Clementine Bihiga, born in 1986, is an inspirational public speaker and published author of "Happily Broken: Discovering Happiness Through Pain and Suffering". At the age of eight, Clementine and her family were forced to flee their home in Rwanda due to the Genocide and Civil war of 1994 which killed almost a million people in 3 months. Clementine and her family lived as refugees in multiple refu
gee camps and settlements before they were admitted to the USA in 1999 as refugees. Clementine who faced many life and death situations at a young age including living in refugee camps and waking up among the dead, being bullied as a high school student and losing a daughter, has turned her tragic past into a positive calling of inspiring others to never give up. When Clementine climbed on a "log" in lake Kivu trying to rescue a shirt taken by the waves and finally realizing it was a dead body, she could have given up. When she was beat almost to death by a motorist on her way home, she could have given up. When she woke up among dead bodies claimed by Malaria, Typhoid, Cholera, etc. When she got to the USA and was bullyied in high school for being different every single day, she would have quit and given up. Life was unforgiving for Clementine but she pressed on. She went on to speak 5 languages, got involved in many organizations such as the Student Leadership Council, World Youth Alliance, the United Nations Agents of Change, the Human Rights Commitee, The Student Achievement in Research and Scholarships and the Student Advisory Commitee for Foreign Discrimination. Clementine was also selected to be on a panel of the Africana Studies at the Stander Symposium and a panel on International Discrimination. She also interned at the New York State Attorney General's Office and worked as a Campaign Fellow for the United Way. All these was accomplished while she was in college. After college, Clementine and her husband Chris, who she met in refugee settlements in Kenya were married and had their son in 2011. As a fulltime mother and a fulltime employee in Healthcare sales, Clementine decided to also get her Masters Degree. She accomplished this in one year and graduate with a 3.9 GPA with a Masters in Public Administration in HealthCare Administration and also earned a promotion at work for exceeding her sales goals by 160% the same year! Clementine is resilient, positive, charming and has an addicting personality. She can be seen speaking at many conferences and groups on topics of Self-esteem, Diversity, Resilience, Working Together, Bullying and Transforming Pain into Happiness. The Clarette Refugee Fund was created by Clementine Bihiga, an award winning Rwandan author and motivational speaker in memory of a daughter she lost in 2014. The Fund’s mission is to support refugee schools around the world by providing refugee students, staff and their families the basics they need to be successful in school. Clarette refugee fund will do this by building food/supply pantries, one refugee school at a time! Clarette Refugee Fund is currently working to build a pantry at a small refugee school called KABIRIA located in the slums of Kenya.
