I will regularly profile both people and businesses that we are getting to know in order to further the understanding of the entrepreneurial climate here in Rwanda. My first profile is of Ronald Mugisha my Executive Assistant and Musanze Inc’s first hire.

Before arriving in Rwanda, I prayed fervently that God would go before us in helping find a Rwandan assistant that spoke good English and was smart, hardworking and motivated to learn business. I prayed more for this assistant than any other single thing because I knew that without his translating abilities we couldn’t be productive.

And so on May 1st we arrived at the Kigali International Airport where we were met by Bridge2Rwanda’s Country Director, Tom Allen. While we were waiting for our luggage, Tom asked me if I had a plan for how I would communicate with the people of Musanze because so few of them speak English.

I told Tom of my prayers and hopes for God to help me find an assistant. Tom burst into a big smile as he began to tell me of a young man who lived in Musanze that had recently become a friend to the Bridge2Rwanda staff. His name was Ronald, and as his story and the fact that he needed a job unfolded before me, I couldn’t help but smile a big smile of my own and look up and say to God, “Really? Really? You’re really going to make it that easy?” What a powerful thing it is when God goes before you.

Let me tell you some of Ronald’s story…

Ronald was born on June 1, 1989 in Uganda where his parents lived as refugees from the Rwandan genocide. He has an older brother, Egide, and two younger sisters, Patience and Gloria.

When Ronald was 13, Egide was 16, Patience was 8 and Gloria was not yet 1, their mother died of a terrible disease. Within 3 months, their father was also dead from the same disease.

So what does a 13 year old orphan boy do?

Because Egide was doing VERY well in school, Ronald decided to drop out of school and go to work to support his entire family so his big brother and oldest sister could remain in school … … … WOW!

Egide is now 23, Ronald is 21, Patience is 14 and Gloria is 6.

Egide did so well in school that he was chosen as one of the Rwandan Presidential Scholars last year and is now studying Physics and Math at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He has just finished his freshman year. Being chosen for this program is the Rwandan equivalent of being a Rhodes Scholar… very, very impressive.

Patience and Gloria are enrolled in the SonRise School here in Musanze which was established by Bishop John to provide the best education in all of Rwanda to primarily orphans that others said couldn’t be educated.

Since its beginning, the SonRise kids have repeatedly ranked at the very top of all Rwandan students on their annual national performance exams. They continue to perform so well that other Rwandan schools regularly come to study their methods.

So what about Ronald? Well, I’m still getting to know him, but I can tell you what you have probably already figured out from his story… Ronald is an extremely impressive young man that I am proud to have on our team.

Before I met him, everyone at Bridge2Rwanda told me that he had a deep desire to start his own business. The entrepreneurial passion, that I know so well, gushes out of him. I look forward to honing his business mind and skills as we work together.

This is clearly a match made in heaven.

Ronald recently decided that he will make Musanze his family’s home. Since his parents died, there has been a lot of wandering and no place to call home. He told me, “A family should have a place that they call home and a community that is their hometown. I will work to provide that for my family here in Musanze.”

… i am humbled to be leading such a man …

On a recent visit to a local furniture factory, Ronald was very interested in the beds they were making. He found out exactly what three basic, small, wooden beds would cost and wrote it down. Later, he told me that he was looking for a house to rent so that he and his sisters would have a place of their own.

Ronald lives in a very small place with two roommates, so when the girls are out of school they have no place to stay. Ronald works hard to find local families that will take them in during those times for a fee. It’s easy to tell that this a great concern to him.

He longs to rent a house of his own and save his money to buy those beds for his sisters. He told me, “My sisters have never had a bed of their own. I will work to provide that for them.”

… i am humbled again …

What was I focused on at 21? That’s easy… ME! … I still fight that battle every day.

And so it is, I have so much to teach Ronald about business, and he has so much to teach me about life.

I brought over a small laptop computer with an English learning program called “Rosetta Stone” installed on it. Ronald has quickly mastered the program, and I now have him using it every day to teach the rest of our staff English.

English is now the official language of Rwanda, and their President, Paul Kagame, has asked every Rwandan to serve their country by working hard to learn English.

One of Musanze Inc’s first challenges is to build a highly trained and productive staff so having Ronald teaching them English is a big step in the right direction.

I am also having Ronald further his own formal education, which has been long interrupted because of his commitment to his family. Ronald will study this summer and fall and sit for the Rwandan equivalent of his GED exam in November.

I’m sure you’ll get to know Ronald more in future posts, but know this, while Ronald’s story is as inspiring as it is unimaginable, it’s not unique. I’m in a country surrounded by heroes like Ronald, and it inspires me every day to pursue with all my might the vision God has given Musanze Inc… a vision to help Rwandans build their own way forward.