Jean Baptiste Akumuntu

I am Jean Baptiste Akumuntu, son of Bernard Ngirinshuti and Pelagie Mukantagara. I was born in 1987 in the Western Province of Rwanda. We were a family of five children (two boys and three girls), and our parents took care of us as well as they could. Both were farmers, and we lived in a small house in a village called Cyete.

During the 1994 genocide, my parents, my five-year-old brother, and other family members were killed. My family's house was burned down by the Interahamwe. I was taken with my three sisters and my uncles to a refugee camp where the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) had set up tents for us. After only one week, my youngest sister was taken in by another family, who looked after her because she was only one year old and was still being breast-fed. As we were young, we couldn't take care of her properly.

After the genocide, nobody in my family was capable of looking after me and my siblings, so we stayed at the refugee camp and I started primary school. After performing well in Primary 1, I moved to Kigali to live with a paternal uncle who had just returned from the Congo where he had been living as a refugee. He decided to take me into his home because I had performed so well at school, and he helped me in spite of the many problems that he had. He lost his first wife and child during the genocide, and he suffered from trauma. He later remarried, but his second wife fell ill while she was pregnant, and she and the baby both died. Despite these problems, he continued to help me.

I completed my primary school studies in Kimihurura, Kigali. Then, after passing my Primary National Examination, I was sponsored by FARG (an organization which helps genocide survivors, especially students) through secondary school. I specialized in Biochemistry and enjoyed spending time with my friends. I finished first in all my classes throughout secondary school, except one trimester in Senior 3 when I finished second.

My two older sisters were taken by a maternal uncle to live in the former province of Butare, where he had been working as a lawyer. My sisters later moved to Kigali and I see them once in awhile. One of my biggest concerns is my youngest sister, who had been living in the former province of Cyangugu since 1994 with the family that adopted her from the refugee camp. We had been visiting her there, but we couldn't tell her the truth about our family because she was too young. She believed that the man and woman raising her were her parents and that we were family friends of theirs. Although she did well at school, she was not happy in that family. Sometimes I went two years without seeing her because I lived in Kigali. As time passed, she eventually learned the truth. She started visiting our older sisters, and last year she moved in with our sisters. I am sad that I have never had a chance to be with my sisters. I would have liked to live with them and spend more time with them. I pray that one day I will be able to live with them.

I found out about Orphans of Rwanda from my classmates at school. I was very happy and thankful when I was selected. I have always wanted to be a doctor, which is why I studied Biochemistry at secondary school. Now I hope to study medicine at the National University of Rwanda in Butare. I want to be a doctor so that I can serve my country by curing people and I also want to help my family. I am eager to go to university, because I will find many intellectual people there to guide me. I will profit from the resources there, which will help me to perform well in my studies. I will aim to be first in my class.

I'm exceedingly happy to be among ORI students because it will help me achieve my goals. I will use this chance to study hard and to confirm my place among my fellow ORI scholars.