Hi everyone! It’s Claire, and I’m excited to introduce you to the newest addition to our Rwanda team.

Jean Bosco, FACE AIDS Program Assistant in Rwanda
Jean Bosco Bamuririmbe, FACE AIDS’ new Program Assistant, can certainly hold an audience. A recent graduate of the PIH School Fee’s program, Jean Bosco graduated from secondary school as one of the highest ranked students in his class in December 2009. Head boy of his dormitory, president of both his school Boy Scout club and the anti-AIDS club, he is a natural leader. After the 2009 Forum, in which he participated, he was elected the president of a cooperative of all of the students graduating from the School Fees program in 2009. This association, called Youth Community, is already actively recruiting and organizing more youth to found new FACE AIDS chapters.
Jean Bosco’s natural leadership abilities were made apparent to me on his first day working with FACE AIDS: we went together to meet ABEDO, one of FACE AIDS’ partner associations. ABEDO is in the process of beginning its own structured savings program, and on that day we were meeting with its members to answer any questions they had about loans and reimbursements. As it was his first day, I expected Jean Bosco to sit back and listen, which he did — for the first half of the meeting. But after appraising the situation, he began to speak. I watched as ABEDO’s members laughed, nodded their heads and smiled at his suggestions for how to get their program up and running. At the end of the meeting, their president came up to me and said, “Where did you find him? He is going to help us a lot!”
As you can tell, I am very excited to have Jean Bosco on our FACE AIDS Rwanda team. Read on for a more complete interview with Jean Bosco!
Interview with Jean Bosco (March 17, 2010)
What would you like to tell the FACE AIDS team about your life?
I was born in 1984 into a very poor family. But today, things are much better! I am the oldest child in my family. My father was a hunter and also a farmer. I started school in 1991. At that point, I had one little brother and one little sister. I went to primary school at Kabare. At the end of my first trimester, I found out that I was ranked the 16th best student. I went back home and I was very happy with myself, but my father punished me. He told me I should always try to be the best.
It was up to me to buy my own uniform, so I started farming before and after school to make enough money. In the second trimester, I did even better and was the 4th best student in my place. And then, in the 3rd trimester of my 2nd year, I was ranked the top student. Happily, I was able to continue to 3rd year, in which I was again ranked the top student. In the last semester of that year, the war started. The 6th of April, 1994. I remember – it was a Friday. We were getting ready to start our studies for the next week, but then, the war began. And my studies stopped. We left Rwanda and fled to Tanzania. We were in a refugee camp called Cyabarisa (in Karagwe Province). We left Rwanda on the 1st of July in 1994, and we stayed in Tanzania until 1996. We returned to Rwanda in September of 1996. When we were in Tanzania, I studied for 2 trimesters in Tanzania in the refugee camp schools. When we returned, I should have continued in my 4th year, but I had to stop because my family was too poor. It was very hard to find food to eat, much less pens and paper. I returned home to help my parents. From 1997 until 2002, I was out of school. I sold fish, farmed, and then I started a small photography business. I bought the camera on May 10, 2000. I also bought a bike so that I could ride around the countryside and find customers. In this way, I made enough money to return to school by September, 2002.
I then started secondary school with the help of Partners In Health, who paid for my school fees. It was difficult, but in my 2nd and 3rd years I did very well. I love science (math, chemistry, physics). Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to continue in the science track, but instead focused in language and literature. I was also the leader of the school’s Boy Scouts troop and leader of my dormitory. I was also the president of the anti-AIDS club.
What are your dreams for the future?
I think that my future will be good, especially when I think about how my life was before. My family was very poor. So now I am very happy, because I have found work, and this will let me help my two little brothers and my little sister. I will help them go to school. I am very happy because I finished my secondary school career with good marks. If there is an opportunity, I would love to go to university. Of course! If I have the means, I will go back to school. But now, I must first support my little brothers and sisters.
What do you do to have fun?
I am happy when I am with many people, especially at shows and events. Also, when I can teach other people, I am very happy. I like starting clubs to help orphans and poor young people. I like helping other people. If I had money, I would help even more people. My goal is to start cooperatives. In secondary school, I started an associated for PLWHA. Now, it is a cooperative that works with Partners In Health, helping its members find opportunities to go to school. And I think that FACE AIDS gives a voice to my objectives!
Anything else you would like to tell us?
First, I would like to thank the FACE AIDS team in America for being involved in FACE AIDS, and for caring enough to do something to help orphans and other living with HIV/AIDS and for creating opportunities for PLWHA. I would love to see how chapters in the US work, and maybe I can come visit. You are also very welcome to come to Rwanda, so that we can continue this conversation and we can learn from your ideas!