“My grandparents used to tell me Rwanda is a country unlike any other, and I knew they spoke the truth. Blessed with majestic mountains and breathtaking valleys, it is a sacred and spiritual land. And yet Rwandan men drenched the land in blood in acts of hate so horrific that the stains of those three years will not fade in one hundred lifetimes.”

At the age of eight, Alpha Nkuranga made a fateful decision. With war raging around her, she grabbed the hand of her younger brother, Elijah, and ran from her grandparents’ home. When they came to a swamp, they hid until it was safe to escape. Weeks later, they joined a group of refugees, who were fleeing to Tanzania. “If I kept walking,” Alpha remembers thinking, “I could tell my story.”

Nkuranga emigrated to Canada more than a decade later. She now works with women and children who face abuse and homelessness. In Born to Walk, she tells a remarkable story of resistance and survival.

Alpha Nkuranga fled her village as an eight-year-old during the Rwandan civil war of 1994 and subsequently lived in refugee camps in Tanzania and Uganda, where she overcame the odds to graduate high school and attend university. She came to Canada as a refugee in 2010 and currently lives in Kitchener, Ontario, where she works for Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region.

Alpha Nkuranga's profile page

“A gripping tale of resilience, terror, trauma, and survival, Alpha Nkuranga’s Born To Walk took me on a journey. Her story is essential: a testament to the scars, sacrifices, and steps that make us who we are. I’m in awe after reading this book.”

Matthew R. Morris, author of <i>Black Boys Like Me</i>

“Alpha Nkuranga comes from a country where women are often forbidden to dream. As a thirteen-year-old, she entered the classroom illiterate. Her goal was so simple — just to read. Not even Alpha could have imagined how far her education would take her. Beginning in war-torn Rwanda, her harrowing journey carries her on to Uganda and, against all odds, continues in Canada. This is a spine-tingling, true story of determination and resilience that will change and inspire all who read it.”

Sharon E. McKay, author of <i>War Brothers</i>