Sandra Uwiringiyimana

Sandra is the author of the novel and the narrator. She was born and raised in the Congo region of Africa, though she made the point that she never really fit in there because she was a member of the Banyamulenge tribe, a people who are stateless. Sandra described a happy childhood. She spend several years in Uvira, where the family lived a relatively comfortable life. However, they were constantly under the threat of violence from new conflicts that sprang up in the area. They fled their home, sometimes living with friends or relatives and sometimes going to refugee camps until her parents deemed it safe to return home. She was focused on education from an early age, partly because her parents expressed their belief in the importance of education. She worked to be at the top of her class and was devastated when she missed...