Robert was born to a Rwandan refugee family living in Uganda during the years of exile. After the 1994 Genocide, his parents moved back to Rwanda, but later died from disease shortly thereafter due to the harsh living conditions. Robert and his sisters had no one to care for them except one distant uncle who forced Robert to tend his cows in a very remote wilderness area of Rwanda. Robert lived completely alone in the wilderness at the age of 9, with no one to care for him except for his dog.

As Robert struggled to survive, he often wondered why he was there, and why no one cared for him. He had no one to bring him food or tools, or to tell him what to do. His dog became his best friend and protector, often barking to warn him when dangerous wild animals approached. Robert occasionally stumbled across bodies of other cow herders who had been killed by wild animals, and he knew his life was constantly in danger.

He often climbed trees to get himself out of the reach of animals. One day when he was sitting in a tree, he saw a vicious wart hog approach his dog who was sleeping under the tree. He yelled to wake his dog, but he was too late. The animal attacked and killed his only friend. Robert cried up there in the tree, because he knew he was truly alone. He waited several hours then climbed down with his heart full of sorrow.

He had never known much about God, but he knew there was no one else in the world who cared about him. So he cried out to this mysterious God and asked him to get him out of "this terrible place".

A few weeks later, God answered his prayer and sent another uncle to get him out of the wilderness. This uncle took him to a village called Kayonza, where he eventually met Charles Buregeya, the founder of Africa New Life Ministries. Charles decided to personally sponsor Robert to help him return to school. When Robert saw how God was really blessing his life, he decided to dedicate his heart and life to him.