Jacqueline Dufitumukiza

I was born on November 29, 1985. Before the war, we lived in Ruhengeri with my family: there was me, my sister, 4 brothers and my parents. Another brother died very young, because he was sick. In 1994, both my parents died of illnesses. They had owned a shop where they sold clothes, and both had finished primary school only. All my grandparents died before I was born, so I never knew them.

I remember that my parents worked a lot because they were business people. Because they were so busy, they did not follow the work around the house very well. But during the weekend, they spent time with us and we went somewhere, usually outside of Ruhengeri. Although my parents did not have much education, they did everything they could to make sure all their children could go to school. They worked hard to make sure that education was a reality for us.

When we came home from school, we were not allowed to go out anywhere else, except with special permission. I was very young so I didn't understand why they did this. They didn't want us to associate with children who spent time in the streets, begged, etc. They made us study hard at home to prepare for school. Two of my brothers and I did very well in school, but the others did not take classes seriously and failed.

My mother died when the war began. When the war started, my father fled with all of us to the Congo to flee. My uncle came as well. When we arrived in the Congo, we were separated from my uncle and my little sister, and my older brother was also lost.

We lived in a refugee camp with my father, who worked so hard to provide us with food. He did everything he could to find some job in the forest or wherever to get us food but it was very difficult to survive. One day, my father came home at night and just fell down. He was taken to the hospital, but he never woke up. We visited him twice at the hospital, but the third time we went, we were told he had died.

When we moved to the Congo, we lost our oldest brother and we still don't know where he is. After our father died, my three other brothers and I remained in the camp, where UNICEF helped to feed us. That is how we survived. In 1995, I decided to return to Rwanda with UNICEF while my brothers stayed in the Congo. UNICEF was sending many refugees back to where they came from. I came back to live with an aunt who lived in the countryside outside Ruhengeri. My aunt had two children. I was in the 3rd year of primary school at that time, and lived with her for a year. My aunt made sure that I went to school to study.

In our Rwandan culture, it is customary for the father's side of the family to support children who are orphaned. After that one year, the family decided that I should live with my paternal relatives in Nyanga (not far from Ruhengeri). In Nyanga, I continued in primary school there until 6th year. The problem that I encountered there is that they spoke only Kinyarwanda. After a few months, all 4 of my brothers returned from the Congo.

They stayed with us for a few months in that family. After 3 months, we decided to leave and live together. We moved into a small annex that was part of the compound. After that, it was very difficult for us to live because we did not know much about how to work the fields and live in a rural area. Two of my older brothers continued in secondary school, but the other two refused to go. I still continued with my primary school

When I lived in Nyanga, I knew some people and was able to get some simple jobs. But this was difficult because I was the only one who was working. My older brothers were lazy and didn't want to do anything; I don't know why. Since their childhood, they have always been like this. Because I was working, I couldn't pass my primary school exams. I was always very late getting to school because I worked in the fields every morning to earn money to support all of us. At noon, I went home to prepare the meals for the day and afterwards, I went to school. This is why I failed. After that happened, I decided to go and stay with another aunt who lived in the center of town. I studied to retake the final year exams and this time I passed them.

Because I passed with high marks the second time, the Ministry of Education funded me to go to secondary school in Ruhengeri. After one month, I was told that FAWE [for more information about FAWE, see the "Partners" page of this website] was looking for girls who lacked the means to study. I told FAWE about my problems, and that even though I was in school, I did not have enough books and materials to succeed. FAWE accepted as a student in the FAWE secondary for girls in Kigali.

I always remember the day when I arrived in FAWE. The first problem I encountered was language. I did not know any English or French and I could not understand everyone. Many other girls at FAWE spoke English or French, or both, but I was used to Kinyarwanda only so things were very difficult at first. But I still tried to communicate with others and to learn these other languages. FAWE paid my school fees, gave me a mattress to sleep on, and everything I needed to do well in school. In my fourth year of secondary school, my youngest sister also entered FAWE. This was a nice surprise. At my O Level exams [first three years of secondary school], I studied hard and passed with good marks. FAWE continued supporting for my final three years, when I studied biology and chemistry.

My little sister has health problems, and also loses her memory quite often, probably as the result of our childhood experiences. She suffers all the time because of this problem. She eventually failed in her third year of secondary school as a result of her illness. I put all my efforts into studying and working hard because I wanted to be able to support both of us in the future.

Unfortunately, at the end of secondary school, my marks on the national university entrance exams were not high enough to win a government scholarship. This was a big shock for me. Because I did not have the money to go to university, I returned to Ruhengeri to look for work so that I could care for my sister. I found work in a photo studio. With one of my brothers, we moved to a house that had been owned by our parents. My brother and I both worked to support the family.

Even though I didn't get the scholarship from the government for university, I did not lose courage or hope. I decided to repeat the exam again. Also, during that time, FAWE told me about Orphans of Rwanda and gave me the form to apply for a scholarship. When I was accepted, I was very surprised and happy. I know that this is the chance of a lifetime for me. In our country, it is difficult to get a job without a university degree. This was my greatest motivation to stay in secondary school and go to university.

I am studying mental health at UNITEK. When I get my degree, I would like if possible to get a master's degree in mental health and to have work in the field of counseling. In university, I hope that we will be able to work with real people to get experience.

Outside of my studies, I really like to sing and I like to be with my friends and others and communicate, exchange ideas and information. I always look for something to do. I don't like to be without work or doing something useful.

The first advice I would give other orphans is that those who get the chance to go to university should work very hard because it is the foundation for improving their lives and their behaviors. This will help develop our country. It is very important for our country to put more effort into education.