Growing up during the Second Congo War, Chiruza was exposed to constant violence. He was just a child when he escaped the Congo, first resettling in Uganda, and then in the United States. He left home with his sister and two step-brothers, forced to abandon everyone and everything else he knew.
Life in Uganda was safer than in the Congo, but not easy, and going to school—Chiruza’s true passion—was not an option. He would still show up, only to get sent home every day because he didn’t have the tuition money.
At age 11, Chiruza started making bags out of scratch paper, selling them to local stores when plastic bags were planning to be banned. Soon, he was able to pay for rent, school, and food, and he even used the extra profits to start an organization helping refugee children to go to school. By the time Chiruza left Uganda in 2019, his paper bag business employed 49 people. The school sent him off with scholarship money to keep studying.
Arriving in the U.S., Chiruza felt misled by his image of the “American Dream.” Everything was expensive, and the road ahead seemed overwhelming. He discovered the Immigrant and Refugee Health Program and Boston Center for Refugee Health and Human Rights at Boston Medical Center (BMC), where he received medical care and help navigating life in the U.S. “I could call them for anything that came up. They really understood me.”
Chiruza enrolled in Boston Public Schools’ Newcomers Academy and found a full-time job. He often did his homework on the bus and slept only three hours at night. “A lot of people told me to stop studying and focus on working. But I was never going to give up on my dream to go to college.” His hard work paid off, and today, Chiruza is finishing up his first year as a biology major at UMass Amherst. He plans to go to medical school so he can “change the world, especially in the medical field.”
Chiruza is forever grateful to BMC, Boston Private Industry Council, Boston Public Schools, and the Northeastern University–BPS collaboration Bridge to Calculus for helping him along the way, and to Vertex Pharmaceuticals for awarding him a full scholarship to college.
Chiruza’s message to other refugees: “Remember who you are and where you come from. Anything can happen when you believe in yourself. Light your light from within and keep the faith.”
Learn More about the Immigrant and Refugee Health Program at BMC
Learn More about the Boston Center for Refugee Health and Human Rights