Odille

18 Years Old
Lives in Boneza, Rwanda
Student at Kivu Hills Academy

Odille is described as a quiet, gentle and brave student at Kivu Hills Academy. After losing her father when she was 2 months old, her mother married Odille’s uncle and they lived together for three years before Odille’s mother passed away to illness. Odille’s uncle remarried and they had a big family of 7 children. Odille is the first born in the family and that inevitably made her take on the responsibility of being a mother to her siblings at a very young age.

Odille’s parents originally lived in the Nyamasheke district but her Uncle, who was a fisherman, decided to shift the whole family to Bugarura Island after they lost their house due to finances. They lived in extreme poverty as a family. Sometimes their uncle wouldn’t return home when he had money to avoid buying them food or paying rent. Odille stepped in as a big sister and worked hard to provide for her siblings. This was very difficult for her because she was a young child herself.

Odille and her sisters would frequently work all night helping local fishermen catch small fish from Lake Kivu. In the morning they were paid with 2 pounds of small fish in return of working all night. Odille would sell a pound for $1 to buy food and use the extra pound of fish to cook and feed her siblings. She was exposed to many risks during the night, including abuse by the fishermen.

Out of hundreds of extremely poor children living in the surrounding area, Odille was voted by her community to receive a scholarship at KHA. She joined Kivu Hills Academy with so much hope for the future. The community of Bugarura Island agreed that Odille needed help and deserved such a privileged opportunity, having come from a poor and rough background.

Odille is now happily pursuing a diploma in Tourism and is forever grateful for this opportunity to attend the best school in Boneza. Odille says, “never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would attend such a beautiful school”. She looks forward to starting her own business after school and be able to lend a helping hand to the less fortunate. She wants to further her studies after high school. Odille’s life has changed for the better and there is hope for a great future.  She enjoys school, the promise of three meals a day, and the teachers. She also enjoys singing, playing volleyball and swimming in Lake Kivu.

In the future, Odille would like to run a 5 star hotel in Rwanda. She has a dream to help many impoverished children to go school in Rwanda. She wants to thank Arise Rwanda Ministries for giving her an opportunity to go to school.