(3/3) “When I woke up, I found myself lying alongside a very...

(3/3)  “When I woke up, I found myself lying alongside a very deep pit.  It was full of bodies.  My stepfather was standing over me.  Somehow he had learned about the attack, and had come with his bodyguards to rescue me.  He picked me off the ground.  I was barely conscious.  When we returned home, my stepfather called the government to complain about what had happened.  But he was told to watch his back.  He was told that our family was no longer under protection.  My mother begged me stop helping people.  She told my bodyguards to not let me leave the house.  But by that time the Rwandan Patriotic Front was getting very close to our village.  The fighting grew very intense.  My family packed everything and fled toward the border with Congo.  Four of my sisters were killed on the journey.   I remained behind with the seventy people.  Our bodyguards were gone.  We were helpless.  We had no guns.  We just prayed the rebels would liberate us as soon as possible.  I knew the killing groups would be coming to my home, so I gathered all the remaining biscuits and water.  I took everyone to the house of someone who had already been murdered.  It seemed like the safest place to be.  I closed them inside and padlocked the door.  Then I finally ran off to reunite with my family.  I learned later that everyone in that house was rescued.  Only four of the seventy lost their lives.  And almost all of them are still alive today.  We remain friends.  We’re still neighbors.  They bring me gifts.  I see them in the streets almost every day, and whenever we meet, they show me their love.”    
(Kigali, Rwanda)