About Eric Kamanzi

Join the Movement: Empower Refugees. Build Hope. Together!

I am Eric Kamanzi, a Congolese immigrant living in Dallas, Texas. I have an essential message to share. My goal is for you to feel a deep personal connection with my story so that you can empathize and resonate with the experiences, struggles, and achievements I have faced. Through my narrative, I aim to inspire and motivate, providing valuable insights into refugees' and immigrants' challenges and a vivid portrayal of life in my homeland country so that we can join efforts to build a better future for all.

I was born in Nyamitaba Village, Masisi /Kivu region, Democratic Republic of Congo. I grew up surrounded by a close-knit community, immersed in a world rich in diversity and unity. Everyone in Nyamitaba helped each other, creating a discrimination-free environment with inspiring cohabitation.

Unfortunately, this peaceful existence wasn't meant to last. As a result of corrupt leadership, bad governance, the ethnic discrimination remnants of the colonial period, and the impact of Tutsi genocide ideology in the region, our village's peaceful life was disrupted. Hence, at the age of 10, I found myself in a refugee camp, where I spent more than two decades in miserable life.

My grandfather and many other Nyamitabo Kinyarwanda speakers faced persecution due to ethnic discrimination, and local leaders often tried to take our ancestral land.

Inspired by my father, Rusine, a beloved figure in the Nyamitaba village known for his kindness, cared for our village kids without discrimination, especially providing free fashion design services and teaching self-reliance technics for village kids by assigning them small physical activities has fueled my desire to help others using my engineering skills and keep my Dad's legacy by building a Bridge of peace and kindness instead of a wall separating the community.

For over a decade, I have built a career as a civil engineer and project manager in the construction industry. My passion for helping others goes beyond my professional work; I strive to live an impactful life as an Engineer for Humanity. For more than 15 years, I have actively engaged in humanitarian efforts and social entrepreneurship, empowering underserved communities and creating meaningful change through community capacity building, mentorship and sustainable engineering solutions.

I am the co-founder and chairperson of the Forum for Congolese Refugee Students (FCRS)—Amis de la Paix (Friends of Peace), which initiated the Hope School in Gihembe Refugee Camp in Rwanda in 2009. In partnership with refugee camp management, this school has provided education and support to over 400 desperate young refugees in this period, and many young people have completed their high school and university studies. Thank God my community and young people's lives have changed; up until today, this initiative has been an inspirational story to many refugees worldwide and to the rest of the world and has inspired the establishment of several non-profit organizations, including Impact Hope organization. For more information, check the link: https://www.impact-hope.org

Additionally, we have impacted hundreds of refugee youth through mentorship and career guidance programs in collaboration with Frere Malisaba Straton, the Board Chairperson of Engineers4Humanity organization. With over 40 years of experience in education, Frere Malisaba dedicated his life to God and youth education and transformed the lives of many vulnerable youth in East Africa.

Our top priorities as Engineers4humanity organization are inspiring hope, empowering youth, creating prosperous communities, and supporting refugees and vulnerable individuals. Through capacity building, education, vocational training, mentorship, and coaching, we strive to equip refugee youth with the tools they need to become self-sufficient and live dignified and meaningful lives.

My Christian faith is the cornerstone of my beliefs, power, and philanthropy activism. I find solace in the quote from the Bible, Jeremiah 29:

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Our primary mission is to plant the seed of hope in a desperate community by empowering them to be self-reliant.

At Engineers4humanity, we recognize that " if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime." I feel blessed to see some assisted young people fulfill their full potential, and the lives of many have changed. That is our true reward for living a happy and impactful life.

In my free time, I enjoy listening to music. I also enjoy spending quality time with family and friends, reading books, and listening to interpersonal skills development videos or audio.

As a philanthropist and civil engineer, I actively participate in professional associations in East Africa and the USA. I am a member of the Project Management Institute, the Texas Society of Professional Engineers, the Institute of Engineers Rwanda, the Rwandan Association of Environmental Experts, and Engineers Without Borders—USA and Rwanda.

As immigrants in the USA, we established a non-profit organization called the Engineers4Humanity (E4H) Initiative to fulfill our humanitarian mission and give back to the community. This 501(c)(3) organization operates in Dallas, Texas. E4H serves as a sister organization to Engineers4Humanity Consultancy, a social enterprise based in East Africa with its head office in Rwanda.

Both organizations advocate for refugees and immigrants, promoting self-reliance programs through education, capacity building, and job creation. Engineers4Humanity specifically focuses on Refugee Youth Education, transformative capacity building and self-reliance through STEM and vocational training, and public health engineering programs, which aim to enhance Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WAH) in underdeveloped countries and refugee camps while also promoting environmental protection and peace building in the region.

We are grateful that, with our partners, hundreds of young refugees have completed vocational training, high school, and university, and their lives have changed. These milestones inspire us to continue pursuing our vision of building a better world for all.

As a result of wars in every corner of the world, many people need our services, especially refugees/immigrants and displaced people as a result of global conflicts.

Achieving our noble mission requires support from people like you.

Join the engineers4humanity movement to make a lasting, impactful life.

You can support our organization by purchasing this book, making a donation, advocating for our cause, partnering with us, or volunteering, using your skills to benefit our organization.