After spending the first five years of his life in a Tanzanian refugee camp, no one appreciated the promise of America more than 8-year-old Tumaini Philbert.

“We eat well,” Tumaini often told his mother, Niyindabira Evangeline. “We go to school. We go to the library. It’s a gift from God.”

Tumaini, with his ever-present smile, his exuberance and his quick grasp of the English language, wanted to be a doctor or a pastor.

Those dreams were extinguished April 9 when Tumaini was struck by a car and killed on Porter Avenue, just as he left the Niagara Branch Library with his siblings.

No charges have been filed in the case, which remains under investigation. Buffalo police are awaiting results of toxicology tests, a department spokesman said.

The reaction to Tumaini’s death speaks volumes about the reputation he and his family carved out after coming here as refugees from East Africa just three years ago.

A funeral service nearly filled the pews at Holy Cross Church, just down the street from the second-floor apartment on Niagara Street where Tumaini lived with his parents, five sisters and one brother.

Those who came to mourn him included Tumaini’s teachers at Buffalo’s School 90; staff members at the Niagara Branch Library, where he spent most of his free time; a large contingent of fellow refugees from the family’s native Burundi; and refugees from Iraq, Burma, Ethiopia and Vietnam who met his parents at English language classes.

Several of Tumaini’s drawings were posted on the front door of the Niagara Branch Library, where an annual celebration of literacy will take place in his memory on Wednesday.

“People were just calling: ‘What can we do? How can we help?’ ” said Ann H. Brittain, director of Catholic Charities’ immigrant and refugee assistance program. “It was a huge outpouring of support for a family that’s been here a relatively short period of time.”

Like many refugees, Tumaini and his family earned respect through hard work and diligence.

Nduwimana Michel, Tumaini’s father, gets up at 5 a. m. to take two buses and a Metro Rail car to his job at Tuxedo Junction in Cheektowaga.

Tumaini, who spoke no English when he arrived here, learned to speak the language fluently and was improving dramatically in his reading skills.

But more than anything, Tumaini’s trademark was his smile and bright personality.

“He was a really sweet, energetic little boy who just had a love of life,” said Jean Polino, his principal at School 90. “He had a smile that would light up a room. He had this impact on you. He grabbed your heartstrings.”

At the library, Tumaini worked on the computer, read books, made crafts, helped clean up the toy area and befriended the staff.

“Everyone was just devastated by this,” said Brain Hoth, the library’s branch manager. “He was part of the extended family.”

Tumaini’s parents, who lived with ever-present danger in East Africa, are attempting to cope with his death and still provide a better life for their other children.

“They show a resilience that’s almost incredible,” Brittain said. “There’s none of that ‘Why me? Why us?’ It’s just not their makeup. It’s not part of who they are.”

Michel remembers his son as bright and resourceful, able and eager to fulfill the American Dream.

“He was a very intelligent guy, a very smart guy,” he said through an interpreter. “He was a nice boy, but God decided to call him.”

Tumaini, raised as a Seventh- Day Adventist, had well-developed religious ideas, his mother said.

“He said his destination was not on Earth,” she said. “His destination was heaven. When I remember those words, I almost cry.”