(¾) “One morning the killers brought a list of names,...

(¾)  “One morning the killers brought a list of names, and gathered everyone together.  They told us to sit on the floor.  They stepped through the crowd and began reading out the names.  My name was called out, but it was misspelled by one letter.  They kept shouting ‘Marengo’ instead of ‘Masengo.’  But I knew it was me they were looking for.  They told the crowd: ‘If you give up these people, we won’t come back to kill your sons and daughters.’  But nobody spoke.  The killers were examining one person at a time.  I sat with my head between my knees.  Back then I had the face of a girl, so I tried to cover myself with fabric.  Some of the killers were from my neighborhood.  I knew that when they got around to me, I would be recognized.  So I slipped out and ran toward a banana plantation.  One of them spotted me and alerted the others.  I jumped over a brick fence and dove into the tallest grasses I could find.  Soon I heard footsteps.  They were walking all around me.  I remember one of them saying: ‘Cockroaches are so mysterious.  How are they able to disappear?’  He got so frustrated that he hacked at a banana tree with his machete.  The leaves fell on my legs.  I was lying with my cheek on the dirt.  I remember the exact time because my watch was next to my face.  It was 12:22 PM.  I remember thinking: ‘This is the time I’m going to die.”    
(Kigali, Rwanda)