It is a sunny day. Everyone is busy. It’s March 22, 2009 and many graduands are proudly donning graduation gowns and that thing with a string on their heads.

Among these was Tom Vianney Gakumba. According to him, life was not easy having grown up in exile but he somehow made it to be counted among the number on March 22 with a BBA in Marketing from the School of Finance and Banking.

"In the village of Rwamagwa, Koki County, everybody identified us as a family living in absolute poverty. We had nothing, no land, no house, and no cow. Everything we possessed belonged to others,” the 31 year old said.

"My dad was never interested in my education but thank God I had mom. She encouraged passionately me.” He used to graze cattle, someone else’s cattle, for school fees and survival.

"I would hide a jar of milk which I’d take to the Headmaster of my primary school so that he would let me enter class. I grazed cattle two to three days a week alternating with my brother. The days I didn’t graze cattle are the ones where I would go to school.”

Fortunately, Gakumba always came top in class for his entire Primary school education. However, even after passing his Primary Leaving Education (PLE) exams; there seemed no light at the end of the tunnel as far as further education was concerned.

"From among eleven children, I was the only one who managed to go to school. I worked in plantations and did all sorts of casual work to achieve my goal.”

In 1995, his parents decided to return to Rwanda with almost nothing. Having got the best points in his PLE, he opted to stay behind and graze cattle so he could scrounge for his secondary school fees.

"One of the things I will never forget is when I went for that job and they showed me where I would be sleeping. It was a deserted kitchen with fleas and full of ashes. I was given a mat to sleep on and a backcloth to cover myself. I had never seen anyone covering himself with that thing. I thought it was only for the dead. I refused and they gave me a piece of tarpaulin that would be covered in due in the wee hours of the night. It was very hard time for me.”

"Unfortunately, I earned money for only one term, but also managed to buy a metallic case and for the first time in my life I bought shoes. They were DH canvas shoes.”

He somehow managed to study but as bad luck would have it, he was almost refused to sit the national ‘O’ Level exams by the Headmaster because of accumulated school fees debts.

However, with Canon Stefano, a fellow munyarwanda’s help and pleas, he was allowed to sit for the exams. He, however, had to sign an agreement with the headmaster to clear all the debts within the shortest time possible. In case of a delay, it would be paid with interest.

In 1998, he decided to join his family for more help to continue education. He, however, found it still too poor to help him. Instead he became a porter for almost every house in Matimba, Eastern Province on top of other casual labour to help his family survive.

One day, lady luck smiled at him. His cousin invited him to work in her shop in Kigali. That became his stepping stone. With his earnings, he catered for his family in Matimba and saved for his education, too.

He registered as a private candidate in Uganda and later went there for the national ‘A’level exams which he passed. While wondering where he would get money for University, someone paid for his first semester. Now, he is a graduate and he has hope in the future. The sky is the limit.

Ends