Marie-Claire U.N (Mimi)
My names are Marie-Claire Uwamahoro Nyinawumuntu known as Mimi to many family and friends. I love to interact with people. Some of my many include having a good conversation, dancing, reading books and writing poems.
Originally, I am from Rwanda in Gisenyi, a city located in North West. I grew up in a small village called Nyundo. We left when I was 9 years old and moved to the city of Gisenyi. Later on we moved to Kigali, the Capital of Rwanda in 1992. Then I finally settled in 2005 when I moved to the UK.
Currently, I live in the United Kingdom (UK), Scotland in Edinburgh where I have been for the last 15 years and half when I came to do my Masters. I am married and a mum of two daughters. I identify myself as a citizen of the world as result of my perspective on life and the fact that who I am today is a blend of many worlds different cultures. I speak three languages fluently; Kinyarwanda (Mother tongue), French and English and understand a few more. Languages have always fascinated me. I love to explore different perspectives hence the name of our Blog. A glimpse of perspective! Just like I am sharing a glimpse of my life out of a million I could share.
A Civil Engineer by Profession, I also work for a Sustainable Transport charity for a nearly three years . My career background is in Highways and Transportation and Active Travel and I have been working for more than 16 years. I am a Published Poet and loves to write about life in general. My public speaking usually involves talking about my life experience or empowering young people in STEM. I am a survivor of the 1994 genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda. Watch this space for information about this experience and how it shaped my whole life and that of my family.
This platform will also be a space I use to share poems. Poetry saved me when I was at my lowest point and since then I have used it as a tool to deal with my emotions, on my healing journey as well to support my friends, family and colleagues, mostly when they are going through difficult times.Consider me a fan of social interaction, questions, observations and understanding people and things around me. I was an inquisitive and observant child and still carry some of that with me in my adulthood.
One of the things I do love the most is being a mum, a parent. I found pleasure in being with my children, explore the world with them with all the joys, pain, challenges and growth it brings! This is one of the greatest source of joy in my life.
I have also forged incredible friendships over the years, despite moving from my country of origin more than 15 years ago I still sustain many of those friendships years later, including my High School mates, but mostly those forged at University, a time I look back to and feel grateful as it made and saved me especially confidence wise and in finding myself in the adulthood journey. Also, I have made a lot more friends in the UK, Scotland, a country that has become my second home.
I am very open and love to communicate and lately I have been finding this part the most challenging part when close relationship/relationships involved. This will be one of the personal subjects I will be sharing with you whenever I am ready to.
Naturally I’m a joyful person. As a child I was a people pleaser, being one of the youngest siblings and Dad’s girl. However with the challenges of growing up and as result of being a survivor of Genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda, losing my Dad and my sister as result, being a woman in male dominated industry I found myself in situations where I had to stand up for myself, too many times for my liking.
Sometimes, those close to me have shared with me this observation. “Mimi birakorohera kuvuga ibintu bigoye” close translation in English will be, you really find it easy to bring/talk about difficult issues/conversations! Mostly I get surprised and sometimes smile about it and say, ” It is not because I like to bring up difficult subjects, it is simply because I care about my relationships enough to make sure they are authentic. There is that but also the fact that I have find myself in many situations where I had to stand up for myself or others.”
Many family and friends call me Mimi , a nickname given when I was a small baby and always felt connected to it. At work, close colleagues call me MC short for Marie-Claire. Going forward I will be using Mimi MC to sign some of my posts mostly poems as I tend to use it when signing them.
This is me for now and I am hoping you will get to know me more through what I will be sharing here, on our blog; A Glimpse of Perspective
Olive
Where does one start to talk about oneself? What to include? What not to include? One post would never be enough but I will try and summarise who I think I am. I might say a version of who I think I am that is different from your perception of me.
My names are Olive Umurerwa.I was born and raised in Kigali, capital city of Rwanda, currently residing in United Kingdom since 2017. We moved when my life partner got a training post in National Health Service (NHS). The journey with my partner is a long one and that would be for another post.
I am a full-time mother, and part-time web developer. I am basically the one behind the design of this blog. . I am a mother to two daughters ( 5 years and 2 and half years old) who take up most of my time
People who know me agree that I do not speak a lot, I shy away at first. Until I got to know someone better then I decide to share my thoughts. I hope to come out of my shell with this blog.
I relax by listening to music and watching TV. I have lately discovered a new hobby of jogging, not only it allows me to disconnect from everything around , it is also my alone time. Having young children, my mind is always pulled here and there while thinking everything ahead. Jogging has been my special time.
As a reserved person, it can be challenging to forge new friendships, especially in a new country with a new culture. Friends make a big part of my life, they keep me grounded, and I can always rely on them on anything. I have maintained some friends from high school, and uni and now I have friends from all the corners of the world. It always amazes me how we approach and interpret life differently, and I always learn from it.
