It’s exactly two months before Kwezi begins school and to say that I am excited is an understatement. This for me is another step in this journey that I embarked on a little over four years ago when I got pregnant with my baby and decided that come rain or sunshine, I was ready to be a mother.

I have done enough scouting and finally settled on a school that I think is a good fit. I have had to think about whether I want her to start with French and later take on English but I have settled on her going with the latter. After all, French can be learnt along the way. One of the challenges of raising a child alone is that you have no one to bounce ideas off. You have to do most of the thinking and deciding yourself. As a result, you sometimes even doubt whether you are making the best decision. That said, it’s also important to remember that we are surrounded with friends and family and isolating yourself as a single parent is not helpful to both you and your child, and that has really been helpful.

Every school that I have been interested in and is within the range of the qualities I am looking for is nothing below Rwf400, 000. If you really understand how things work in Kigali, factoring in expenses like rent, food, transport, utilities, a nanny and others, that amount is really high but unless I want something mediocre, I have no option but to pay the money.

In this journey, I have had the opportunity to understand what my mother used to mean when she would say "you can only really appreciate your parents when you have your own children”. I have spent a reasonable amount of time thinking about the kind of stress my parents had to go through to put more than seven children through school, to feed them, to cater for their every need and indeed, I appreciate them more.

That said, I am really looking forward to that day in August when I will drop Kwezi at school and send her off to start the journey that will help shape her future. Will it be challenging to finance that dream? Absolutely, but from where I am standing, that is the main reason why I grudgingly leave my warm bed and head to work. The mission I took on when I chose motherhood is to love and protect and as you may all know by now, these days, nothing comes for free. Apparently not even love. It’s a costly venture but it’s one I am glad to take on, so help me God.