Reponse Tuwayisi

Reponse is a kind and gentle boy, born in 2005. He lives with his mother and sister, Leoncie, who is also a student at Hope Shines, in a one bedroom house in the city with limited electricity and no no access to clean water. His mother doesn’t have permanent work, but she gets part-time work washing clothes for neighbors. This is clearly not a highly skilled job and it does not pay much at all but it’s what she can do with her education level and background in order to support the family.

Reponse is currently in Cyivugiza primary school where he is getting close to advancing to secondary school, which would be the first time anyone in his family has had more education than elementary school! He likes to study Kinyarwanda at school, which is the native Rwanda language. At home, he spends time doing his homework and he takes pride in making sure his school uniform is clean.

As a teenager, Reponse is more exposed to bad influences in his neighborhood, which is typical for this social class. Hope Shines closely monitors this and offers mentorship to him, which will help keep him on the right track and it has already made a positive influence on him.

Reponse’s favorite sport is basketball. And when he grows up, he wants to become a pilot for a big airline in Rwanda!