He was fifteen years old when the allure of writing seduced him. That’s what happens. The craft chooses you; you never choose it.
When Melchisedeck Boshirwa was in 8th grade at Dutwe Junior/Minor Seminary in Burundi, one of his friends entered an essay writing competition for the East African region. He won, and the award was handsome.
“At fifteen, when I saw that my friend had penned an essay and won, it motivated me,” Boshirwa told me in November 2025 during an interview he gave me via Google Meet.
Since his friend’s essay triumph, the magnetic pull of writing and creating tugged at Boshirwa’s heart. Something bubbled from the seat of his soul, and the universe conspired to get him on the path of writing.
“Later, when I was in my eleventh grade,” he told me, “one of my teachers encouraged me to start writing poetry.”
Boshirwa accepted the challenge. It was a no-brainer; the art had rapped on the door of his soul for a while now. He rolled up his sleeves and started creating poetry in French (Schools in Burundi teach in French).
When we answer the call of pre-ordained destinies, things begin to happen. For Boshirwa, he had tipped the first domino in what was to become his destiny. The gates of his career began to swing open.
The poet in the boy
By the time he was in his final year of secondary school, Boshirwa had completed a poetic play in French. He entered it into a poetry prize competition and won.
“I was awarded a hundred and fifty dollars,” Boshirwa recalled. “It was the first time in my life that writing had earned me some money, so this came as a big encouragement. ‘So I can make a living out of writing?’ I marvelled.”
The excitement of winning became the fuel he burned to keep the fire alight in his soul. And when the time to join the university came, he was admitted to the English Language and Literature Faculty at the University of Burundi, expecting to study Communication and Journalism in his second year. He, however, ended up joining the university’s Institute of Applied Pedagogy in the English department and pursued a degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).
Like a puzzle in the hands of a master puzzle-cracker, Boshirwa’s life kept unfolding, each piece fitting well. A divine power guided him.
“Inspired by one of my professors, I opened a book in which I had hand-written many of my poems, and I typed them into a Word document. What I now had was a manuscript, a collection of poems and poetic plays in French.”
Poetry is my art and my bonanza
With the help of the University of Burundi, a publisher in Italy noticed the manuscript and invested in it. Boshirwa’s new poetry collection, titled ‘La poésie est mon art et mon pactole’ (Poetry Is My Art and My Bonanza), was published in Italy.
The University of Burundi, proud of this son, awarded Boshirwa a certificate of merit. The news spread throughout Burundi, and soon, Burundian media platforms featured him.
“Media platforms were surprised and wanted to know who this young boy was, who had published a poetry book in Italy,” Boshirwa narrated. “They wanted my story. Just like that, the limelight had searched and found me.”
When Boshirwa graduated in 2019, one of the media organisations immediately hired him. He was an up-and-coming star, and the organisation knew that winning his talent would benefit them.
“Initially, I knew I’d become a teacher of English, but I ended up a journalist in a newsroom, assigned to cover the culture, environment, entrepreneurship and arts stories,” the youthful bard of ‘Poetry Is My Art and My Bonanza’ chuckled as he told me.
The pie in the sky
However, after only about two and a half years working with the organisation, deceitful charm, like the serpent of ancient days, snaked its way to Boshirwa and gave him an apple that would throw him off balance.
“A friend,” he narrated, “approached me with a deal that watered my mouth.”
Below is the re-imagined conversation between Boshirwa and the friend.
‘There’s an organisation seeking someone with your skillset. You speak both French and English, and you’re adroit at storytelling and communication. Just the guy for the job. And you won’t believe the pay, it’s handsome. You’ll be set for good!’
‘Really? What should I do to get this opportunity?’
‘It’s simple. Show up at their offices and sign the contract. Tomorrow. I already did the heavy-lifting by recommending you.’
‘As soon as tomorrow?’
‘Yes. As a matter of fact, write to your boss immediately and tender your resignation!’
The deal was too good. The way it whetted Boshirwa’s appetite for career growth, his brain shut its doors to the saying ‘when the deal is too good, think twice’.
“I had done some freelance work for East African Educational Publishers (EAEP) based in Kenya, helping them proofread French and Kirundi curriculum books. The compensation was two thousand dollars. As soon as I confirmed the money had hit my account, I tendered my registration and prepared for my new era in the new organisation recommended by my friend.”
In hindsight, a part of Boshirwa had doubted the new deal. It was the reason he had to ensure the EAEP money was in his account before resigning. He wanted a safety net in case things went pear-shaped.
And things went pear-shaped.
“The next day, the material day I was to sign my contract, the organisation told me that I couldn’t sign it yet because there were no funds!” Boshirwa recalled, a hint of shock in his voice.
I wanted to know whether he was scared now that his career’s chestnut was in the fire.
“I wasn’t scared. I knew I had two thousand dollars in my account, which, converted into Burundian currency, was a lot of money.”
How COVID-19 and fake news gave birth to Andika Solutions and Andika Magazine
Back when Boshirwa was working as a journalist at the media platform that hired his talent after he graduated, something had happened during the COVID-19 outbreak between 2020 and 2021. As the virus first broke out in China, it made headlines worldwide. Soon, it spread beyond borders, leaving piles of bodies. Newsrooms worked around the clock to cover the story and provide the public with information.
It was on this backdrop that one of Boshirwa’s colleagues wrote a fake COVID-19 story. The colleague was overtaken by the ‘allure’ of being the first to break a story. An unverified story. After the publication, the media organisation picked up his story as fake news. The management fired him. Some mistakes are costly in the industry.
This turn of events had an impact on Boshirwa.
“It scared me. I wondered and pondered on what would happen if someday, they laid me off too, for one reason or another. Where would I go, and how would I make a living?”
These thoughts pushed Boshirwa into the deep end of innovation. He registered his company, Andika Solutions, and mapped out the desired path: translation, digital communication, photography and videography services. He also created the Andika Magazine to promote art, creativity, entrepreneurship and environmental stories. Andika Magazine’s motto is ‘Write your own story’.
Entrepreneurship is tough, not a golden street in heaven
So, later, when his employment chestnut was in the fire, when his road forked out unfavourably after he’d resigned for a pie in the sky, he saw only one path to trod down: entrepreneurship.
“Using the two thousand dollars in my account, I rented an office in February 2022, bought a desk, and started building my company. I knew the money would last me a while, and by the time it depleted, I planned to have clinched clients and made more money,” Boshirwa told me.
His dream of clinching clients was never to be.
“I went six months without having a single client! And I was alone, unable to hire staff. For the journalistic stories I churned out, I partnered with networks for information, researched and wrote stories on my own.”
Boshirwa laughed as he commented on how the life of an entrepreneur is tough, though from the title of ‘Founder’ or ‘CEO’, it appears to be a golden street in heaven.
An eleventh-hour twist in the tale
On the seventh month, he knew he’d reached the end of his road. His savings had thinned out from rent payments and the day-to-day running of his company. Yet, he had no fruits to show for it and was beginning to resign to his fate. It’s the risk of entrepreneurship, where nothing is certain. You wade into the murky waters with a vision, a mission, a plan that may go awry, and an inviolable resolve in your heart. Whatever will be, will be!
In a sweet twist to Boshirwa’s tale that seemed cut for failure and frustration, he got a client in the eleventh hour.
“I got a client, a Burundian living in Chicago. She worked in Chicago as a teacher, and earlier, when I worked at my first job, I had interviewed her for a story comparing the education systems in Burundi and the US. I had informed her about my newly-found company. It happened that she had a research trip in Burundi, and she needed my help. She hired me to translate some documents from Kirundi to English and work as an interpreter for her team.”
This single client turned out to be a key that unlocked Boshirwa’s fortunes. Ever since, clients and deals have flowed in.
“I started growing my team. My company, which had been a dwindling flame, was now burning anew with potential and promise. I became the Jack of all trades, going even into digital marketing. My idea was, if I failed in one area, another would work out and keep me afloat,” he narrated.
“I tell you, never relinquish!” advised Boshirwa. “If you look at my social media platforms, that’s a mantra I always share. I inspire everyone to pursue their dreams and never give up. Success belongs to those who can wait.”
Participating in the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders
In 2024, with Andika Magazine growing in leaps and bounds, including getting involved in the making of documentaries and coverage of important stories such as the floods in Gatumba, Boshirwa conceived a new idea.
Calling back to memory the events that got his colleague fired when he was employed as a journalist, he brooded on the metastasising cancer of misinformation and disinformation. What could he do about it? Under Andika Magazine, he incubated Andika Check, a fact-checking resource for organisations, journalists and the general public.
He put the idea forth in his Mandela Washington Fellowship application and was selected. Between June and July 2025, he participated in the six-week-long fellowship, placed in the Business track at the University of Texas at Austin. After the fellowship, he also participated in a Professional Development Program, PDE, offered to select fellows. The PDE took him to Planet Forward at George Washington University, where, for a month, he honed his skills in storytelling for the environment.
In hindsight, Boshirwa believes that every event in his life has been within his destiny. He no longer sees his resignation from his job as a wrecking moment, after his friend sold him a pie in the sky. He takes it as God shaking the tree and letting his nest fall so he could answer a call to his destiny as a media professional and entrepreneur.
And as we ended the interview, Boshirwa, this proud son of the African soil, had two words for me before he signed out. NEVER RELINQUISH!
You can connect with Melchisedeck Boshirwa on LinkedIn.
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This story is part of a series Lesalon Kasaine is writing, of the stories of select 2025 Mandela Washington Fellows. Read more about the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, a program run by the US Department of State. Lesalon was himself an MWF 2025 Fellow.
