From Despair to Action: Rubayiza ’13 Turns Personal Tragedy into Serious Action — and Hope

John Rubayiza is a warm, humble and good-natured Holy Cross second-year student. Born in Rwanda in 1989, he is graced with a smile that makes you feel comfortable in his company immediately. He is well traveled, speaks six languages and is committed to his spiritual, personal and academic development. Oh, and he plays volleyball too. Clearly, he is the kind of kid every parent would be proud to call “son.”

Yet for Rubayiza, this will never be. In 1994, he lost his father, along with his brother and a sister in the Rwandan genocide. Ten years later, in a Ugandan refugee camp of 5,000 people, he lost his mother mysteriously. “Someone poisoned her,” Rubayiza says, “over issues of land, and her friendships with the Ugandans.”

Orphaned, with sisters to care for, Rubayiza’s life in the refugee camp had taken a bleak and tragic turn. But rather than sinking into despair, he chose to take action. At 15, faced with the deteriorating tribal relationships between the refugees and the native Ugandans — competing for food, water and land — Rubayiza set his sights on helping the two sides come together.

To that end, he enrolled in a college in Italy to broaden his horizons. While there, he joined a group called Constructive Engagement in Conflict, a program that advocated non-violent responses to various conflicts. With the help of one of the program’s founders, an American named Selena Sermeno, Rubayiza brought his knowledge back to the refugee settlement in Uganda and initiated something he called the Peacemakers Club in 2008.

Today, that club enables refugees, together with their neighbors, to resolve conflict without resorting to violence. “My motivation for this was that I never wanted to see something like this happen again,” he says. “The Rwandan people were stigmatized by the genocide, and the Ugandans had no idea what had really happened to these people.”

Rubayiza’s effort helped him win a prestigious scholarship offered by the Davis Projects for Peace program, a scholarship program founded by philanthropist Kathryn W. Davis in 2007. The scholarship was one of 100 $10,000 projects awarded each year to undergraduate students from around the nation, put into action around the world.

With the money, Rubayiza spearheaded construction of what he called a peace information center, for both Ugandans and Rwandans, equipped with television, a DVD player and a place to communicate. Rubayiza also used money to mobilize people and organize awareness festivals. “We sensitize young people to violence and teach them peace in schools and churches,” he says. “We work to help strengthen their knowledge about peace and conflict resolution.”

Of course, the Davis funding only went so far. Rubayiza had to use some of his own savings from an internship in order to complete construction on the center. “This entire project is motivated by compassion and love,” he says, when asked the vague question “why?” “Sometimes I just feel I have to do something. I just have to help people, I see my past and I see where I am today and I know there’s hope for so many.”

Rubayiza came to Holy Cross last year. After meeting with an admissions officer in Italy, he was drawn to the school’s motto, “men and women for others.” “This was very important in helping me make my choice,” he says. “Based on the background and seeing people suffer in refugee camps, I felt I had to be a man for others.”

Currently, Rubayiza is focusing on designing his own political science/international studies major, and figuring out what’s next in the grand scheme of his life.

“It’s strange,” he says, laughing. “I actually don’t belong to any country. I don’t have a passport, because I can’t get one from Uganda — I am not Ugandan — and I can’t get one from Rwanda because I am a refugee. I have official UN papers, but no passport. Where do I belong?” he asks rhetorically.

“Well,” he reflects, “I want to be a political leader somewhere. I’m just not sure where!”

By Bob Gulla

Bob Gulla is a Rhode Island-based journalist and author with bylines in magazines such as People, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and Details. Gulla also has a handful of book credits to his name, all titles relating to his passion: rock music.

Related Information:

* Read about last year’s Davis Projects for Peace recipient from Holy Cross: “Piantini ’11 Brings Children from Haiti and Dominican Republic Together”