Belyssia was a student at Akilah Burundi in Bujumbura and transferred to Akilah Rwanda in 2015 after political unrest and armed conflict made Bujumbura unsafe for students and staff.

“I felt alone in the beginning. It was my first time to come and live in Kigali; I didn’t have any family members here and at first I was scared. I didn’t know how to interact with others — how was I going to communicate with my neighbours? I didn’t know who I would live with or how I would pay rent for myself — or find food. Living expenses are not the same here as in Bujumbura — everything is more expensive in Kigali. I had to find a way to be responsible for myself. It was a bit scary. But at Akilah they tell us to always be courageous and take risks, and I decided to do so. I was determined to find a way to make it work.

Belyssia in front of Akilah’s Rwanda campus

[All of the Rwandan and Burundian students] had to work together and exchange ideas for assignments and homework. When you do that, you start to get to know each other; who she is, what she likes, what her values are. And slowly it started to get better. Now we can make fun in class together, we mix together and create friendships. We’re a family across nationalities, really.

Today I feel very happy being in Rwanda. I’ve seen that through traveling you meet so many different people, learn from them, make more friends — you understand more about life. Now I want to travel to other countries, too. I’m not scared anymore. It’s just scary for a short time and then you feel at home.

Moving to Rwanda on my own has taught me so many things in life: how to be flexible to change, be responsible and a risk-taker. When you take risks, many times you live a much better life because you’re exposed to more opportunities. I’m thankful for all of the help I have received from my mentor here at Akilah. She helped me to be who I am and pushed me to be courageous and take on challenges. It has helped me very much.

But I do hope to return home to Burundi some day. I want to gain more skills and experience while I’m here in Rwanda. I want to get a good job so I can save up money. After I do all these things, I want to go home and help develop my country. Burundi is not in a great place right now; it needs to move forward, and I want to be part of that.

I dream of opening my own hotel once I go back home. I want to give it my parents’ name. They are still in Burundi together with my siblings. I miss them so much. But they are very happy that I’m here studying — they didn’t get a chance to study themselves. I know that they are proud that I’ve reached this level.”