What does it take to save a life?

Portrait of people who made a difference

By Samuel DUSENGIYUMVA

In the humanity history we have had people who saved lives using various methods. Some used medicine and others used miracles like Jesus. The common thing from all these people is an incredible will to save lives.

More than one of the people who heard my story asked me this question: “How did you survive?” My answer to this question is very simple: “I do not know”. I say that because every time I try to understand why every one of my family was killed and not me, I fail to know why.

In the following few paragraphs, I want talk about a person who did whatever she could to keep me alive during Genocide time.

As I mentioned in my previous posts, when we got attacked on the way from the Commune Office, my family got separated. My dad fled with my young sister Felicite and my young brother Jeremiah, I fled with my 3^rd young brother Daniel and my mother run away with my youngest brother Joel. The way was long because I was trying to find a path which can allow me to pass without being seen. I will never forget a place called Nyabitare where we got attacked by a gang of children who were throwing stones on us. It was so hard to cross without being hit by a stone and it was the only way to move forward. I got hit by one stone in the head and continued. We went ahead and arrived on the border between our Commune and another one called Nyamabuye. We had to cross a river.

My brother who was 8 years old was getting hungry because we had spent almost 2 days running around without food or a drink. When I left the luggage, I had managed to get 2 small pieces of bread and because of running and lying down trying to hide the bread had become like floor in my pocket. I took them and gave them to my brother. We were also very thirsty. The only water we could get was from the river but we could not drink it because human bodies were flowing in it. But we had no other choice. I managed to get him water from that river before we continued our journey. We finally arrived in Nyamabuye Commune and found refuge in the compound of the Anglican church. Someone gave a shelter for one night and the following day we were put in different families. This was the last night I spent with my brother.

I was sent to a family that had children of my age, beyond and below. I spent most of my time trying to figure out what had happened to the rest of my family members. I want to recognize that this family did whatever they could to keep me out of troubles. I was staying at home all day.

As time went by, RPF was getting close and people in the neighborhood started fleeing. Besides, by that time my mother has come to find refuge in the Anglican school along with my youngest brother.  The host family took a decision to flee as well. The woman that was hiding me went to ask my mother if she could take me or if my mother wanted me to stay with her. My loving mother gave the answer that is always in my heart. She said: “Take him with you. May be he will be the only one to survive”.

We left the place before I could go to say goodbye to her. My host family decided to go in the deep southern part of Rwanda towards the border with Congo. On the way we crossed a lot of roadblocks where to many Tutsi bodies were lying on the street corners. We were in a truck and I was sitting in the corner of the back side. We finally arrived in Muko Commune. It was night but I was having a kind of safe feeling as we were getting far from my home village where people could know who I really was. In the eyes of the neighbors I was a child of my host family. We spent some few calm days until I got into real troubles.

One Wednesday, I and another boy of my host family were sent to the marked to buy some stuff for cooking. I was not afraid because I could not think that there was any one from home village.

When we arrived in the market before we started shopping my eyes came across a boy who was my school mate and who seemed amazed to see me. All of sadden the boy disappeared. In a second I found myself surrounded by a big number of men with traditional weapon (machetes, clubs and others) with a very dirty look. One of them who appeared to be their leader asked me: “Where is your father, your mother, sister and your brothers?” “I do not know”. I answered with a blood pressure. The guy told me that they have all been killed because they are inyenzi and that was going to be my fate. They took me to one pit in the corner of the market and deprived me of my watch, my shoes and my clothes. I remained with a small short. They order me to seat down near the pit. Three guys approached me and before they could hit me I heard a voice of the leader. “Let us give to this little cockroach time to pray. His father was a pastor. Boy you have time to pray”. I took this time to say some few words to God. I asked for forgiveness and a chance to see my family again.

What happened is that when I got caught, the boy who was with me run back home and told his mother that I was going to be killed. His mother rushed to the commune office and asked one police officer she knew to help as her son was going to be killed. The police rushed into emotion as he thought this woman was telling the truth and came with her where I was being tortured before death. When the police guy arrived he pointed the gun to the guys surrounding me and asked them to leave immediately. They tried to explain that I was a Tutsi, but he could listen to them. He took me by a hand and asked that woman to bring me home and to make sure that I stay out of troubles. I was almost dead. I don’t know how I left that place until I arrived home. Later, I decided to leave the place and managed to join the area controlled by the RPF.

This is an action of a person who did whatever she could to save my life. She did it with a good heart. She succeeded where to many people failed. She took my stand while I was going to die. I was a little poor and hopeless kid who was the last to die in a family of many. But she managed to run and call me her son in the hardest period of Rwanda history. Every time I see her I tell her that I owe her my life.

She is an example that, you don’t need to have the whole world financial or military power to save a life. It only requires a heart. If we could get people with good hearts only God knows how many lives we can save.