A Goatherder from Rubaya: The Odyssey of an African Aid Worker

François Batalingaya was among the least likely of the least likely to live a life of impact. Born in the remote north of Rwanda in the Rubaya Valley, he lost his mother when he was three, his father when he entered third grade, and his only brother at the age of 12. Alone, he pressed on to keep the two promises he had made to his father: 1) that he would go as far in school and get as much education as he could, and 2) that he would always look after the goats. These became his lifeline. He was able to excel at school and went on the get a scholarship to study in the United States, and selling of the goatherd his father left him, little by little, would pay his school fees through high school so that he could do so.Returning to Rwanda, he planned to settle in as a college professor and raise a family, but with his wife about four months pregnant, the Rwandan civil war and genocide turned neighbor against neighbor. Fleeing for their lives, they skirted the Rwandan border through Lake Kivu and settled with family in Uganda, not far from their home. There, through a chance encounter with a Western NGO, François launched into the career that would be his life’s work: becoming a humanitarian health worker in the direst of circumstances: war zones, natural disasters, famines and droughts, complex humanitarian emergencies of all kinds.François’s story—fleeing rebel factions, held hostage by child soldiers, traversing jungles and rivers to reach the unreached, working world politics for the sake of saving the lives of desperate women and children—shows the effects of an undying will to good even in the worst of situations. Do you think one person can’t make a difference? François’s story will show you otherwise. Read it for inspiration, read it to better understand the world we live in, read it for wisdom about the best way to do humanitarian work, and read it as a story of possibilities. There’s something in these pages for every person longing for purpose and to make a difference for others. Read, learn, and then go out and fulfill your own calling. The world is waiting. Read more