Honoline Niygena

The best memory of my childhood is that I was very much loved by my father. He died when I was still young, but I remember some of the things he used to tell me: to respect people and be nice to everyone. His teachings are part of who I am today.

Besides my mother and father, I had an older sister (22), and two brothers (18 & 12). My mother and father went to university and were both lawyers. In 1991, my father was exposed to some kind of poison. He got sick and died within a week.

The genocide happened when I was in the second year of primary school. On the night the genocide began, I was visiting a family friend who had just had a baby. When the President's plane was shot down, her husband, who was out of the country, called to tell us that we were in danger and advised us to hide. In the compound where we were staying, some people had built a cave to hide in, so we went there to join them. We hid but the Interhamwe arrived soon after, slamming doors and yelling. Luckily, the baby was silent, and we were safe for the night. The next morning, my mother panicked and sent my sister to find me. However, my sister came across many roadblocks and turned back for fear of being killed. My mother later told me later that she had been forced to leave in God's hands whether she would ever see me again.

That day, my family friend and I decided to escape, but we didn't know where we were going. We knew we would be abused or even beaten if we encountered any roadblocks. However, at one roadblock, a soldier told the militia to let us go. At night, we would hide in plantations. We felt as if we were starving. We looked for water and food, but never knew if we would find either. I don't know how we survived. At times we would see Interhamwe trucks taking people off to kill them. Yet sometimes we found other trucks and would ride them with hopes of crossing the border. We just kept going. I don't know how we got to Congo, but after three weeks, we finally did.

We found many refugees on the Congolese border. There, we stayed in a big church and found an organization that provided food and mattresses for sleeping. One day, while walking through the refugee camp, I found my sister and discovered that my mom was there too. My mom was so happy to see me that she cried. She was a very religious lady and kept thanking God. After that day, we all stayed together in one tent.

In March 1995, we returned to Kigali. Our transition was a difficult one. When we returned to our house, we found strangers occupying it. My mom had to go through many difficulties to get our house back. We were forced to live with my aunt during that time. Life was very hard. People were still not working. My mom struggled to find us food. We finally got our house back and my mother started to work again.

In June 1995, a man from Music for Life came to my house from Uganda. He knew my mother, and asked her if she wanted Music for Life to take me into their program. The man assured my mom I would be safe and would have the chance to travel the world. She agreed, and I went on tour soon afterwards. I was gone for two years and came back in 1998. One week after I returned, my mother died, and I learned that she had lung cancer. From then on, I stayed with a family that had been close to mine. My brothers stayed with my aunt, and my older sister was married and lived with her husband.

Soon, the mother of my new family died. Her children tried to take care of us, but we were six children and the new head of household was very young. It was difficult for us to sustain ourselves. I knew that I might fail my school exams because of my living situation, so I went to the director of the Gisimba Orphanage, Papa Damas. He said "You belong to us, you can stay here."

My sister completed secondary school, got married, had a child, and now works with a pharmaceutical distribution company. She is going to night school. My 18 year-old brother refused to study and ran away. We have not seen him and do not know where he is. My youngest brother is in first year of secondary school.

My favorite subject in secondary school was biology. We had good teachers who were volunteers from the UK or USA and who taught us in a very practical way. We got to dissect animals, rats and snakes. I dreamt of becoming a doctor, and was very interested in my subjects. School was not very hard for me, and I passed my subjects easily. When I thought about the future, I hoped to attend university and someday even get a Master's degree. I know that getting a university degree is very important to employers. You have so much more opportunity if you achieve those degrees.

Since starting university, I have taken responsibility for myself and my future. After university, I want to start my own business, so that I don't have rely on others for a job, and so I can provide employment to other people. I don't know what that business will be, but I want to find a way of offering others some of the advantages that have been given to me.

In 10 or 20 years, Rwanda will far more developed than it is today. There has been progress in education, but our schools are still not up to the standards of other East African countries. The government is trying to get teachers from around the world to come to teach technology and other innovative subjects. It is also good that the Ministry of Education is so strict with national exams, because this encourages children to study hard. We know that if we don't study hard, we will not pass the national exam or cannot even hope to qualify for a scholarship.

In healthcare, Rwanda is also making progress, especially with HIV/AIDS. Now we have antiretroviral drugs which are helping people to survive. Lucikly, unlike many of my friends, I have never had to use the healthcare system.

Without foreign aid, I don't think Rwanda could have recovered as quickly as it has. These organizations have been doing a great job since the genocide to help orphans and the needy. I am so grateful in my heart because ORI came along at a time when I had just lost the chance to get university funding from another organization. I felt hopeless. With ORI's help, I have revived. Now I know that there are people who think about me and are willing to support me through university. At times, I sit with other ORI students and we just feel like crying because we are so overjoyed to have a chance in life. I would like to thank the people who support ORI and wish them blessings. I cannot give much back, but I pray that God's blessings will overflow for them.