Irene Ingabire

Irené was born on January 6th, 1979 in Mugagwe. Agriculture was the primary economic activity there. His parents were Dr. François Seromba, a pediatrician, and Mrs. Immaculée Uwizeye. As an illegitimate child, Irené grew up mostly at his grandmother's house among his maternal uncles, and was considered a bit of a burden on his extended family.

After completing primary school he left home, even though he was very young, to try to make a living. He worked as a cook and a servant. Irené lost most of his extended family during the genocide and the massacres between 1990 and 1994. He has one surviving aunt and a grandmother, who is 87 years old.

"I did not spend a lot of time with my family because I left to make a living. During the war I participated as a child soldier against the genocidal government. I was in combat, but soldiers helped me flee the danger. After the war I was forced out of the army because UNICEF and other NGOs made the Rwandan government discharge its child soldiers. I had nowhere to go, so I went to the Gisimba Center to tell them my problems and ask for help. The directors decided to help me. I lived there from 1995 until 2001, and I still spend a lot of time there.

Since I left the orphanage I have been a bit nomadic, trying to see to my basic needs. I prefer to study rather than worry about those things. When I have free time I listen to music because that helps me to think positively and think about my future projects. I have two half sisters and my little brother, as well as my aunt and my grandmother. My aunt works as a cleaner at an NGO and my grandmother does not work: she lives in the country.

I am now a law student at the Free University of Kigali. I like law and I think that one day I will be able to use it to help orphans and children born illegitimately, because they are often victims of violence and injustice. I feel it is my duty to combat injustice. I have some difficulty in my French and Philosophy classes, but I am doing well in Introduction to Law, Civil Law and Criminal Law. I am sure that hard work will allow me to succeed in the subjects I find challenging."