A brief Narrative of the life of Juste Picasso Nduwayo, written by himself

WHO IS JUSTE PICASSO NDUWAYO?

‘It is axiomatic that if we do not define ourselves for ourselves we will be defined by others for their use and to our detriments.’

Andre LORDE

This writing is not written for purposes of an academic piece with all scholarly theories but it is a simple essay which can be easily read and understood by everyone who knows English. It is an ordinary message to my offspring who can be interested in a small potato like Juste Picasso NDUWAYO, his background from 1985 to 2016. To a large extend, my life philosophy believes in ideas” Pray as one who may die at any moment, but work as one who lives eternally”.

           Juste Picasso Nduwayo was born on September 12, 1985 in an intellectual family and is the first-born in the family with one brother and three sisters. His father, Alphonse Propagande, was a teacher before he became an administrator of Ntega. In 2001, he became a Member of Parliament in the National Assembly. His mother, Ciza Catherine, was a teacher in primary school. Due to the civil war, he and his family fled to refugee camps in Rwanda and Tanzania where he studied.

After returning back to Burundi in 2003, both of his parents passed away and he was left with the responsibility of taking care of his siblings. Picasso raised his siblings well and never gave up pursuing his ambitions and dreams.

Growing up, these events of civil war, the death of his parents, education, and his job experiences significantly shaped his life. Something his parents taught him that he would never forget is: “Be a respectful and hard-working man”.

Picasso created a blog (http://urugendo1962.blogspot.com ), in which he publishes articles inspiring change among young intellectuals. He believes that the youth have immense potential to develop Burundi.

Picasso also taught and helped labor workers at Bukeye washing station to get health care cards. The card costs 3,000BIF ($1.4) and can be used for a whole year by one family to cover 80% of the medical costs in public health centers and hospitals. All laborers are now covered.

While he was working on RTNB, as an Intern in  journalism, Picasso published articles on Burundi magazine: https://burundimagazine.wordpress.com/2013/04/22/twelve-years-later-burundis-problems-will-soon-find-solutionsa-dream-by-juste-picasso-nduwayo/

Juste Picasso Nduwayo is the Bukeye washing station Manager at Long Miles Coffee and he creates a positive work environment for laborers and work to improve the lives of around 2,000 farmers because of specialty coffee. He has helped labor workers at the station get health care cards. Due to education, farmers are changing old prejudices on coffee quality and income from coffee.

Personal facts:

• Favorite childhood memory: My mother teaching me in my first year of primary school.

• Ideal holiday: in my mother land (home), Ntega

• Favorite food: Maize

• Favorite dessert:  Bananas

• Favorite song or artist: Alpha Blondy

• Favorite book or author: “The Audacity Of Hope” by Barack Obama

• Favorite movie: Atlantis

• Favorite actor: Jack Bauer

• Favorite series: Scandal

• Favorite sport: Jogging

• Favorite sport to watch: Football

• Favorite color: Blue

• Mountain cliff or beach?: Mountain Cliff

• Sweet or savory?: Sweet

• iOS or Android?: iOS

• Cappuccino or black coffee?: Cappuccino

§  Three words you’d use to describe yourself: leader, generous, and socially inclusive.

§  One thing you’d like to improve about yourself: planning my long-term goals

§  Hobbies: sketching, writing, reading books and news, publishing articles on blog, on social media, breeding chickens, and farming corn.

§  If you could be an animal, what would you be and why? A Dove because it is a symbol of peace and I prefer negotiations to armed conflict for reasonable causes.

§  Given a chance today, whom would you want to meet? Barack Obama.

§  Life vision: I see myself as an entrepreneur with many agribusiness companies, especially companies that use maize production and livestock to spur community transformation. I hope to create and work with various farmer cooperatives especially the youth to produce a maize and livestock surplus and decrease the number of those living in poverty to less than 5% of the population in Burundi. Equipping farmers with knowledge and modern technical methods is key to this change and sustainable development.                                                    

                   A brief Narrative of the life of Juste Picasso Nduwayo, written by himself