Emmy Turikumwe

In Emmy’s words…

“I am the second oldest child in my family.  I am now 22 years old, but I still have not finished high school.  I live in Rugerero, Gisenyi in Rwanda.

Boarding school would help me study much better because I wouldn’t have to worry about all the other problems of my family.  When I grow up, I will support my family.  Thank you so much.”

The Story of Emmy…

Emmy is a student from RDDC’s program in Rugerero, Gisenyi, which is in the northern province of Rwanda.  He lives in a poor family which works the fields daily in order to find a means to survive.  Although the annual Rugerero program has over 120 participating children, Emmy stood out as a leader.  Rebecca Davis describes him in this way:

“I have taught hundreds of children around the world, but rarely can I remember noticing a young male who is a silent leader.  I use the word silent because he rarely speaks – either with his peers, the younger students or even the teaching team – but his actions command the respect of the entire group.  The children naturally see Emmy as a role model, father and leader.  As a teacher, I see him as my peer.”

In 2012, Emmy’s family no longer had enough money to pay for the minimal school fees that are required in public secondary school in Rwanda – approximately $50 USD per year.  Emmy approached RDDC and asked if there was any way we could find a sponsor for him to continue to go to school.  RDDC underwrote his fees of $50 in 2012.

In 2013, Emmy’s situation worsened: he could only continue his education if he attended a boarding school in Rugerero – meaning paying fees of $450 per year.  Emmy has only three years left to complete his high school education, but the only schooling option available to him is a boarding school at this higher cost.  RDDC is hoping to find a group of people who would be willing to share their passion for education and love of life in order to give Emmy the chance to go to school for three more years and earn a high school diploma.  He would be the first person in his family to ever do so.

Manishimwe

I was born in the Musanze district of the Northern Province in Rwanda. I am 14 years old and I went onto the streets when I was 10 years old. I have never seen or known my father. My mother was chased out by her family when she had me as a child because my father was not present. Her family thought the boy was a bastard. My mother tried to go to the family of my father, but they also chased her away. Nonetheless, I was left there with my father’s family.
Some years ago, my mother got married to another man. During the same time, I lived with my daddy’s family. They treated me so badly; they didn’t feed me like a regular child. That is why I decided to go to the streets. On the street, I used to take drugs, but now I stopped thanks to FidesCo.

I dream about science every day. I hope that I will become a scientist and discover a sophisticated laptop that can be able to predict the future. I was so interested in what Rebecca and Eugene taught us about satellites, planets, galaxies, the sun and the stars. I wish I could get a chance to keep learning about that stuff. I can’t spend a moment without designing or drawing stars on the ground or on pieces of paper trying to think what Rebecca told us. I still have so many more questions about the Universe and the Solar System. How will I find the answers to these questions if I am living on the street?”

Bilar Bigiramana

My name is Bigirimana Bilar and I am 11 years old. My father lives in Burundi. Before I came to Rwanda, I was a street kid in Burundi. In Burundi, two things happened to me that I’ve always worried about since that time. First, I was captured on the street along with some killers by policemen. They took me to prison, and had to share the same cell with them. I didn’t sleep the whole time I was in that prison. Second, one day, Doctors Without Borders came and told me I had to be circumcised because I had developed a disease.

When I came to Rwanda, I thought my life would be better. I came here with my mother, but we struggled to find food and she died after a few months. She abandoned me in the middle of nowhere. Since then, I can only count on myself to survive.

On the street, I learned many strategies to survive: I pretended to be a blind beggar to get money; other times, I stole. The first time I was on the street, I didn’t realize that street life was hard and dangerous, especially for little kids like me. Yet, all those who passed by, liked me and gave me a lot of money. Sometimes I earned 40,000 Rwandan francs (about $65 USD) every day because I was one of the little kids living on that street. With the money, I bought a telephone, then a bicycle, but the big street kids stole it.

FIDESCO found me on the street and brought me here. I started dancing in the RDDC program at FIDESCO, but after a few days, I escaped FIDESCO’s centre and I went back to living on the street. But then, I finally realized how dangerous street life can be: people beat me and the big street kids tried to kill me many times.

I missed dancing when I was back on the street. One day, I was in a bus wondering how I could get another chance to learn how to dance. Just by coincidence, I saw Innocent (one of RDDC’s dance teachers at FIDESCO) in the same bus with me. He asked me if I still want to dance. I said, “Yes!” Innocent gave me money to buy a bus ticket to go to FIDESCO and take dance class the next Wednesday. When I came to the dance class, all the FIDESCO kids were absent because there was a special trip that day. RDDC’s Country Director, Eugene, took me to FIDESCO and asked if I could stay at the centre. They accepted me back.

I want to study and work hard because I had a dream when I was sleeping on the street that one day I should become the president of Burundi, my beloved country. I like dance because I hope that dance can drive me so far in the future. I miss school, and every time I think of school, I am worried that I have lost my chance to go to school forever.

Jean Paul Mugisha

Nickname: “The Question Asker”
Age: 10 years old
Time spent at FidesCo: Approximately 1 year

Jean Paul Mugisha is the oldest of three siblings. He lived with his parents, but his father severely beat his mother and one day he beat her so much that he was taken to prison.

“I didn’t like being home when my father was beating my mom, so I used to stay on the street and then go home late at night. I didn’t go to school.”

The police picked up Mugisha from the street one day and took him to the transit center. From there, FidesCo came and transferred him to the temporary shelter and re-integration center.

Over time, Mugisha became one of the top students in both the RDDC dance program and the IT program at FidesCo. He is quiet, focused and has proven to have an excellent memory.

“I want to go back to school and study,” says Mugisha. “I want to fight against drugs in my country and become a role model for the younger generations,” which is quite a remarkable goal for this little 10 year old!

Read more about Jean Paul Mugisha on RDDC blog: Two Naturally Talented Boys: Mugisha Jean Paul & Zidane Ndatimana

Valens Kubwimana

I’m 13 years old, and I live at FIDESCO.

I have my mom, but my dad past away. He died of aids in 2011. I have two sisters and one brother. I’m the youngest. My older sister got married and she lives with my second sister. I never wanted to stay at my sister’s place because I was burdening her husband and I cannot stay at my mom’s because she’s really sick too.

I used to stay on the street, and I used to steal things for a living.  That’s where I got caught by the police, and I was taken to a place where they keep kids who have nowhere to stay.  That’s where FIDESCO came to take me. Now I want to be good a person.  I want to go back to school if I get a chance because I know that all I want to be starts when I go back to school.  My dream – I want to be a doctor.

Innocent Mugenga

I’m 13 years old and I live at FIDESCO. I come from the street.

I was encouraged by fellow kids to come to Kigali.  During that time, I got caught by security guards, and my two friends and me were taken to a place where kids who have nowhere to stay are put.

I have my mom.  My dad lives in another country. I have only one arm. I lost my left arm in an accident.

But I love to dance, though there some moves which I cannot do perfectly because of my lost arm.  I really believe I can dance. And I want to go back to school and study so that I can help myself in the future.  I need to help my mom too, and I hope one day I will be a director of an institute which helps kids.

Eliphase Irasubiza

I’m 12 years old, and I live at FIDESCO.

I have my two parents. My dad is a local house builder, and my mom sells fruit on the street. I have one brother and two sisters.  My elder brother and one sister go to school.

I was so stubborn at school that I used to fight all the time. One time, I fought with my friend and beat him, and he started bleeding, so I ran away to the street because I thought they would follow me, and at home they were fed up with me. I lived on the street for some time and I got caught by the police. I was taken to the place where they keep children who don’t have somewhere to stay and that’s where FIDESCO found me.

My dream is to be a professional dancer, and I wish to continue with the RDDC program because it is helping me a lot in making me a better dancer.

Jean Cloud Hakizimana

I’m 14 years old, and I live at FIDESCO.

I was 12 years old when I moved to the street. I was encouraged by my fellow peers.  We used to steal things from people, but whenever I could go back home they would beat me.  I then decided to go and live on the street and I could only steal. I used to break people’s cars and steal things in there.  All this life I lived on the street. I got caught and I was taken to a place where they keep kids who have nowhere to stay and that’s where FIDESCO found me.

I really want to change and be a good person – no matter what the situation is – and be able to go to school if I get the chance. I want to be able to work and be rich so that I can help kids who have no place to stay and who cannot afford their school fees.

Moses Safuri

I was born in 1993 in Uganda.  My parents were Rwandan, but all my family died in the genocide and I became an orphan.

I had no one to help me, so I started to live on the streets.  I lived there for five years and slept under a bridge at night.  I found food in the trash dumps.  I also caught some disease and I’ve had it for most of my life, but I don’t know what it is called or how to heal it.  My friends all had the same lifestyle.

Then, I came to FIDESCO.  The staff here helped me find a way to go to school, but everything else I have to do on my own.  But, I am grateful to FIDESCO for helping me to attend school.  I have lived at FIDESCO for nine years now; I came here when I was 11 years old.

I want to be a good man – to have the abilities of a great man.  I want to become a doctor or a lawyer and fight corruption.  People don’t know what is right, like freedom and education.  I wish for Rwanda to become a place of good people where we have the power to help everyone who wants to improve their life.

Emmanuel Musonera

I am 14 years old.  The biggest problem I have in my life now is finding a way to go back to school.

I don’t have money to pay my school fees and I want to find someone who could help support my family.  If I had the chance, I would buy a dance outfit and would continue to study dance as long as possible.