What does it mean to grow up defined by a label you never chose—refugee—and still insist on shaping a life of hope and purpose?

In A Congolese Refugee’s Quest for a Purpose and Better Life, Gentille Meda Dusenge takes readers inside the often-invisible world of displacement, where childhood is spent in the confines of a Rwandan refugee camp and adolescence unfolds under the weight of stigma, poverty, and gendered expectations. From Kiziba’s clay huts to the lecture rooms of Kepler University, from heartbreaking exclusion to the triumph of education, Dusenge charts her journey as a daughter, sister, wife, mother, student, teacher, and advocate. Her story exposes structural violence that constrains millions of displaced people, and challenges systems that silence refugee voices. It is a testimony to the power of persistence, education, and self-determination, while offering a vision of what is possible when refugees become part of the change that is needed. This book is ideal reading for students of Forced Migration, Displacement, Refugee Studies, Migration Studies, Gender Studies, Sociology, and Education Studies, as well as policy makers.

Gentille Meda Dusenge is a Congolese refugee, writer, and advocate whose life journey embodies resilience and purpose. Forced to flee the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1996, she grew up in Rwanda’s Kiziba refugee camp, where she confronted the daily realities of displacement, poverty, and stigma. Her memoir, A Congolese Refugee’s Quest for a Purpose and Better Life, traces her path from clay huts to university lecture rooms, and from exclusion to empowerment through education.

Gentille has built a career dedicated to advancing refugee voices and social justice. She has served as a Humanitarian Program Administrator at Kepler University, supporting refugee students in higher education, and as Policy and Advocacy Officer at Health Development Initiative, where she worked with policymakers and civil society to champion marginalized communities. She has also contributed to refugee youth-led initiatives with UNHCR Kigali and conducted research with the University of Global Health Equity.

Holding a BA in Healthcare Management from Southern New Hampshire University through Kepler, and an Associate degree in Information Technology, Gentille now lives in Canada with her children. She works with the Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia, continuing her mission to help refugees build brighter futures.