Fatuma Uwonkunda

I was born in Kibuye in 1984. I lived with both my parents, my younger brother and sister. My father was a driver. My mother studied up to secondary school level but was prevented from continuing her studies up to the certificate level because she was a Tutsi. She then resolved to work as a translator from French to Kinyarwanda. She was also one of the local civil leaders. My mum had 9 siblings, 3 brothers and 6 sisters. Only her youngest sister survived the genocide. My dad had 2 brothers and 6 sisters. My dad's entire family was wiped out by the 1994 genocide. From my mum and dad's families, the only survivors were my mum's younger sister and her cousin.

I began primary school in 1991 in Kibuye, but my education was interrupted by the genocide when I was in the third year of primary school. Most of my best friends from primary school were killed. Only two are left, with whom I am still friends. As early as primary school level I always wanted to be a medical doctor.

Before the genocide started, my mum's bosses, who were expatriates from Switzerland, asked my mum to go to Kigali where they thought she would not be killed. I think they knew that the genocide would take place soon. She refused to follow them telling them that she couldn't leave her family behind. When her employers left Kibuye, my mum lost her job. One month later my mum was accused of being a supporter of the RPF [the Tutsi opposition group] because she did some secondary education. People started throwing stones over our roof at night, and my mum thought it wise to send me and my younger siblings to our grandmother's home. But when we reached there, my grandparents' home was attacked and they called on my mum to come and take us back.

At the beginning of the genocide, we all hid together as a family. But while we were on the run, my father and brothers were all killed at the same time - decapitated with a machete. Afterwards, I kept on hiding myself from the killers, who were all over our region. In fact, my mum kept us hiding in the forest in Kibuye until they killed her too. On the fourth day came a militia who found my mum and younger sister. He gave a machete to my mum to kill her daughter. My mum refused. The militia cut my younger sister into pieces and then killed my mum. My younger brother and I saw this happen. My brother couldn't contain himself, and ran towards my mum crying. So the man killed my brother as well. I escaped from his machete because when I saw him coming after me, I fled and hid further into the forest. I was 10 years old.

After finding that all my family had been killed, I left the forest in the middle of the night and went to hide at the house of a Hutu family that had been friendly with my mum because my mom had saved the man's life. My mum had found the man half dead on the roadside after he was hit by a car. She picked him up in her vehicle, and took him to the nearby hospital. My mum paid for his medical bills and used to visit him afterwards during my childhood. When I arrived at his home, this man -- who was one of the notorious killers -- told his wife that she had to take good care of me because my mum had saved his life. But his wife didn't follow his instructions. She mistreated me and informed the neighboring militia that I was a Tutsi. They took me to the killing places several times, but I always escaped death narrowly. During this period I was humiliated and threatened with death, but somehow God saved my life.

When the militia man who protected me heard that the RPF had taken control of the capital, Kigali, they suggested that we flee to Congo, via Cyangugu town. On the way to Cyangugu we met people who recognized me. Out of fear that he would be accused of protecting a Tutsi, the militia man found for me and part of his family another vehicle to take us to Congo. We reached Congo but led a very difficult life there. After a while, we went back to Rwanda where we stayed with another family in Cyangugu, but I was greatly mistreated. At the end of the genocide, we went back to Kibuye where my mother's cousin, who had survived as a soldier in the RPF army, came and saw me and advised me to stay with that family. He promised to come back and see me in the near future. When he came back, he took me to a local orphanage where I lived for about 6 months in 1995. When he got a house in Kibuye, he came to look for me and placed me in a group house he rented for myself, my mum's sister, his sister, his cousin and him.

In 1997, when I was 13, I had the opportunity to go to secondary school. My mum's cousin paid school fees for me for two years. From my third year on, the genocide survivors' fund paid my school fees. When I finished secondary school, where I had studied nursing, I got a part time job to I provided home care for people living with HIV/AIDS. I also worked as a counselor for voluntary counseling and testing, and provided local patients with advice on using PMTCT services. My contract was very short - only 6 months. After that, I was jobless from October 2004 until to July 2006, when Orphans of Rwanda offered me a scholarship to study nursing at university level.

At secondary school level I liked gynaeco-obstetric nursing and psychology courses. I was happy to study medical topics, which had been the dream of my life, and I was pleased to get a secondary school leaving certificate after the training period. In some subjects I was an average student but I received much higher marks on the nursing-related topics. Although I was excited about my studies, some of the teachers used to mistreat us, reminding orphans about the genocide and the sad moments of their lives, which often retriggered a feeling of trauma for me.

I took my studies seriously because it was an opportunity for me to succeed in life. Because my mum always told me that it is good to study, I felt that by studying hard I was fulfilling her request and advice.

With ORI's support, I began my tertiary studies in January 2007 after an intensive course in English, and am studying nursing at UNATEK University in Kibungo. I hope that by the end of my university education I will be better equipped to help some of the many people who are living with trauma and illness in Rwanda. I try to avoid anything which might distract me and I study very hard.

In my life, I care much about my relations with God and people. I pray a good deal, and make sure that I live in peace with others. In ten years' time, I think Rwanda will be a better place than it was before the genocide. Many people will have had an opportunity to study and contribute to the national development. I would like to thank the ORI donors who have made it possible for me to attend university. I intend to work to ensure that their support is not given in vain.