It was drizzly and crisp the afternoon we met Elisee. The rainy season had commenced earlier that week however the storms had kindly abated the day of Kwita Izina, Rwanda’s baby gorilla naming ceremony. The key tourism event of the year was a grand affair with thousands of spectators, fantastic music and dancing and red carpet treatment for all VIPs, which included any foreigner. There were many reasons to marvel that day however the most memorable event was talking to Elisee Niyonsenga, the founder of Future Vision Acrobats.
Inspired by a televised Cirque du Soleil performance, Elisee overcame intense poverty as a street kid to become a self-taught acrobat. The feats he saw captivated him and within two weeks he accomplished his first backflip, injuring every muscle in his body in the process. But he was happy. After the 1994 genocide, the refugee camps in the Congo, the hardships of living on the street - he felt human again.
During the genocide Elisee’s family fled Gisenyi, a Rwandan town set on the shores of Lake Kivu and a stone’s throw from Congo border. The conditions in the refugee camp were terrible and his mother died. When they returned to Rwanda four years later his father could not find work nor help to support his children. He told his children he loved them but he was to marry another woman with five children of her own and a small house so there was no room for them. Elisee was 12 years old.
He supported his three siblings by selling used containers and avocadoes at the market. For a meal they sometimes bought ‘leftovers’ from restaurants, the food scraped off diners’ plates before they were washed – sometimes the scraps were full of dishwater. It was one of these nights, waiting for the leftovers to be sold, that Elisee saw Cirque du Soleil on television. He was mesmerised. He asked if he could watch the whole program and they told him he could as long as he paid. So began Elisee’s dream.
What if he could become an acrobat and people could pay to see him perform? What if other street kids could do the same? Within 6 months 17 year old Elisee had formed a troupe of three street kid acrobats and they gave their first performance for free to an audience of other street kids. They were wildly received and suddenly had a troupe of 15 children. They had all had a harsh childhood, surviving the genocide to live out of bins and he tells me with no trace of melancholy, “For the first time they could laugh again; they could feel human again.”
The troupe decided to earn money from their performances and use the money to get themselves and other kids into school and off the street. They started touring with a dance group for free to get a reputation and they were so popular the dance troupe started paying them within 2 years of the troupe kicking off. Then their stars were aligned with European tourists possessing circus skills. A Belgium clown trained them in juggling and unicycle skills and paid for a joint tour around Rwanda. A Swedish tourist who was a member of Clowns Without Borders trained them in human pyramids and first aid, more importantly she helped them rent a house when they were still on the street. At one point they were convinced everyone European knew circus tricks and asked every tourist they met to share their circus knowledge.
Clowns Without Borders came to Rwanda with three performers and together with Future Vision Acrobats they toured the Congolese refugee camps in Rwanda. The clowns trained the kids how to perform while making people laugh – and this was magical. They spread joy in refugee camps. Future Vision Acrobats later went on to perform in refugee camps in Sweden, in fact, the troupe has toured Europe three times. In addition to Sweden they have also performed in France, Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary and Belgium. Elisee was invited to speak at conferences and was provided training in how to manage a business. During one trip the troupe performed at the Berlin street festival and 8 acrobats made enough money for the school fees of 77 Rwandan children. They were living their dream. They were flying.
But life has its ups and downs. Not so long ago Elisee was in a car accident. While he was recovering in hospital some friends of his evicted the kids living in the troupe’s house. Then they sold the house. He tells me all this with animation but without animosity. I was dumbfounded by his equanimity. All this came out when we were speaking about his faith; he told me his mother was his source of faith as she had prophesied accurately of several things including fleeing the war and of a betrayal by his closest friends. She had told him that there will come a time when those dearest to you will betray you but you must recognise it and forgive them. So he forgave them. He tells me with the slightest shrug that it probably stopped him from going jail since he sidestepped revenge.
There are now 25 children that the acrobats support and the troupe still provide free training to kids who want to feel alive again. They are offering acrobat summer camps in Kigali and Musanze and perform all over Rwanda. They are enthusiastic about working with international acrobats for further training and joint tours. Elisee also harbours a wish to tour Australia. When I ask why he says with a huge, enthusiastic grin, “Hillsong!” It turns out Elisee and his friend, Anaclet are big fans of the musical church and have four of their albums. They were delighted to play Hillsong music clips for me all night.
If anyone is visiting Rwanda or thinking of visiting Rwanda, I have three recommendations:
1) see the gorillas;
2) do the Congo-Nile trail at Lake Kivu; and
3) catch one of Future Vision Acrobat’s performances. Elisee is the Managing Direct and his contact details are directly below (there's also a flyer of his at the end):
futurevisionacrobat@gmail.com, +250 783399056
After a long chat well into the depths of the night I asked Elisee if he had a message he wanted to share with my family and friends, the people who read this. He said this:
To young people: keep following their dreams and pray. When you pray to God you have 100% chances to do the right things and that will work out. Praying to God gives me hope that if it doesn’t work now it will work in the future. Just keep it up and work hard, pray to God. My four purposes were to pray to God and to have positive wisdom; light up in the hearts of the people by using your talents; education; to do everything possible to give development for future hope. We use talent for the bridge of our goals.
To the world: togetherness is power. Helping people is giving to a future life. You will get more than what you can give.
