Sabimana, Pascal
- Born: 1988 Elias, 1993 Sarah
- Country: DR Congo
- Family: Father, mother, siblings
- Grade: completed primary 3, needs educational assistance to continue
Unedited email(s):
I was born in 1988 in Northern Democratic Republic of Congo. My parents were so poor and the only form of occupation they practiced was digging and I grew up under this life for a period of six (6) years. This work required a lot of energy and due to this, any person physically weak could not engage in it and one of them was my mum. This forced my father and other siblings to work hard so as to achieve a living.
Due to the above situation, it was not easy for kids to be educated and difficult to find anyone who was educated in our area due to poverty. Despite that, when I was six years old, my family members and relatives thought of taking me to school through contributions and I joined encore primaries du kabindi ( Kabindi Primary School) in primary one by 1994 and the amount they paid at that school was equivalent to 1000/= but still that was very difficult to get.
Shortly later, in the same year 1994, war broke out in our neighboring country of Rwanda and the Rwandese started flowing into our country in large numbers and there was no any other place for them to settle except our school and every child in the region was stopped from going to school and education was brought to a standstill. This took place even before I could complete my primary one.
Later on our area also was attacked and this happened when we were in the garden digging and as we were separately every member of the family had to run alone.
This was a deadly situation and I took refuge alone in the bush without any person to talk with and even sleeping with snakes, I could only hear the firing of guns. After completion of a week in the bush I decided to travel up to Uganda which was about 110km away from the place where I was hiding. This journey wasn't easy because I was alone and what I could see the enemies who killed them I had to lay down among dead people in order to save my life.
Due to long journey without eating and even fear, the whole body was both physically and mentally ill and my feet swelled but I kept moving day and night until I reached the place (Uganda). Fortunately I found my parents there.
On arriving there, I found other people were camping there but when have spent like three weeks without eating but only feeding on anything they could come across like grasses and this actually impressed me of eating also grasses because the whole journey I moved it wasn't easy to get. This made it for many refugees in the camp to die just like the flies due to hunger.
This situation made me suffer from a serious of kwashiorkor for a period of 10 months; this was due to lack of food and no medical services.
In 1997, we were transferred by UNHCR to Kyangwali Refugee Settlement a place to hard to sustain life as it was a very impenetrable forest and even home of dangerous wild beasts which also hindered our lives.
In the area, there was any service and like school, hospital and even road which made it easier for many refugees to die in large numbers and only after 12 months the schools were opened for refugees to go and study with the nationals of which wasn't easy as we had no scholastic materials like pen, books, and uniforms and there we couldn't be allowed to enter class because of that. We couldn't move to school while naked and even bathing wasn't very important to us because there was nothing to do and we had to suffocate for that.
At that time to date, the primary level was under the universal primary education and that gave me chance of completing that level.
Despite that, attaining leaving was not easy, we were forced to move deep in the bush searching for yams, fruits, roots, even leaves so as to eat. Life wasn't easy as we had to be attacked at night by dangerous animals because of poor accommodation and even sleeping on the ground without anything to cover yourself which made it easier for the snakes to bite us. Under this condition, I had to spend a week hunting and another week going to school; it wasn't easy to do well academically because of that situation. In addition, I could not do revision as I had nowhere to write only attending mentally.
In the 2003, it became a big problem as I had to join another level which required school dues and this made me work very hard and harder - at least I reach senior one.
This was not easy as I started doing manual labor of digging ponds at St. Patrick, getting contracts of tree planting and weeding within the nationals, digging other peoples land but still what I achieved was not enough to allow me to go to school and attain everything needed.
When I joined senior one in 2004, I couldn't attend regularly as it was the same procedure like the one in the primary level and I had to dodge some days in a week so that I could work for school fees.
Academic progression under that atmosphere wasn't easy, as a student I had to dress in uniform but due to economic hardships, getting any other cloth was not easy and the administration to accept that I was severely punished and suspended for some months away from the school. This did not alter or make me compromise in the future plans which I had devoted for of working as a doctor despite trials.
According to my agony, it was not easy to deal with as even as a student I had to be with enough fuel [paraffin] for easy revision but this also required money and I had to adopt myself to other majors. I could get dry reeds and hung them over the fire place and when it could get dark [night], I had to burn, get light so as to practice revision and was not easy as during the rainy season, these rears could not catch fire.
Still the distance from home up the school was very long and even fearful. This required me to wake up very early in the dawn and start moving for timely attendance of classes. The way also needed to cross very big swamp before reaching the school and whenever I reached the place, it needed me to remove my sandals and trouser and then after reaching the next harbor, I put them on. This also caused big problem as the school administration did harass me that I am no student and because I dress like a hunter. I wash my uniform once in a week where I had to put it on from Monday to Friday without washing it and this was because it was not easy to get soap due to poverty and even sleeping without having anything to eat. I am teenager in spite of the above problems much of my free time I spend in revising my books and reading published bible, literature as my hobbies.
My endurance of the above agony, have not tortured me to my expectation due to change in school programs.
I only managed to complete three years in secondary but now I have no hope of going back to school because of financial problems but the experience of COBURWAS Club has given me courage that he will succeed and attain better future through education.
May the almighty God strengthen any donors supporting education and to continue with their heart rooted in sympathy for the associated one by promoting their better quality education in all the developmental consumption to Africa
Pascal Sabinmana