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was Patrick’s family or mine or even other political figures, we<br />
will never know. However, in all the gloom and misery that took<br />
place that day, the bold step Patrick and I made distinguished us<br />
as some of the bravest people of our time. On our wedding day,<br />
history was made. In 1992/93, it was extremely rare —<br />
practically impossible, as a matter of fact — to hear of a mixed<br />
marriage between a Hutu and a Tutsi in Rwanda. Absolutely<br />
impossible. According to statistics available then, only one<br />
percent of marriages in Rwanda consisted of a union between a<br />
Hutu and a Tutsi. What made it all worse was the fact that it<br />
happened at the height of the Hutu-Tutsi ethnic rivalry. One,<br />
therefore had to be extremely careful about their actions.<br />
Although Patrick’s father had agreed to the marriage, he made it<br />
clear to him that he would never have a share of his inheritance<br />
because what he was about to do was strange and he was<br />
responsible for his actions. This was a price too high to pay for<br />
both of us and our friends and relatives wondered what<br />
compelled us to do this. It was love, we told them. The Bible<br />
mentions the three most important and most enduring pillars of<br />
life — faith, hope and love, but the greatest is love (1 Corinthians<br />
13:13). We certainly knew that each of us was being seen as a<br />
traitor by our families and other people from our ethnicities.<br />
The wedding took place in my rural area in Gitarama and the<br />
reception was held in Kigali. Security at both functions was<br />
extremely tight. We had our college-mates stand by us as<br />
matron and best man. The mood was extremely tense and all<br />
those who were present expected the worst at any moment – a<br />
bullet or even bomb blast. Can you imagine these being the<br />
paramount emotions at your wedding, a day that is supposed to<br />
be full of love, laughter and joy? Anyhow, the ceremony finally<br />
took place. Two months after the wedding, we were preparing<br />
to return to France where we had left all our belongings. To our<br />
surprise, however, Patrick got a job offer<br />
from his father. Patrick’s father owned an import and export<br />
company in Rwanda and so he asked his son to manage it<br />
because it was being mismanaged and run down by his workers.<br />
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