Editor,

Allow me, through your newspaper, to commend the government for its policy on former street children.  I live in Gisenyi and I stayed with my child before he become wild. One day, I was shocked when he told me that he was fed up with education and wanted to work for money.

I also discovered too late that the money we used to give him as school fees was spent on booze. He was also smoking marijuana. Months after he dropped out of school, he escaped to Kigali, where he ended up on  the streets.

For five months, he never talked to us. Later, we heard that he had been taken to the Youth Rehabilitation and Vocational Skills Development Centre at Iwawa.

Recently, I talked to him on phone and I was very happy to hear that the once wild child has now changed and been transformed into a better and useful child. 
He apologized and assured us (family) that, he now sees a bright future and ready to help his parents.

He has attained skills in commercial farming, construction, and tailoring and will be among 1,000 students to graduate this month.

Once again, I thank our government for coming up with this constructive initiative that has transformed the lives of our children.

Innocent Nizeyimana
Gisenyi