Julliet Busingye

My mum only studied until second year of primary school. Her family was poor and could not afford her school fees after her 14th birthday. She married at the age of 18. My dad studied until fifth year of primary school. After that, he looked after cattle. The best moments we had as a family were when we were together at Christmas and my parents would take our family to church. I am the fourth born and have three brothers and three sisters. We used to play kiddy games like Mums and Dads, and make things out of clay, such as people and cows.

We were living in Uganda during the genocide, and came to Rwanda just after it finished in 1995. My parents had fled from Rwanda to Uganda in 1959; but the rest of our family had stayed in Rwanda. We lost a lot of family members during the genocide. My dad had six brothers and all except one were killed. All of my mother's sisters and cousins died in the genocide as well.

After the genocide, my friends at school would tell me how their parents and siblings had died, and that they lived alone. Today, there are more than 15 of us in our house. I live with four of my cousins who survived the genocide. They have nowhere else to go because they have no other relatives. They remember how their dad was slaughtered, or how their pregnant mum was raped and killed. I still have my mother and father, but my father is very sick and cannot work due to three operations on his spinal cord. My mother is the only one who supports us - she makes some money from a little shop that she owns.

When I was in my fourth year of secondary school, my mother could not get enough milk to sell, so business at her shop came to a standstill. The little money that she earned was barely enough to feed us. We often ate beans for lunch, and had nothing for supper. At that time, she could not afford to pay my school fees, so I was taken out of school until I could make enough money to return. If I could earn 5,000 francs I could come back and study for some time.

After searching for different funding opportunities for university, I learned about Orphans of Rwanda from FAWE Girls' School. They said that they would pay my university fees so that I could study sciences as I had always wanted to do. I was so happy and grateful that Orphans of Rwanda had given me the chance to study.

At university, I plan to study food sciences so I can get a job to help my family and myself. After university, I would like to set up an organization to help other girls. I would especially like to encourage them to study sciences because most Rwandan girls think they are not capable of studying sciences and mathematics. I want to encourage them to work hard and to tell them that they are just as capable as men. I want to help contribute to my country.

I would advise children who have lost their parents to keep being strong. Don't lose hope. I would tell them that God loves them and that they must work hard for their future in order to help themselves.