Gentille Dusenge

Gentille Dusenge completed her SNHU bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Management with a concentration in global perspectives from Kepler’s Kiziba campus in September of 2020. Now she works as a Community-based Protection Intern at the UNHCR while providing for her family. Working in the humanitarian sector is a dream come true for Gentille, who is now able to give back to the refugee communities where she grew up. She’s been growing into her powerful voice as an advocate for education and gender equity, starting with her election as Student Guild President of Kepler Kiziba and later blooming with her particiption in the first Global Refugee Forum in Geneva.

As the first born in a family of seven, Gentille’s father placed his faith, and a great deal of responsibility, on her caring for the family and doing well in school. Her outstanding achievements in secondary school earned her a government scholarship to university; however, she was ineligible to use it due to her refugee status. Five years later Gentille enrolled in Kepler’s tertiary preparation program and gained the skills and confidence to be admitted into the BA degree program. Gentille balanced motherhood and her studies while shining as a leader in the Kepler community. Now that she’s graduated and moved out of the camp, Gentille is eager to find new avenues for giving others the opportunities she has had.

“The very first thing I gained at Kepler was confidence. Now I’m able to express myself and say ‘no’. I used to feel like the small- est thing in the world, but with Kepler, I realized that I’m someone too. I can let people know what I’m thinking and feeling.”

-Gentille