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Meet MosesMy name is Moses and I was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I had to leave my country when I was very young because of rebels who attacked our village. We were forced to run away from home to save our lives. As we were running, I lost connection with the rest of my family. I had no any other option but to follow the direction where everyone else was going. Eventually, I reached a Catholic church and by the grace of God, I met this woman who noticed I was all alone. I was very young, so she decided to keep me together with her two children. After the rebels came and attacked the Catholic church, we had to run again, this time up to the port on the border of Congo. We waited until we found a way to move from Congo to Zambia. |
When we reached there, the woman helping me decided to leave me alone at a market in Lusaka city. She told me to wait for my family, saying they will find me, and then she continued her journey without me. After sleeping on the street for a few days, some people from an orphanage called Fountain of Hope found me. At that time, I was unable to communicate with them because I did not speak any of the same languages they did. They decided to get me from the street and take me to the orphanage. After some time I started going to school, but still life wasn't easy for me. I had a lot of challenges in learning multiple Zambian languages plus English, but I never gave up because I dreamed of being educated.
My schooling continued to be filled with ups and downs. I had to wait to find a sponsor to help me pay for my school fees starting in grade 8. By 2014, I received academic scholarship from an organization named Modzi who agreed to support my studies at boarding school. I was so grateful for this opportunity and even joined the school basketball team as a new student. In grade 9, I was awarded a gold medal for the inter-provincial team. The reason why I find sports important is that they keep you busy and keep you from getting into bad things. In grade 10, I switched schools again and academics became even more challenging for me. I failed that year, but I refused to give up. I decided it was best for me to repeat grade 10 even though all my friends were moving on to grade 11. The same school year, one of the guys who had been with me from the orphanage was expelled from school for doing drugs. This was such a big lesson for me. The following year when I was in grade 11, I lost my best friend from the orphanage. He died very suddenly when he was in his last year at my same school, about to graduate. Not many people complete grade 12 in Zambia so his passing motivated me so much to keep working hard in school. By 2019, I graduated from grade 12 and was even awarded a certificate for outstanding performance in sport activities. After many challenges, I was so very thankful to complete secondary school.
Life continues to teach me lessons. Things and people who are meant to be with you in your life, are there with you forever. I believe that whatever steps you make in life take you closer to your dream and can determine who you want to be in life. No one can make right decisions for you if you yourself haven't made the right decisions yet. Some of my friends who I was with in the same school, the same class even, today have gone back to street life. Some have passed away, some are battling addiction, and some are still fighting to make their life better, just like me. I realize that there are so many children around the world who need help, who need someone who can talk to them and understand how it feels to be an orphan, a street kid, to lose someone important. No one chooses to suffer in whatever situation they are in. If I spend the rest of my life without changing someone else's life, I will feel like I'm being selfish. I want to create a cycle of change. I'm sure some day, the people I help will want to also go and change someone else's life and again that next person will change someone else's life. My past is in the past, it's my future that I have to focus on. So now what I am focused on is attending university to learn the best way to help and support other people around the world. I have passed through a lot in life, which has made me to be who I am today. Today, I dream of helping others however I can.
My schooling continued to be filled with ups and downs. I had to wait to find a sponsor to help me pay for my school fees starting in grade 8. By 2014, I received academic scholarship from an organization named Modzi who agreed to support my studies at boarding school. I was so grateful for this opportunity and even joined the school basketball team as a new student. In grade 9, I was awarded a gold medal for the inter-provincial team. The reason why I find sports important is that they keep you busy and keep you from getting into bad things. In grade 10, I switched schools again and academics became even more challenging for me. I failed that year, but I refused to give up. I decided it was best for me to repeat grade 10 even though all my friends were moving on to grade 11. The same school year, one of the guys who had been with me from the orphanage was expelled from school for doing drugs. This was such a big lesson for me. The following year when I was in grade 11, I lost my best friend from the orphanage. He died very suddenly when he was in his last year at my same school, about to graduate. Not many people complete grade 12 in Zambia so his passing motivated me so much to keep working hard in school. By 2019, I graduated from grade 12 and was even awarded a certificate for outstanding performance in sport activities. After many challenges, I was so very thankful to complete secondary school.
Life continues to teach me lessons. Things and people who are meant to be with you in your life, are there with you forever. I believe that whatever steps you make in life take you closer to your dream and can determine who you want to be in life. No one can make right decisions for you if you yourself haven't made the right decisions yet. Some of my friends who I was with in the same school, the same class even, today have gone back to street life. Some have passed away, some are battling addiction, and some are still fighting to make their life better, just like me. I realize that there are so many children around the world who need help, who need someone who can talk to them and understand how it feels to be an orphan, a street kid, to lose someone important. No one chooses to suffer in whatever situation they are in. If I spend the rest of my life without changing someone else's life, I will feel like I'm being selfish. I want to create a cycle of change. I'm sure some day, the people I help will want to also go and change someone else's life and again that next person will change someone else's life. My past is in the past, it's my future that I have to focus on. So now what I am focused on is attending university to learn the best way to help and support other people around the world. I have passed through a lot in life, which has made me to be who I am today. Today, I dream of helping others however I can.
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