Writing off his orphanhood

Pacifique Mahirwe lost his mum at the tender age of three, while growing up in Muhanga, Southern Province. For a boy that had never known his father since birth, that was a double tragedy that would leave a lasting impact on his life. A kind aunt was to take the then little and destitute Mahirwe in her care in Kigali, but after seven years, she too passed on. What was already a terrible predicament for Mahirwe became further worse. Homeless and hungry, he was taken in by a friend who gave him a tiny room to sleep, but he had to sort his other needs by himself, as the friend too was near-destitute. “I started doing odd jobs like carrying people’s luggage and anything that could bring me food.” “From that time up to now, I have no biological relatives. My only relatives are my friends, and the people with who I grew up in the orphanage.” So strong is his commitment to this last group, that Mahirwe has maintained contacts with most of them, and they meet regularly to compare notes and hear each other out. Alone and frightened, one morning he went to the Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC) to report his plight and seek possible assistance. Doors open He was lucky to secure admission at the Fred Nkunda Life Centre in Muhanga. “I wanted a new life through education,” he says. “I wanted to acquire discipline and self development, and I wanted to further my knowledge of computer.” The orphanage provided for his education at Apace Secondary School, in Kabusunzu. At the school, he met new friends whose plight resonated with his own. One of these friends was a boy named Munyeshyaka, who easily became his best friend. One day, Munyeshyaka bared all his past sorry and suffering to Mahirwe, and asked the latter to document it. While Munyeshyaka wanted Mahirwe to do the writing on account of his literary prowess, the budding writer hoped, for his part, that the book would help touch other destitute children’s hearts. The result of all this was his first book Kubaho Ufite Agahinda Binezeza Abatagukunda, (Living in Sadness Only Helps Make Your Enemies Happy), in 2009. Mahirwe was quite content just penning the book, having had no history of professional writing before. Indeed, selling the few copies that were bought came as a bonus, surprise even. “I sold 2,000 copies to Imbuto Foundation, and about the same number to the Caritas Bookshop and a few other local NGOs. Spurred on by his moderate success, Mahirwe was inspired to write a second book, and the result was Ubuzima Burahinduka (The Life Change), published in 2010. This year, his latest work, Ubuzima Bushya (The New Life) saw the light of day. After kissing orphanage life good bye in 2010, Mahirwe secured a job as a data entry clerk at Kimironko Health Centre, employment that helped him supplement the little proceeds from his book sales. Recently however, his contract ended, and he is back to where he really wants to belong; in the literary world. Short of a publishing company to peddle and promote his wares, Mahirwe now finds himself having to do things the old-fashioned way-peddling his books from bookstores to NGOs to any potential buyer that he chances upon. He is forever grateful to the Ministry of Youth, which in 2009 extended him a grant to print a few copies of his books. His biggest problem and concern currently is how to find market for his published works, even before thinking of new stories to write. He also wishes to see his books translated into English to reach a wider audience so he can mint more money from them. Lately, Mahirwe has been nurturing his latest passion – that of public speaking, a skill that he hopes to incorporate into his wider strategy to bring more awareness not only about his literary works, but also the plight of the disadvantaged. Basically what he does is contact learning institutions with formal requests to give motivational talks to their students on various themes. Presently, he is trying to popularize the idea with free motivational talks in a few schools. His long-term strategy is to have a win-win situation where institutions commit to buying a few copies of his books in exchange for a motivational speech.