Thread by @UmuhozaB

I have a story to tell you.
A story of a broken heart.
A story of resilience.
A story of hope.

A THREAD

#Kwibuka25

I promised my friend Charles Habonimana - @Habonima so many times that I would visit his birth place, Mayunzwe, in @RuhangoDistrict, @RwandaSouth.
I did yesterday and I should say that June 4th, 2019 will forever be memorable in my heart. #Kwibuka25

Karoli is a Genocide Survivor whose testimony till today, I have failed to understand. In an attempt to do so, I visited where his story all began. To my surprise, I found a house that he is building, where their home was before the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. #Kwibuka25

What a sight!
What an achievement!
It was bittersweet. Bitter because we visited and there was no Papa Ruhigira to welcome us home and there was no Mama Odette to give us milk. Sweet because Karoli survived and is standing strong to keep their memories alive.
#Kwibuka25

Mayunzwe is a very beautiful place. The fresh air, the cool breeze and the laughter of the children playing on the street are all part of what makes this village endearing. #Kwibuka25

From the house Karoli, @RuzindanaRUGASA and I visited the Genocide Memorial of Mayunzwe where his parents, siblings, aunties, uncles &cousins are resting. Karoli talks about them so often that I feel like I know them. To see where they are resting was quite hard for me #Kwibuka25

But this wasn’t the hardest part.
The hardest part was visiting where their lives were taken.

The pit where his mother and some of his siblings amongst others were buried alive was beyond what my mind could imagine. Today, there lays a memorial stone in their memory. #Kwibuka25

From there, we walked uphill to Karuvariyo (Calvary) where his father Ruhigira, uncle Fidel and other family members were butchered. Along the steep way, I kept thinking, ‘these people died way before they were killed!’ #Kwibuka25

Karuvariyo - Calvary is place where, the killing squads Interahamwe decided that Charles Habonimana would be the last one of all Tutsis to be killed here because they wanted to show upcoming Hutu generations what a Tutsi looked like. #Kwibuka25

His uncle, Kayonga soon joined us and the moment he saw his nephew, he smiled and said, ‘Karo, waje kureba Karuvariyo yacu - Karo, have you come to visit our Calvary?’ #Kwibuka25

We stared in silence and took it all in.
The day wasn’t done. Karoli’s testimony doesn’t end at Calvary. #Kwibuka25

So, we walked down the hill. In his sadness mixed with the joy of being with friends in that moment, he decided to introduce me to ‘being a child’ in the village and we played. It had rained heavily so the trees were still wet. #Kwibuka25

My brother shook the trees and I stood beneath them to feel the drops on my face. What a calming feeling this gave me in the heaviness of our walk! #Kwibuka25

Down the hill, I thought, ‘Geneviève, Macibiri, Kongomani, Makumi, Caritas and Nyabutoto must have surely loved playing this game. Maybe, if they were alive today, we would have played together.’ #Kwibuka25

From that brief glimpse into childhood fun, we knew that we had to visit the home of Sebuhuku, the Interahamwe and a militia leader in the village who ordered the deaths of the Tutsi in Mayunzwe and other neighbouring hills.
Oh, my God! #Kwibuka25

In 1994, while a captive at Sebuhuku's house, Karoli saw and lived the whole genocide. He heard everything and 25 years later he still remembers every single detail of his sad and terrible story. #Kwibuka25

Sebuhuku’s widow welcomed us and we sat in brief pauses of loud silence.
The little small talk that we had too weighed so many tonnes of unspoken pain. #Kwibuka25

Karoli showed me what forgiveness looked like today. He talked to this woman with so much kindness and even thanked her for her kind acts towards him during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and I just couldn’t wrap my head around this moment! #Kwibuka25

The lady in turn, burdened by the crimes of her late husband sat silently.
After our superficial talk, Karoli wished this woman peace and then asked me to pray! #Kwibuka25

I instantly whispered to the Holy Spirit, ‘Harya ubu nsenge ngo ngwiki?
What prayer am I supposed to make now?’ I didn’t know!
But I prayed. #Kwibuka25

I asked God to show us His mercy, to heal our hearts, to keep healing our land but above all, to sustain us. I prayed that this beautiful land of a thousand hills will never see a Genocide again. #Kwibuka25

My whole day was marked by this Memorial Day but also by an intercessory prayer for this land that I proudly call my country. #Kwibuka25

May my Rwanda never cry again.
May my Rwanda never be covered by a flow of blood.
May my Rwanda forever live in peace and prosperity. #Kwibuka25

To Karoli and the people of Mayunzwe:
Mpore,
Mukomere,
Mukomeze kubaho,
Muhobere ubuzima cyane.
Mwabayeho, muriho kandi muzabaho.
#Kwibuka25