uMwizerwa wa Ngoboka

Born in a Catholic family, I was baptized as an infant. At a young age, my parents took me to church. I grew up to understand what I was doing. I received the Sacraments when the time was right. In short, I was living as I should. The time came when I turned into a person who prayed out of habit. I dozed of in the Holy Mass sometimes, not because I wanted to but I couldn't fight it off. I despised group prayers because instead of helping me grow, I started judging and analyzing everything we talked about. At times, I would get out of the mass without remembering what they had preached. I don't blame this on the church. In reality, many people fail to see what they are doing wrong because they are under the wing of the church.  Some people go to church as a way to put their wrong doings under a different name. As an example, many people define their sins as weaknesses and believe that God will accept them as they are. Several Churches exist solely for extracting money from the r...

The nineteenth of November this year, I left the gates of Gashora Girls Academy. I will never return there as a Gashora student, instead I will go as an alumnae. Next year in January, everyone will go to school and I will remain at home. It is good news right?  But then you lose the certainty of being a highschool student. The privileges you were given just fly away. Usually I went to school with a given amount of pocket money. I was never ashamed of asking for more in the middle of the term. Now, if I ask for transport money more than twice a week. I start feeling ashamed and bad about it. In highschool, I never worried about keeping in touch with my classmates. I knew that after a week or two of vacation, I would meet them again at school for three months or more. Now, I have to struggle to keep the flame of friendship ablaze. If I don't, I know it will die out over time. I love independence, but it comes at a price. Yes, you get to do whatever you want. But then, whenever you...

A date that might mean nothing to most, but to Gashora Girls it means a lot. This is not a memorial day to Gashora Girls only, it is also important to any senior applying early decision or early action. THE APPLICATION DEADLINE!!! Literally it would mean a line o death, quite a scary image. The date has been looming for ages, getting closer every passing day. By clicking 'SUBMIT', you are putting your future on a line- the deadline. this completes part o what is expected of us, securing an admission at a prestigious school. But there are still the nationa exams to study\for. they start eight days from today. we are all clustered together in the computer lab, waiting or the cue to send all our application. The next date to look forward to is December fifteenth- the day when we receive the admission decision. And he, the said Wirz, still wickedly pursuing his evil purpose, did establish and cause to be designated within the prison enclosure containing said prisoners a ...

Exams, the single moment that makes student tremble with fear. this is the time when all the focus is directed towards one thing- revising to succeed. At GGAST it is even more intense. we take our academics seriously. Sometimes, you will find girls sacrificing hours of sleep to master that one topic. I have gone through nine exams period for the past three years, and I can affirm it is not the best of time. At first, it didn't matter that much. First year+first time = no stress. As the year progressed, things became more serious, I would sleep at midnight and wake up at four in  the morning. As I started grade 11 (S5), things got even tougher. I felt the need to push harder, so I extended my sleeping time to two a.m, and I would wake up at five a.m. It felt fine then, but after the exams I passed four days sleeping for more than twenty hours per day. The pace slowed down a little as the year progressed, but I still found myself waking up at three a.m in the morning. You would ...

2013, GSNDL, Southern province Rwanda. Thank God it’s Wednesday (TGIW), for I simply love Wednesdays. This is the day we have the best classes, and the best food. I wake up energised, because Wednesday is close to Monday but still gives a promise of the weekend. I have creative performance in the afternoon, a class where we draw and sing and have fun. After that we go for sports, which I love a lot because we get a chance to get out of school grounds. Later on we go to peel cassavas near the kitchen. It I very fun because we are trying to stuff parts of cassavas in our pockets, while escaping the watchful eye of the matron. After peeling cassavas and keeping some to eat raw the next morning, we go for dinner-sweet potatoes, beans and tea. This is my favourite meal because every other day we eat rice or posho (food made of maize floor). 2016, GGAST, Eastern province, Rwanda. I am still in love with Wednesdays. We have only one class of math for the whole day! I have the rest of t...

I think it's so cute and I think it's so sweet How you let your friends encourage you to try and talk to me But let me stop you there, oh, before you speak My name is "No" My sign is "No" My number is "No" You need to let it go You need to let it go Need to let it go "Nah" to the "Ah" to the "No", All my ladies, listen up If that boy ain't giving up Lick your lips and swing your hips Girl, all you gotta say is... My name is "No" My sign is "No" My number is "No" You need to let it go You need to let it go Need to let it go "Nah" to the "Ah" to the "No", "No", "No" No by  Meghan Trainor, a song that inspired me so much. Many fail to say a word so simple 'NO' Instead they lie, they give the wrong name, wrong number for what? Why give false hopes? Just give a straight NO as an answer. It is much easier, and l...

Ecclesiastes 1:9  What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; and there is nothing new under the sun. We run after material things. A new handbag, more electronic devices, a better car. We want to be the best and have the best. At an early age, this principle is drilled deep in our consciousness. We go to school and want the best grades. We want to get a lot of money, so we take on careers we do not really like. Yes, we collect riches but our souls are empty. Some do not realise that at a certain time death will come and reap them away. All those riches collected will be for naught because you won't take them with you. All you sweated for will be given to someone who never had to work or sacrifice as much as you did. So why bother? There is nothing new under the sun and all is vanity. Why don't we realize that the moment we die we will just be a record in history, and dust in the ground? We could have invested in something more durable, like...