Alice Niyigena From Duha Crowned Best Player of the 2015 National Handball Championship

Alice, 17, is in grade 10 at the Duha School. She is majoring in English, Kinyarwanda and Kiswahili. She comes from a poor family of 5 in rural Musha, Eastern Rwanda.

She joined the Duha School Girls Handball team last year and worked hard and passionately.

“Looking where I come from and the conditions I live in, I feel very excited and honored to be selected as the 2015 handball best young player.

Apart from exercising my muscles, getting stronger and healthier, playing handball on the school team makes me feel more confident as a young woman. I also realized that my talent is an opportunity for growth since I will soon play the East African Handball Championship and get a scholarship to a school-of-excellence.” Said Alice during an interview with REAP Education Coordinator.

Alice wants to keep working hard towards her goal to play on the national handball team when she is of the required age. Her team still lacks supplies and their playing field is uneven and rocky, which poses a challenge to developing her skills. However, Alice’s resilient character sees this obstacle as an incentive to work even harder, “I want to be a role model for other young women.”

Alice holding her certificate