October 2002
12/3/2002 12:00:00 AM | General
Driven to succeed
Four years later, Rugema figures out why he's at ACU
By COURTNEY McINNIS
Office of Sports Information
On a January day in 1999, a dark, skinny-legged, 19-year-old from Burundi stepped out of a plane at the Abilene Regional Airport and was greeted by the most frigid air he had ever felt.
After the 8,592-mile journey, his first thought was "What am I doing here?"
Alfred Rugema (pronounced ru-GAY-muh), a French-speaking native of Bujumbura, Burundi, was greeted by head cross country and track and field coach Jon Murray.
Once the shock of the cold wind subsided, Rugema was reminded of the reason he came to America, and on this day his athletic career at Abilene Christian University was born.
Rugema placed seventh in the NCAA Division II National Cross Country meet last fall after not competing for an entire season because of a leg injury. He was also the first person to win an individual men's national championship title in cross country last season. At the same time that title helped ACU finish in second place overall, the team's best ever finish for cross country.
"Alfred is goal driven and has a desire to succeed," Murray said. "He has some world-class times, and I think he can run after school if he can get some support."
Rugema came to ACU after hearing about the track and field program through another Burundian and close friend, Gilbert Tuhabonye (tuh-ha-bon-yay).
Tuhabonye met Murray while training for the 1996 Summer Olympic games in Georgia. After months of correspondence between Rugema and Murray, Rugema was able to leave his civil war stricken home with hope of future success in the United States.
Both of Rugema's parents, his sister and one of his four brothers were killed by his next door neighbors in the ethnic cleansing wars of central Africa. Rugema, then age 11, was attending a boarding school near a safe Burundian army base 300 miles away. A surviving brother informed him of their deaths.
"I never got to say goodbye," he said. "It feels like I have a permanent hole in me that I can never fill. I said goodbye to them to go to school and while I was gone they were killed."
Rugema said he was angry, but revenge is not his goal. "I do not want to personally avenge my parents death. I believe that the people who killed my family will get their judgment. I am not supposed to be the one to judge them."
Rugema and his family were outnumbered by the opposing tribe, the Hutus (who-twos), which made up 85 percent of the Burundi population. Tuhabonye, Rugema and his family belonged to the Tutsis, which made up14 percent. The Tutsi's were blamed for the assassination of the first democratically elected Hutu president of Burundi ,Melchoir Ndadaye (nahd-aye),in 1994.
While the death of the Hutu president sparked the war that Rugema's parents and siblings died in, dispute between the two tribes has been occurring since the democratic government was established in the early 1960s.
"I just can't believe it," Rugema said. "It's crazy. There was trouble before this president. One tribe was trying to exterminate the other."
Rugema and his surviving siblings do not know the details of their family's death and were time did not allow for a funeral. Their grieving was non-existent because they were forced to flee for safety. Five years later, after Rugema finished grade school, he headed for the U.S.
Rugema's three brothers are still residing with friends in Burundi, but they can never return to the place they once called home.
In the midst of death and despair, Rugema was able to find hope. Hope is still visible in his face today.
"Anyone can do it," Rugema said. "I am not special. It is all in your mind and every day it becomes more and more enjoyable."
He glides across campus after practice on what he calls "the flattest land I have ever seen," during his "light jogs" of six or seven miles a piece. Little physical stress is visible on his body because running has always been natural for him.
Rugema grew up running through the hills and mountains of Africa, a place he thinks of every day and misses often. Some days he would run as far as 20 miles at a time and enjoy every step.
God gave him the ability to run, he has refined it and because of that he wants to keep on running. Rugema plans to meet his long distance goal of 26 miles before he gets "too old."
Before the fall semester began the cross-country team took a trip to New Mexico where the entire team ran in the mountains and for a little while Rugema felt at home again. He ran 18 miles in 2 hours and 14 minutes.
"It reminded me of what the mountains look like. I felt at home," Rugema said.
Rugema's migration from the mountains of central Africa to Abilene has not always been easy.
"I have worked hard to adjust to a different world," Rugema said. "I prayed to God to help me assess the high goals I set for myself and God answered me.
"A lot of people have my talent, but I want to maximize my time and my opportunity here. I want to be successful in athletics."
Little do students know, senior Alfred Rugema will go down in history as one of the fastest athletes to ever run at ACU.
Any athlete wants to be successful in everything they do, but Rugema has a different view on success than most athletes.
He sees it as his obligation to his mother.
"My mom pushed me to go to school and be successful and I want to honor her. I wish she could see me being successful here and I know she can. I can see her in heaven and I want her to know that I kept my promise."
After losing his parents and two siblings in the civil war of central Africa, Rugema holds his remaining family close to his heart. He speaks to his three brothers in Africa regularly, and in 2001 Rugema enlarged his family.
When Rugema began attending Holy Family Catholic Church in Abilene with Tuhabonye, he met James and Mary Gibson Rugema and instantly found a new home in another world. "Some people you meet and you know you like them," James Gibson said, "and you want to have a relationship with them. Adopting Alfred was the best relationship we could think of."
The Gibsons legally adopted Alfred in 2001.
The adoption was simpler than what is encountered by most American parents who are trying to adopt a small child deal with regularly. The Gibsons and Rugema went to court and returned home as a family.
It was so simple; in fact, that the judge told them jokingly that they got off "too easy." The adoption does not make a U.S. citizen, but it does make him officially part of the Gibson family. "The judge asked me three or four questions and it was a gift from God," Rugema said. "I am over 21 and I know what I am doing so it did not make it hard. The adoption mattered to me."
The couple has three older sons, the youngest of whom is 31, and they see Rugema as just as much of a blessing to them as they are to him.
"From what I hear he is tickled to have parents again," Gibson said.
And Gibson is right. Rugema is tickled.
"We became more than friends after meeting at church and now I am a Gibson," Rugema said. "It feels good to have a family and be so far from home. I am fortunate to have them around because they treat me like I am their own son."
James Gibson describes Rugema as an amazingly gentle, responsible and kind person despite the trauma he has been through.
"Even after his Hutu neighbors killed his parents he has no desire to seek revenge," Gibson said. "He must have had a great first set of parents because he is well endowed all the way around. His manners are impeccable, and if he tells you he will do something he will do it."
On the track or field, Rugema is seen as a leader and at home he is a brother to every friend. His love and gentleness have made him a blessing to many.
"He is never angry," said roommate, teammate and Burundian colleague Arthemon Sindayigaya. "We help each other out when things get too busy and he always likes to help."
After spending two years going to practice, class and work together the pair is almost inseparable. "I called him every day last summer while he was training in Canada just to talk to him," Sindayigaya said. "One time I called him to tell him I was eating Alfredo chicken because it reminded me of him. He is not my roommate, he is my brother."
The simple pleasures in life are part of what keeps Rugema happy and humble. He never misses church or forgets to pray before a meal. He gives the team, academics, his jobs at ACU Physical Resources and Pizza Hut all he has everyday.
"He has the ability to work hard and accomplish his goals," Murray said. "He is a genuinely nice person and his teammates respect him for that because they see that. They also respect him for the incredible athlete that he is."
Since coming to ACU, Rugema has dropped almost a minute off of his five-kilometer running time and has a job lined up as a graduate assistant for Murray after graduation in 2003. He plans to get his master's of business administration.
Rugema has seen the dark side of war and pain, but his faith in God, hard work and determination has have made him a world-class athlete.
In 2001, Rugema earned all-America status with his time of 32:14.4 on the 10-kilometer course at the national cross-country meet. He won the 5000 meters at the Southwest Indoor Classic in Houston and finished second in the mile run at the Sooner Invitational and went on to dominate the remainder of the 2000 season for the cross-country team.
Sports Illustrated even picked up on Rugema's success in 2000, after featuring the runner in the column "Faces in the Crowd."
Despite all the miles, titles and success, running is not the most important thing in the world to Rugema. Running is something that is special to him, but not as much as his family.
When asked to describe them the only word he could think of was special. He repeated it over and over, his voice trembling more and more with each word.
He keeps memories of his homeland close to his heart and wants to go back to Burundi to represent that country in the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. However, if the politically unstable situation continues he may not decide to return home because of the risk of his life involved.
"The only other reason I want to go back is for my younger brothers," Rugema said. "I feel I am responsible for them and I want to go back and take care of them."
Unlike many other African athletes at ACU, Rugema has not applied for political asylum in the United States. If he should choose to do so, asylum status will prevent him from ever leaving the U.S. unless it approved travel in advance by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. In response to the asylum status, the U.S. will recognize his country as politically unstable.
This status would prevent him from going back to Burundi to participate in the 2004 Olympics on behalf of his native country and heavily restrict his travel anywhere else outside the U.S.
In order to apply for political asylum Rugema must meet refugee status and since his tribe, the Tutsis, are being wiped out by the Hutus he meets that status.
Rugema is currently unsure of his political future and whether or not he will apply for permanent U.S. citizenship, but one thing is sure.
Aside from running Rugema plans to follow God's will. Whether or not it will be in this country or not, he does not know. But after four years he does know what he is doing in Abilene after all.
