This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Umutoni’s life was saved by a neighbouring Hutu woman who hid the young girl at first, and then guided her on a treacherous weeks-long walk to safety across the border in Congo, with the woman in late pregnancy and with her own three children in tow as well.
The woman gave the militiamen all the money she had and they allowed Umutoni to continue with the group instead of killing her. “This is inspiring and I want to be able to be part of it and help the farmers make a living as much as I can, help them reap the benefit of their hard work.”Minami, an assistant professor at Simon Fraser University, is an expert in postwar psychosocial reconciliation and community development who has spent considerable time in Rwanda talking to genocide survivors.
“People nicknamed it the Intimate Genocide because it was relatives and friends and neighbours that were trying to exterminate people with Tutsi backgrounds,” Minami said “They’re living with trauma every day, their trauma and the triggers for traumatic reactions are very near.”Article content