Esther Mbabazi is a professional commercial airline pilot in Rwanda, the fourth-largest economy in the East African Community. She is the first female in Rwanda to become certified as a commercial airline pilot. She flies for RwandAir, the national airline of Rwanda.
She was born in Burundi circa 1988, to Rwandese parents. He father was a pastor and the family moved around a lot. Her mother was a housewife. When Ester was about eight years, her father died in an airplane accident when the aircraft he was travelling in overshot the runway while landing and crashed, in neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo. Her family fled Rwanda before the 1994 genocide. The family moved back to Rwanda in 1996. She trained at the Soroti Flying School in Uganda, before RwandAir sponsored her to continue her training in Miami, Florida.
So when, a few years later she announced her intention to train as a pilot, the planwas not well received by some of her family. But at the age of 24, Mbabazi has made history as the first female Rwandan pilot – although as a woman she says she doesn't make flight announcements because it scares the passengers.
"Some people questioned why I wanted to do it, they thought I wanted to be a pilot to find out what happened to my dad, but that didn't have anything to do with it," Mbabazi said.
"Being a pilot really was my childhood dream, I don't think anything was going to stop it. It started when I travelled with my family and we would get the free things for kids, like the backpacks. I really liked that and I just liked to travel. The whole intrigue of this big bird in the sky, I was amazed. That and the free backpacks planted the seed."
Mbabazi, who is fluent in five languages, trained at the Soroti flying school in Uganda before being sponsored to continue her training in Florida by national carrier Rwandair. She now flies the company's CRJ-900 regional jets across Africa.
The death of her father has influenced the way she flies. "It has moulded my character as a pilot, and I think what happened to my dad makes me a little more safe. It could have stopped me, but an accident is an accident. If someone is knocked over in a car you don't stop driving. As a pastor's child I know that you have to let stuff go."
One person who never questioned Mbabazi's plans was her mother, Ruth. A strong farmer and businesswoman, she wasn't fazed to see her daughter take to the air after what the death of her husband, who was a Pentecostal pastor before his death.
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"I didn't get any resistance from my mum," Mbabazi said. "In her time she was the only girl in her electricity class, so she doesn't have any issues with what I do. She has five children and whether we want to do fashion or aviation, as long as we're doing something we're interested in, she's happy."
Mbabazi was born in Burundi, where her family had moved before Rwanda's genocide in 1994. The family moved back to Rwanda in 1996.
While not without its critics, particularly on human rights issues, Rwanda is now a secure and rapidly developing country. GDP grew by 7.7% last year and the government claims to have lifted one million people out of poverty in five years. Particular progress has been made towards gender equality. Women make up more than half of MPs.
"Things are changing in Rwanda," says Mbabazi. "Before you wouldn't find women driving taxis here, and now you see it. There are men who cook now in Rwanda, when, in an African culture, women have to cook. So I think eventually things change. If you really work hard and you prove that you can do something well, I don't think there's a question of you being a woman, it doesn't come into the equation.
"There are not so many male Rwandan pilots either. So even though I am the first female, my colleagues are the first male Rwandan pilots to be flying commercial planes. So I think it's a big change for all of us Rwandans and something that should be celebrated."
Esther Mbabazi wheels her bag towards the airstairs of the Boeing 737 sitting quietly on the tarmac at Kigali International Airport. Today she'll be flying from Rwanda's capital city to Juba in South Sudan.
A short hop south with a flying time of around 1 hour and 20 minutes. But for Mbabazi, 26, it isn't about the destination. As Rwanda's first female pilot, it's about the journey and her highest priority is to get passengers safely to their terminus.
"Growing up I wanted to be a pilot when I was four," says Mbabazi, who became a pilot for Rwanda's national airline carrier, RwandAir, at 24. "I'd never been inside a cockpit but I used to see a plane in the sky and I imagined that thing must be flown by someone.
"I had to go for it. Even though it looked like a long shot, it was my only shot -- that's how I saw it so I went for it, and here I am."
During her childhood, Esther's family would move on a regular basis due to her father's work as a pastor. But her desire to take to the skies never wavered, even after her father passed away in a plane crash in the Democratic Republic of Congo, when the passenger aircraft he was traveling on overshot the runway and hit some terrain.
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"From day one, he was always my biggest supporter or fan," recalls Mbabazi, who lost her father before turning 10."[But] an accident is an accident. Like I said, if someone gets hit by a car, you don't stop driving.
"You can't live life being scared an in fear of anything. If something is bound to happen, you can't stop it."
Going all in
Thus, Mbabazi continued to work toward her goal of becoming a pilot and achieving what no other woman in her country had done before.
Once she completed high school, she packed her things and bought a one-way ticket to attend pilot school in Uganda.
"When I went it was a one-way decision," she says. "If they bounce me, I'll just pack my things and come back -- so that was the way I joined pilot school, and it was a long journey."
A year later, Mbabazi began training with Rwandair in Miami and her exploration of the aviation world began.
"My greatest memories are flying to different cities," she says. "Being in the sky gives you a whole other view -- you get to see what they call a bird's eye view of everything."
Sexism in the skies?
Now, the young pilot has become a pioneer in a male-dominated industry in Rwanda, and yet she knows she is constantly being closely watched because of her gender.
"No one ever says, 'Oh it's a male crew aircraft that crashed,' even though it's been many of the sort," she says. "But you know, if there's a woman on board and something happens, you know, definitely you're going to be mentioned."
Mbabazi recalls a previous incident where a passenger realized that the pilot for his flight was a woman shortly after arriving at the gate and refused to get on the flight.
"The cabin crew said we'll gladly leave you behind. You've already paid the ticket, so if your reason is that basic and shallow, it's not because of safety reasons. It's just because you don't want to fly with a woman, we'll gladly leave you behind."
Mbabazi refuses to let her critics win and is determined to continue being a role model for others. She hopes that her achievements can provide inspiration to other women who might not think they can attain their dreams jobs.
"Time has changed," she says. "Women are out there working, technology has changed, and everyone has the brains to do something, now it's not about how much bicep or how much energy you have."
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