Patience Shema

My life in Rwanda is very bad and hard. I have don’t have the abilities or opportunities of other children because I do not have a family that pays for basic materials, and sometimes I do not eat.

I was born in Kigali, Rwanda and I am 17 years old. I was born on August 22, 1994. I was born into a family with two children: myself and one other brother. My parents got divorced, and I took my brother to a village because I didn’t have money to support him. They told me that I could not stay there because it is too hard for them to help us.

I live with my aunt now. I don’t know where my mother and father are. I think I saw my parents last when I was a baby, but I do not remember. Some people say that my mother is alive and others say that she is dead. I tried to search for them, but I could not find them.  My aunt is a drunk, and I think she is a prostitute.  She tells me that I steal her money.  She said that I should leave her house and live somewhere else. She fears that I can hurt the men that come in the house. Some days, I stay with my aunt and other days I stay with my friends. I feel that I am a good child but my aunt thinks that I am not. Anything that I do for her, she does not appreciate.

Now, I am in the third grade of high school, Senior Three, and I am trying to finish school this year but I can’t pay the last term. I am working very hard this holiday to save money and pay. I want to take the National Examination, but I cannot pay the application fee. My aunt said she does not have the money to pay for school fees. She said that I have to go and get a job to get the money. Then, when I save enough money to pay the school fees, I will go.

I like to study but to study is very hard because we don’t have the necessary materials.  At school, we are two children to one mattress. In fact, it is not my mattress; this person just lets me sleep on his mattress with him because he knows I need help.

Another orphan, my friend, told me about FIDESCO and the new dance program here. I came to dance and be with the other boys and girls. I can relax and forget about some of my problems here and know that there is hope for us. I really like coming to the dance program.

In the future, I want to become a businessman that can help his country. I want to become a man that helps his family and does not disturb his children.