“When I graduate, I want to go into social work. I want to help the poor, the orphans, and the uneducated.”

—Nida Gisele Iraguha, Hospitality Management, Class of 2015

My name is Gisele Iraguha, but everyone calls me Nida. I am the youngest of five sisters. I am very proud to be the last born because I had all my older sisters to care for me when I lost both my parents during the genocide in 1994. They are all considered as my parents. I love them so much.

We grew up in an orphanage since I was four years old. When I was 13, I was adopted by a lovely family that I will never forget. I lived in that family for six years until I finished high school. The mother of that family, Frida Umuhoza, is a woman I admire very much. She helped me a lot by encouraging me and always telling me, “Nida my daughter, even if you have lost your parents you should not lose hope because I believe your tomorrow will be better than your past. Don’t lose hope, you never know what tomorrow may bring.”

Once I graduated high school, I had to leave her house and become independent. I found a good job at a Kigali restaurant called Mr. Chips. There, I met a few Akilah students who were doing her internship, and I was surprised to see how these girls were so confident, respectful, and very professional. They looked after their customers and were punctual and humble. I was already enrolled in a university, but once they finished their internship I had to follow them up to their school until I got the application forms. I applied to Akilah and was admitted!

I don’t think I could fulfill my dreams, or discover and follow my passions, without the empowerment I received from Akilah.

Akilah is the greatest opportunity that I’ve had up to this point. I don’t think I could fulfill my dreams, or discover and follow my passions, without the empowerment I received from Akilah. The knowledge and skills I gained here have shaped my personality and made it possible to see myself as a future leader.

Akilah had taught me a lot in life, but the most important thing I learned is to be a person of character. It means living up to six traits — trustworthiness, responsibility, respect, fairness, caring, and citizenship — with emotional intelligence as the greatest ticket to success.

Sometimes the things we learn here at Akilah are so unconventional that they really get us to think differently about the world around us. We had a guest lecturer from the U.K. here and one day she gave us an unexpected assignment. We had to identify how concepts such as confidence, corruption, respect, love, and courage smell, taste, and feel! I remember saying that confidence tastes like a crisp apple. I was surprised to do such exercises but the teacher was very pleased with that answer. It was funny to me at the time, but now I understand she was trying to get us to think outside the normal boundaries.

Before coming to Akilah, I didn’t know how to manage my feelings and practice self-control. I didn’t know how to use my time efficiently, plan ahead, prioritize, and set short- and long-term goals. I use a personal planner every day now. And I enjoy sharing what I learn with others who need it. For our Social Change Projects module, I had the chance to go to a village to work with young girls with very low self-esteem, no confidence, and who don’t know much English. No one ever taught them how to set boundaries for themselves or to reach for goals, and I was so proud to be sent there to share with them what I have been learning so far about empowerment.

Girls, first thing you should do is to be proud of who you are. I mean it! You have to know that you are valuable.

When I graduate, I want to go into social work. I want to help the poor, the orphans, and the uneducated. I know I have the emotional makeup for caring about people in need. I feel angry and sad when I see poverty and suffering, or when I witness someone’s rights violated. I am already working toward a career in social work. I serve in student government as Minister of Health. When I have time, I go into the villages to visit communities and learn from them, even if right now I don’t have much to offer in return. In the last two years, I took two street boys under my wing and sent them to school. I also adopted one boy who is deaf but I have hope that God will heal him. When I graduate from Akilah, I know I will land a solid professional job that will allow me to save money so I can later put it into a social venture of some kind. This is my goal right now: do what I can so that I can contribute to those in need.

What would I say to my younger Akilah sisters and future Akilah students? Girls, first thing you should do is to be proud of who you are. I mean it! You have to know that you are valuable. You can’t imagine how special you are! So respect yourselves and never allow anyone to put you down or take advantage of you. Because we the community are out there waiting for you to shine and bring change. Once you get to Akilah, stay true to yourselves, be honest even when no one is watching, and work hard for your goals because there is no winning without hard work. Remember, success isn’t given — it is earned. Nobody said it would be easy, so if you try and you fail, don’t lose hope. Accept failure because you can learn from it, but never accept not trying!

If you wish to support an Akilah student like Nida, please visit our donate page.