Diary 10

My family did what we were told and stayed inside our home. A few hours later we got sight of what we were hearing about on the radio. At least fifty Interahamwe with knives and machetes were climbing up the hills around Lake Kivu towards our home. My father gave me his rosary and told me to go to the home of Pastor Murinzi. He knew that if the Interahamwe caught me, they would not only kill me, but rape me first. Pastor Murinzi is a Hutu but he is a good friend of my fathers. My father knew that Pastor Murinzi would hide me in his home and keep me safe from the Hutu killers. Even though the pastor was afraid of the consequences, he hid me and six other women in a tiny bathroom for about three months.

Diary 9

Machetes used in the Rwandan Genocide

It is depressing to listen to things on the radio. We are hearing that the Interahamwe are killing more and more Tutsis. The announcers on the radio are desperately trying to get Hutus to turn against their neighbors, the Tutsis.They are telling the Hutus to kill Tutsi people with machetes. I try not to listen to the radio because I feel like it is all propaganda. My father sent me a letter encouraging me to come home over Easter break. Not long after I got home my family started to hear reports that we should stay in our homes because if we were caught out in the towns, we would be killed.  How could this be possible?  We have so many friends and family that are Hutus, they would not possibly kill us.  My family and I did not know it at the time, but on April 7, 1994 the Rwandan Genocide had begun.  The Hutus were trying to kill all Tutsis young and old.  How could the spread of evil happen that fast?

Diary 8

Interahamwe Soldiers

Things settled down for awhile and I felt safe as long as I was at school. I finally graduated high school and I received a scholarship to the National University in Butare. This has been a life long dream of mine. My family was so excited. We celebrated with a big Rwandan feast. My parents were so proud because I was the first girl in the family to go to university. My parents told me to hold my head high and that I was going to be able to take care of myself. Going to coffee shops, seeing movies on the weekends, and going to dances on campus helped me enjoy college life very much. I was doing very well in school and I had lots of friends. We heard throughout college on the radio about peace talks between the RPF and a new group called the Interahamwe. The Interahamwe started out as a group of homeless kids and they were trained to kill by government army soldiers. My brother Damascene and I came in contact with the Interahamwe for the first time on our way to Kigali for a wedding. They were scary and I hope we don't come across them ever again.

Diary 7

Today is October 1, 1990. My Civil Education teacher, Mr. Gahigi, just told us that there has been an attack on our country. The Rwandese Patriotic Front, also known as the RPF, is banding together with a group of Tustis who have not been able to return to our country. They want to live in Rwanda, but the government won't let them because they are Tutsis. These outcasts have been living in Uganda and Zaire, which are countries close by Rwanda. We don't hear much about what goes on outside the school walls, but during this time our school director lets us listen to the radio. On the radio I can't believe what I am hearing. The announcers are telling lies about the Tutsi people. They are calling them "rebel cockroaches" and saying they live in the forest like animals and eat humans. They are telling all Hutus to hate Tutsis no matter if they have known them their whole lives or not.

Diary 6

My time in high school has been going by very fast. I am learning much and making very good friends. There are mostly Hutu girls at my school but they treat us just like we were one of them. I have one Tutsi friend named Clementine and we do experience unfriendly people when we go outside the school walls. The priest and nuns at our school make sure we always have an escort if we go outside the school walls. On the weekends the nuns let us have movie night in the main hall. This helps us get our minds off our school work and other problems. Damascene visits me at least once a month. All the girls have a crush on him. He always gives me good advice, like praying before I do my homework and before I take a test.

Diary 5



Children at School in Gisenyi

My family received wonderful news today. I was accepted into the all-girls school called Lycee de Notre Dame d' Afrique. The school is far away from my family in the province of Gisenyi. It will take my parents four hours to drive along very rough roads to come and visit me. I am very sad to be so far from my family, but I know this is a wonderful opportunity for me. My brother Damascene goes to school not far from there. He told me he will come to visit me often and that there is a big fence with a lot of guards. I wondered why there would have to be guards in Gisenyi and my brother told me that it is a predominantly Hutu province. Some of the Hutus are mean to the Tutsis. I don't understand how people could have so much hatred towards one another.  

Diary 4

My parents never taught my brothers and me that Rwanda is made up of three tribes. The Hutus are shorter, darker, and they have broader noses. The majority of the people in Rwanda are Hutus. The Tutsis are taller, light-skinned, and have skinny noses. The Tutsis have a smaller population in Rwanda. The third tribe is called the Twa. They live in the forest. Even though the Hutus and Tutsis live in the same villages and have been friends for years we are starting to hear people on the radio refer to the Tutsis as "cockroaches." I have a good friend named Sarah. She is a Hutu and lives in Kigali. Kigali is the capital city of Rwanda. Even though I am a Tutsi, Sarah's family is very kind to me. I love to go to Kigali and hear the planes taking off at the airport.