She has a B.A. in Art History and French Literature from the University of Kigali Rwanda. In1994 she escaped the genocide in Rwanda and went to work for the United Nations in war-torn countries like Croatia and Liberia. In 1997 she came to New York as a refugee and applied for political asylum. During this time she started painting and then enrolled at the Art Student League to learn technique and follow in the footsteps of the American Abstract Expressionists Pollock, De Kooning and Rothko who attended the school.