Last year, 18-year-old Fred Kayitare and Augustin Mucyo, 19, were students at Lycée de Kigali, a public school. This year, they started their classes at the exclusive United World College (UWC) Waterford Kamhlaba School in Mbabane, Swaziland.

A stroke of luck and genius gave them the opportunity of a lifetime.

Higher Life Foundation (HLF) was founded in 1996, by Zimbabwean philanthropists, Mr. Strive Masiyiwa and his wife Tsitsi Masiyiwa. Their mission from the very beginning was to eradicate poverty through education, and for that reason, they approached Imbuto Foundation about a possible partnership. HLF had learned about Imbuto’s scholarship programme, and offered their support.

Their offer was to fully support four Imbuto Foundation beneficiaries, in their tertiary education at the exclusive UWC Waterford Kamhlaba School. Imbuto selected two schools: Lycée de Kigali and Notre Dame de Citeaux, schools in which they have children that they support.

Within these schools, the students with the most impressive academic qualifications were chosen in hope of winning a spot at Waterford. The selection process did not end there, as HLF also required the students to fit their requirements.

Having gone through that, the students would have to be subjected to the hardest and most challenging part of the selection. Entrance tests were conducted by UWC Waterford College representatives, to determine which student had the academic capabilities to join their school. After the long gruelling tests, two students were successful.

In January this year, both young men became what are known as ‘History Makers’, a name given to students supported through Higher Life Foundation.

"When we arrived, the head of the hostels introduced us to the other students. And after fifteen minutes someone would check on us, and ask if everything was fine,” says Kayitare. "It really is a very friendly school, we felt very welcome,” he adds.

Kayitare and Mucyo both used to the Rwandan education system, one, which Kayitare was keen on pointing out, involves a lot of cramming. "IB is a challenging course.

The lessons are not much harder than in Rwanda, but the system is different,” Kayitare points out.

In most Rwandan schools, the teacher is the primary source of knowledge, in IB, students must rely on research and thinking independently.

"Students at our school are used to researching online. It was a challenge for us, because we had never used laptops, but now we are used to it,” says Mucyo.

For Kayitare and Mucyo, this was their first time encountering this style of learning — one that allowed freedom in planning their schedules.

"At first, we were puzzled. Each student had their own timetable. You choose when to study,” says Kayitare. The school does function on a normal 8am to 4pm schedule, but the students can choose what time they study a certain class.

In their first semester at Waterford, Kayitare and Mucyo managed to score excellent grades, and they hope to continue on that path in pursuing excellence.

Should they maintain or improve their current grades, their scholarships will be extended, allowing them to pursue further studies at various universities abroad.

Seeing the confident and well-spoken people these two youngsters have turned out to be, can only help inspire others to aspire for greatness.

"I am planning on going back to my old school, and telling them about all the things I have learned. Maybe I can help the teachers to find better ways of teaching too,” says Mucyo.

Kayitare and Mucyo are just a handful of youths in Rwanda that have the potential to be ‘history makers’; to be able to transform their lives through education, and to enlighten others to seek the same.

Through them, Imbuto Foundation can further spread the value of education to the Rwandan youth. These two students are living archetype of Imbuto’s mantra: Engage, Educate, Empower.