Rose Muhumuza

Class of 2017

I had to become a mom when I was 12 years old. I was about to finish my primary schooling when my mom passed away. There were five of us living with our father in a rural village in Uganda. My dad is a cattle keeper. After my mom died, I was responsible for my brothers since I am the second-born and the only girl. I dropped out of school and raised my brothers. I worked hard to catch up and return to school.

My aunt, who was living in Rwanda, came to Uganda to visit. She had heard of my mother’s death, but did not attend the burial. She found us in a very hard situation. She decided that she would take me back to Rwanda with her. It was more safe for my brothers to stay than it was for me. I might get married away young, even at 13. If you don’t go to school, people don’t care if you marry early. So my aunt brought me to Rwanda in 2009. She put me in high school and took care of me up to today.

After I finished high school, I thought of my brothers. I am the only educated one. I had to help them. I applied to Akilah after graduation, and they admitted me. My aunt had money to pay for me, but I wanted my brothers to go to school too. I had found a job in Musanze, which is very far, to help them. I said, “Let me lose my place. I will join later on.”

I kept working, and I managed to push my brothers to join school. I reapplied to Akilah in 2014, and I was admitted. I had saved enough to pay for some of my tuition, and the Acacia program helped with the rest. They pay 70%, and I pay 30%. So that’s how I managed to study at Akilah while helping my family out.

I am now responsible for two of my brothers. One studies in Uganda, and the other one is here in Rwanda. I work the night shift in a hotel to help support them, from 4 a.m. to 7 a.m. Then I go to Akilah from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Recently, I got very sick with typhoid. The doctor told me it’s because I am stressed, and I overwork myself. They advised me to take a break, so I have not been working for the whole month. But now that I’m well, I’ll try to find another job.

I’ve realized that life is what you make it. I have to work hard, I have to be resilient, and I have to embrace challenges. I’m very positive and confident. When I couldn’t go to Akilah the first time, I could have said, “Oh, poor me” and gotten married. But I decided to save money and work hard. I knew that one day I could achieve what I wanted.

Today, I have goals. My dream is to become a professional tour guide in Rwanda. By next year, I want to be guiding and driving tourist safari cars. My goal is to go to driving school in September so I can start learning.

Our country has so many interesting tourist attractions. I recommend the Kigali Genocide Memorial to my clients so they can get to know where Rwanda is coming from. You can go to different national parks and see the gorillas, but those only give you happy moments. You still need to learn about what the country you’re visiting was like before and the steps it took to make it what it is today.