we should never forget that even women died fighting for this beautiful, peaceful country that we call home. This alone should send a message that even in life threatening movements where death is almost certain, women will be willing to go get the job done, and RPA\/F understood this very well.<\/p>\n

Having a history like this, I wonder why we are not there yet. If refugee women could dream as big as to liberate a country even if it required to die for it, what went wrong? Why are women still not making it when our death in daring is not even certain? What if we told ourselves every day that young women in their late teens and early twenties gave up their lives for what we have today and that we can only honor them by maintaining and making the best of our rights and opportunities? Women, let\u2019s build this country, shall we? And not only joining the military but in all career aspects.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. SO I FINALLY did the liberation trail and to be honest, I almost cried my eyes out. But you know Rwf100k is not little money, so I had to consume my services, please. The first hill we climbed was Nyabwishongwezi where Late Fred Gisa Rwigyema was shot. It felt like climbing a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":4832,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,761,28],"tags":[760,763,2869,758,2868],"class_list":["post-4833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","category-homepage-english","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-rwanda","tag-case","tag-rwanda","tag-yankee-battalion"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy are we not there yet? 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