Christelle Umutoni

Christelle is the youngest daughter of Jean Basesekaza and Grace Mukazayire. Her Kinyarwandan name, Umutoni, means, "a father's beloved." Before the genocide, she had three older brothers and a large extended family in the area around Nyanza. "My father worked in a travel agency in Kigali and my mother worked for a business enterprise. We were not poor. In 1990 we all moved to Kigali to be closer to my father and because my mother had found a better position there. Before, my father could only spend his weekends at home, and had to spend the week in Kigali."

Though Christelle and her family lived in Kigali, whenever they had time off, they would go visit the rest of the family in Nyanza and stay there as long as possible. The genocide of 1994 took place during a school vacation, while three of the children, including Christelle, were visiting their grandparents. Christelle's parents, however, had to work. As a result, the family was split up when the horror commenced. "My father drove me and my two brothers to our grandparents' house in Nyanza. My oldest brother stayed with my parents in Kigali. During the genocide they killed my parents, my mother and my father, and also my brother who had stayed behind in Kigali. In Nyanza, they killed our large, extended family; all of my relatives. They also killed my second oldest brother who was there."

When Christelle was asked how she managed to escape, she began to weep, recalling these terrible events. However, she continued with her story: "It was around five in the afternoon. We heard people crying and shouting. My uncle and my second oldest brother started shouting. I ran with the youngest of my brothers, Eric, into the forest to hide. I was only ten years old then and he was not much older. They came to my house and they killed my brother who was still there. They did horrible things to him before he died. I hid with my brother in the forest. We hid there for quite a while; for months. After the war, we discovered that an aunt of ours in Kigali had survived. She had been raped by the Interahamwe [the Hutu paramilitary squads] during the genocide. We went to stay with her, but she had contracted AIDS from being raped and died in 1997. It was then that I came to the orphanage Le Centre Memorial de Gisimba."

When she was living with her aunt in Kigali, Christelle joined a traditional dance troupe, practicing an art form which had been prohibited by Major General Juvenal Habyarimana's authoritarian government. When her aunt died, it was through this dance troupe that she was brought to the attention of the Gisimba orphanage and came there to stay. Her brother, unfortunately, was not so lucky.

"My brother was traumatized by what happened during the genocide. He refused to come to the orphanage. He refuses to study. He lives nearby the center with a group of other teenagers his age. It's up to me to look after him. I give him money to eat and to dress himself, but I have so little myself."

Christelle and her brother Eric Tuyishime (whose Kinyarwandan name means: "Thank you, God") continue to live in the shadow of the genocide. "It was only last year that they buried my family at Nyanza. It was during a big commemoration of the genocide and its victims. I did not enjoy returning to Nyanza. There were all those hills that used to hold the houses of the people that I knew and loved, and now there is nothing left. There are no more houses on those hills and no more people there. My story is a sad one."

In 1997, after her aunt died, Christelle began her secondary (high school) studies, which she completed in 2002. She focused on the humanities and learned about an assortment of topics, including psychology, history, literature, philosophy and sociology. Her first three years were at Kigali, but after she garnered a remarkably highscore on the third-year exam, she was given a scholarship to go to a boarding school in Ruhengeri for the last three years. Unfortunately, she fell ill with spinal meningitis in 2001 and was bedridden for three full months. She continues to have problems with her back to this day.

Christelle nonetheless took the national exam for entrance into the university in Ruhengeri and despite the illness and her shattered home, "I passed. However, I was very sad because I did not have the means to continue my studies. In August of 2004, our director, Jean-Paul, came to some of us and told us that some Americans had offered money so that we could study at the university. It was out of one of my dreams. I was so happy, but I could almost not believe it. I completed the four months of English language training, and now I am in my first year of sociological studies. I chose sociology, because I don't like math, but also because it is what I enjoyed in high school. I want to understand African society. One reads all these stories about problems in Africa. One could call it the African curse, but then again, we see these problems everywhere in the world. That's why I have so much hope for the future, because they can be solved."

Christelle is thrilled to be able to pursue her university studies. She would like to go on to get her doctorate and find a job. She plans to spend much of her future income helping orphans like herself complete their studies. She would also like to help rebuild houses in her home region, so her family's history is not forgotten. The Interahamwe tried to erase all traces of her family and community, but she is determined to keep their memory alive. Christelle continues to take part in a traditional dance troupe when she finds time between her studies and looking after her brother. She is very thankful to the donors who have made it possible for her to study and appreciates their kindness. She prays that God will watch over them.