One man's journey from a poor orphan to company founder

His story defies the popular belief that it is impossible for those raised in orphanages to succeed in life. Dave Muyango simply defines himself as ‘a motivated and ambitious person’. He is one of the many Rwandans that were born in Diaspora but came back and have since curved out businesses on home soil. Born in Uganda, he grew up in an orphanage in Luwero, a district about 61km from Kampala, having been orphaned at quite tender age of five years. He lost his father in 1991 when he was just three, and two years later, he lost mother. Muyango and his siblings were separated and taken to different orphanages. He attended school at New Hope Uganda where he had his elementary and primary education under the sponsorship of the orphanage. From there, he came to Rwanda for his secondary education at Lycee de Kigali in Rugunga from where he joined the National University in Huye and graduated as an agricultural engineer. He says that, as a child, his dream was to become a doctor but due to the unfortunate circumstances of his early life, he was never able to pursue it. After his degree, Muyango joined KEAN, a fresh fruit and vegetable industry as a marketing manager, and later John Dear Rwanda, an American agricultural company from where he decided to throw in the towel and pursue self employment. A client in Montreal, Canada dons one of Muyangos T-shirts (Courtsey) Muyango immediately founded and started managing ‘Dave and Emma Limited’, a branding and labeling company that runs a project called ‘Am So Rwandese’ that aims at promoting patriotism through fashion. So far, Muyango makes high quality T-shirts which he sells to Rwandans all over the world. He conducts his labeling work in Dubai, USA and China. Besides designing, he works with USAID in agriculture reforms in rural areas as an advisor. When he is not working, he enjoys playing piano and writing rap music. He says his role model is President Paul Kagame. Asked where he sees himself in the future, he says he wants to establish a printing house in Kigali and an institute to train the youth in entrepreneurial skills so that they create their own jobs. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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One man's journey from a poor orphan to company founder