Noella pledges to pay school fees for others in future
On Saturday February 22, 2020, Noella Dushakimana stirred a sizeable crowd gathered around the MKUR swimming pool.
A Bachelor of Business Information Technology (BBIT) student at MKUR, she promised to pay school fees for other students in the future. No one prompted or coerced her to say that. She did so voluntarily.
Her declaration was the culmination of a series of events that began in September 2018. Before then, earning a university degree and a promising career were a pipe dream.
It all changed when she received a scholarship from Imbuto Foundation, courtesy of MKUR. The scholarship guaranteed that she would study smoothly because her fees will have been paid. “Growing up in a less privileged community not only posed financial and educational challenges to me, but also helped me to become aware of the value of university education,” she said, explaining that she was a recipient of an MKUR scholarship through Imbuto Foundation.
In the presence of the assembled crowd, Noella informed MKUR chairman Prof. Simon Gicharu: “Your generosity inspires me in greater ways to help others in my future, so I would be able to equally give back to the community. I hope that one day I will be able to support other students to achieve their academic goals just as you have done for me.”
Noella completed her high school studies in 2017 from GSNDL, scoring 73 out of 73 points. This earned her a place in the University of Rwanda’s College of Science and Technology. She was to study computer engineering. However, Noella was of a different mind. Her interest was in BBIT.
Furthermore, as she explains, she could not take her place at the University of Rwanda because she was already busy during the day taking a video production course.
“For my degree, I wanted to do an evening course and this was not possible at the university the government had placed me in,” says Noella. So, she applied for the MKU scholarship. She was successful.