IN 2019, Brian Bazimya was forced to return to Rwanda from Kenya, where he was pursuing his studies in journalism. The 26-year-old had moved to Kenya, right after high school, to further his studies and had already enrolled into one of the most prestigious universities in the country. “I was not prepared for it but there was little I could do to change the situation. I was left with only one option, to come back and carry on with my studies from here,” he said. He shared that the shift affected him psychologically and emotionally. Before he knew it, he was battling depression because he didn’t know how to accept and cope with the situation. One night while he was sleeping Bazimya woke up in the middle of the night and started jotting down the pain he was going through. “I thought that if I write something down, maybe it would help take away my pain. I wrote a whole piece, but I didn’t know what it was and how the information was going to help me anyway,” he noted. Since he wasn’t sure of how he would use the information he had put down (the poem), he one day, decided to share it with his friends and other people on one of his social media (twitter), which he said by then had few followers. “To my surprise, I received positive feedback from a lot of people, which I never expected. Most of them were encouraging me to write more so that I encourage and inspire others,” he said. After the incident, Bazimya kept on writing more and posting on his different social media handles. And through this, he eventually started healing from what he was going through. Talking about issues affecting people Bazimya, who is currently a final year student at Mount Kenya University doing journalism said he focuses on writing poems about matters of the heart like love and also trending issues including depression, justice among other issues affecting people. At the moment, he has written more than a hundred pieces and through this, he has also embarked on writing his own book, which he hopes to release this year. The book is a collection of his poetry since he doesn’t share all his poems, by coming up with the book, he said it means his audience will be able to access all his work. In Rwanda, Bazimya cited that poetry is still not yet popular. He is, therefore, trying to ensure people understand that through poetry, they can reflect on spoken word poetry. “I believe poetry is something that needs to grow in Rwanda because it reveals emotions and what people go through just like any other medium of art,” he said. He advises other people out there going through tough situations to understand that its normal not to feel okay, but instead find a solution before things get out of hand.
