This week I had the honor of listening to Eugenie Mukeshimana speak about her experience as a Rwandan genocide survivor. She was a speaker this week at Bergen Community College, sponsored by the
Center for Peace, Justice, and Reconciliation .
She was 8 months pregnant when the genocide began in 1994: same year my own daughter was born. One million Tutsis were killed in just over a month. She talked about the hateful propaganda on the radio and how all citizens had to have their ethnicity identified on their residency cards. Being a Tutsi was a death sentence. She was fortunate to find a family who hid her under a bed for weeks. Even after she was discovered with her baby, the family continued to protect her identity.
According to Eugenie "Conflict is like a tsunami, it effects everything”. All traces of Tutsi life were eradicated: the people, their livestock and property. The small number of survivors in Rwanda continue to live side-by-side with those who slaughtered their families.
Eugenie is the Founder and Executive Director of
GSSN Genocide Survivors Support Network
