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As the search intensified, I continued hiding moving from one<br />
friend’s place to another and from state to state. After the<br />
embassy official failed to find me, he delivered the deportation<br />
ticket to Patrick’s residence, with clear instructions to hand it<br />
to me the moment he saw me. An announcement was also made<br />
to all Rwandans with connections to the government at the<br />
time, to join the search to have me arrested. I couldn’t believe<br />
what was happening to me. One moment I was a free Rwandan,<br />
building my relationship with the man I loved, the next moment<br />
I was wanted dead or alive. A dark cloud of fear and<br />
hopelessness hang over me. I started getting depressed and<br />
hating my waking moments. I had never harmed or picked up a<br />
fight with anyone. I had not done anyone any wrong, but I was<br />
being hunted down like a fugitive for no crime I had committed<br />
whatsoever. Rwandans living in France had one instruction, “If<br />
you see her, inform the police!” When I was told that it was<br />
because I was in love that they wanted my head, I was flustered.<br />
I was raised to love and care for people. I grew up knowing that<br />
love is a good thing. How could I be so endangered and<br />
frightened because I loved someone? How could this happen to<br />
me? My soul was severely tormented. The whole scenario was<br />
outright ridiculous. Anyhow, to save my skin, I lived a<br />
clandestine lifestyle of hiding and fleeing any Rwandan I met.<br />
My life began to have a very bitter taste to it.<br />
Persecution is part of our life here on earth. No one is immune<br />
to it and no one chooses it, let alone doing anything to deserve<br />
it. As a matter of fact, the victim usually does not deserve the<br />
harsh treatment they receive. I learnt some things from being a<br />
victim of persecution that have shaped my life. First, I learnt that<br />
suffering is not the end of our lives. More importantly, though, I<br />
also learnt that being bad does not provide the satisfaction<br />
usually sought after. You don’t gain anything by being a bad<br />
person. People in powerful positions often use the positions<br />
they hold in society to oppress others. They, however, never<br />
stop to think about the consequences thereof. The Bible says in<br />
Galatians 6:7; “Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A<br />
man reaps what he sows”<br />
7
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