A place to call home
By Patti Smith | .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Vestine Muhoza remembers watching planes fly over her village in Rwanda when she was a little girl.
She thought flying would be fun and dreamed of becoming a pilot.
“I love traveling so much,” she said. “I want to travel the whole world.”
A little later on in childhood, she changed her mind and thought of becoming a police officer to help bring about justice.
“I wanted to do something that would not just help me but help others as well,” she said.
Muhoza, 18, has settled on becoming a doctor. She will graduate from Oldham County High School this month and major in pre-med at Centre College in Danville, Ky., in the fall. She hopes
to work for the United Nations Children’s Fund, commonly known as UNICEF, where she can help care for children in third world countries. Muhoza benefited from UNICEF as a child and is
passionate about being part of the good it does for those in need.
She was orphaned when her parents were among the more than 800,000 Rwandans murdered by genocide in 1994. She was not even a year old. Muhoza lived with different family
members as a small child and went to a religious boarding school in Uganda when she turned 7.
A teacher at the school talked with her about the Lord.
“She helped me through many things, and that’s how I got to know God and who He really is,” she said. “All my life, He has planned out for me wonderful things.”
At 15, Muhoza moved to Louisville with an uncle who had come to the United States to earn his college degree. She started coming to Southeast with her uncle’s wife, where the two met Teri
Ashley. Ashley quickly became acquainted with the family, and offered to take in Muhoza so she could have more opportunities in a new environment.
“People here are really nice. They help each other,” Muhoza said. “They are different.”
When Ashley learned Muhoza needed a place to stay, there was no question in her mind that she and her husband would offer their nearly empty nest. Muhoza has been just as much a gift
to the Ashleys as they have been to her.
“When my uncle told me (about the impending move), I was kind of sad. I mean, I didn’t really know her,” Muhoza said of the woman she now refers to as “Mom.”
Then she reflected on all the different homes she lived in while growing up, and it made her feel better about it.
“I was used to it and told myself, ‘I can do this. I have done this before.’ After two months, they felt like family.”
Muhoza has spent three years with the Ashleys, who have legal guardianship of her for educational purposes. They plan to see her through college and beyond.
“Sometimes I don’t know why God does these things,” Muhoza said as she reflects on His goodness in providing a place for her to call home. “He just does.”