Divine Ishimwe at the Rwanda Learning Center Summer 2024

September 9, 2024 | by Alphonsine Anderson

Divine is a remarkable 14-year-old student who was recently accepted into our scholarship program in Rwanda, designed for bright students facing financial hardship. This Spring she was preparing for her 9th-grade national exam, which would determine her eligibility to move on to 10th grade. Divine’s academic track record was consistently strong. However, we were shocked to learn that she failed. Initially, we considered placing her on probation. We have a long list of children waiting to get into our program, so we prioritize those who maintain higher grades. But something didn’t add up. After further investigation we discovered she was going through a lot of turmoil during the exam period.

Divine has been raised by her aunt, which isn’t uncommon for children in our programs. She never knew her parents. Her mother tried to end Divine’s life when she was just a baby by throwing her into a toilet. By some miracle, she survived. Her mother disappeared and Divine never saw her again. Her father also abandoned her and moved to another country. Then he resurfaced during the week of the national exams, critically sick and in a coma. She met him for the first time but couldn’t exchange a word with him. A few days later he passed away.

Adding to Divine’s immense emotional burden is the tragic legacy of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, a horror that Rwandans, including myself, know all too well. But for Divine, her family’s story is especially complicated.  Her mother’s family were perpetrators during the genocide, responsible for the deaths of people in her father’s family. This deeply painful and tangled history, combined with meeting her father on his deathbed, must have stirred unimaginable emotions as she sat for her national exams.  When I heard Divine’s story, I was deeply saddened by her ordeal. 

Her academic situation reminded me of a moment in my own life, during graduate school in Rochester, NY, when my younger sister was gravely ill, thousands of miles away. The stress caused me to get a B in a course when I normally received straight A’s. It made me reflect on how personal turmoil can weigh down even the brightest of students. If that was my experience, I can’t begin to fathom what Divine was going through at the time of her exams at 14 years old.

Divine’s story is one of many at Rising Above the Storms. Our students are resilient, but they carry burdens no child should have to bear. We may not have the power to erase their pain, but through education and emotional support, we aim to be a source of hope and light in their lives. I invite you to be part of this mission. Your support can make a real difference for students like Divine, offering them not just an education but the chance to rise above the storms in their lives. Together, we can help them find strength, healing, and the possibility of a brighter future.

Please consider sponsoring a child like Divine to support his or her educational costs and basic needs by clicking here.