Stories - Helping survivors of genocide rebuild their lives

Daniel

Daniel was eight years old in 1994 when the Hutu militia arrived in his town. They forced all the Tutsi families from their homes and herded them to a pit on the edge of town. They lined the people up at the edge of the pit and struck each one with machetes, cutting them down. As his father was killed, Daniel jumped into the pit, pretending he had also been struck. He lay perfectly still for the next ten hours as people bled to death around him and on top of him.

When the Hutu militia passed on to the next town, Daniel climbed out and headed for the forest to hide. He lived on whatever he could find to eat and emerged after dark to steal food from peoples’ gardens. Finally, when the genocide ended, he went to a refugee camp. In the meantime, the Hutu militiamen who had massacred his town returned, dug up the bodies in the pit and moved them elsewhere to cover their tracks.

Eventually, Daniel returned home, the only one of his immediate family to survive. Like most children in Rwanda, he missed several years of school because the genocide and its aftermath disrupted every aspect of life. Daniel always liked maths, and he studied hard when he was able to get to school. He also had to grow food in the patch of garden behind the house and find odd jobs to survive.

He is now twenty-one years old, tall and handsome, and keen to become an accountant. He does not complain about his life, and describes himself as a survivor, rather than a victim. Last year the man who killed his parents appeared before a local court and confessed what he had done. “He did not apologise,” Daniel explained, “but he told us where my family’s bodies were buried.”

Daniel carries a photograph of his parents. It shows Daniel rearranging their skeletons in two coffins before giving them a decent burial. What upsets him, he says, is that every day when he leaves his home he must look into the mocking, insolent eyes of the man who killed his mother and father: his neighbour.

Daniel is one of dozens of genocide survivors attending English language lessons run by Network for Africa. Learning English will greatly improve Daniel’s chances of getting a good job, he says. Thanks to Network for Africa supporters, Daniel is also attending university. For GBP 900 a year, Network for Africa pays for Daniel’s tuition, transport , clothes, food and books.

Daniel’s name has been changed to protect his identity.