Fabrice Musoni’s story

Fabrice Musoni was born in 1986 to Dsir Musoni and Ancille Mukazayire, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At the tender age of nine years, he moved back to Rwanda in 1995 together with his family. Musoni admits that at first it was very hard for him to adapt to the new environment because he barely spoke his language (Kinyarwanda); he only spoke French. Early education While in Rwanda, Musoni attended Camp Kigali and La Collombrière Primary Schools before he enrolled to Lycee De Kigali Secondary School. Studying abroad In 2003, at the age of 17, Musoni applied and received a scholarship at Scattergood Friends School, a Quaker High School in Branch, Iowa where he graduated in 2005. “It was through my dad’s friend that I got to know about the opportunity and from then I started searching for more scholarships on my own,” Musoni said. It was a chance of a lifetime that he landed a great host family. He said everything was perfect except for the long and cold Iowa winters and the food he was unaccustomed to. “The winter was my nightmare and the food was unusual. Most of the food stuffs, for example, potatoes are served with skins on…but I’m now used,” he narrates. While at Scattergood, Musoni learnt about Luther College. He once again applied, received a scholarship and, was enrolled. Though he came to Luther College thinking he would eventually become a doctor, Musoni quickly changed his course and majored in Political Science when he realized that was where his true interests lay. “Obviously, when I left Rwanda I wanted to become a doctor because I had a background in Bio-Chemistry, but I chose to do Political Science because everyone asked me about my country.” “They asked me whether I have ever watched the film Hotel Rwanda. I would always say yes, but tell them that it’s not the only thing we have in the country,” Musoni firmly said. Musoni has an undying passion for his country. “I spend most of my time talking about Rwanda, its history and the Genocide.” Through the Diversity Center’s annual Ethnic Arts Festival at his school, Musoni show cased Rwanda in a different light. He explains: “I loved demonstrating Rwanda’s cultural tradition, especially drumming for the Luther and Decorah communities.” The youngster also has a good communication command. He opted for Communication Studies because he believes that “having a good command in languages is useful in today’s world.” Success Musoni was heavily involved in campus activities. He met a lot of great people and was also the President of the Black Student Union, a group dedicated to raising questions about being a minority student on campus, to help African, Caribbean and African-American students connect with one another. Musoni topped off his college career with his senior Honour’s project, where he researched on Rwanda. Today, he is pursuing a Master’s Degree in Foreign Service at Georgetown University, where he has a half-tuition scholarship. Future Musoni hopes to find a job in the International Development field, but also dreams of working with an NGO or international organisations like the World Bank and UNDP. Ends