Esther Uwase, 19, had many questions about life and this prompted her to write a book, using experience as an answer to those questions. Her book, “License to Thrill”, she says, is a path to the revival of excitement in life. When she was little, a family member told her on many occasions that underprivileged people are always angry, frustrated, and can’t live a contented life because emotions like joy and excitement can’t be aligned with poverty. Uwase grew with this mind-set, but as years went by, her mentality started to change based on what she had seen. “I noticed that feelings are diverse, so I started to question myself, what is normal and what is not?” she says. She notes that negative emotions such as anger, guilt, and pessimism inhibit one’s potential to thrive. She tried so hard to keep her head high and not be dismayed by destructive mentality and beliefs. She then looked into her own life, was there any secret to a stimulating life? After a long time, she came to the realisation that “thrill” doesn’t come from materialistic achievement, but being in harmony with oneself, and this became the mantra she’s carried with her to this day. The author says she discovered that when the mind is clear, the body mirrors one’s inner self. “And it’s all about fulfilling your responsibility, the hope of tomorrow, and you can find hope when you are doing nothing. Poverty, wealth and all things people create in their minds are an illusion,” she says. She adds that it is important to devote time and effort to strengthening one’s mind to develop clear ideas and see beauty in everything, rather than live with difficulty. And in order to achieve this, the little things need to be appreciated. She says the best way to get delight is to design a life that practices the art of appreciation, and living to the fullest instead of just existing. “It’s all about opening ourselves to new experiences, embracing our personalities and remaining independent, but never forgetting to help others,” she adds. According to the writer, if we make our lives a thrilling journey, we will always have a contented smile and abundant pleasure in our hearts. She gets her ideas from interacting with people from all walks of life with various views about life, and also from reading books. Because of her zeal to help the disadvantaged, her second publication will be “Helping hands”. Uwase, whose interest in writing started at a young age, used to write for fun. She has since added written poems to her collection, such as “Our past”, “Silent Echo”, “Whom to Love”, and others. Her challenges are mostly lack of finances and discouragement from people around her. She’s been told that at her age, she shouldn’t write about wisdom or instruction. “To be honest, my age has been a great barrier,” says the Rwanda Polytechnic-IPRC student. Although she has written a number of books, Uwase has only managed to publish one. She sells soft and hard copies of her book at Rwf 3,000 and Rwf 4,000 respectively. In her free time, she loves hanging with children.
