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eturned to pick Justine and I before driving us to hospital. What<br />
intrigued me was that when we got to the hospital, the doctors<br />
did not find anything wrong with Justine. They prescribed some<br />
basic medication and discharged us. What in the world was<br />
happening to us? Was there a dark hand bent on seeing us fail?<br />
One may wonder why we did not have a plan to get out of our<br />
undesirable situation. We, however, were in a spot so tight, it<br />
felt like the sky had literally fallen on us. We went to bed not<br />
knowing if we would see the light the following day and got up<br />
each morning unsure of whether the sun would set. Remember,<br />
we were not allowed to see anyone, and neither was anyone<br />
allowed to visit us. I remember one time in February 1994, we<br />
were literally dying of hunger. I decided to act because sitting<br />
back was not helping anyway. I would rather have died trying to<br />
do something than going down without a fight. I went to see<br />
someone I thought was a friend. I went to see this former wife<br />
of an ambassador, particularly because she was in a marriage<br />
just like mine.<br />
Claudia was a Tutsi and her husband a Hutu. Since she had<br />
managed to stay married in the face of all the hatred and<br />
animosity, I thought she would appreciate my situation and so<br />
reach out with a shoulder to lean on. I somehow felt that in her<br />
I would find a confidant, a sympathizer; someone who would<br />
relate with what I was going through. Not to mention, she was<br />
the wife of a long-time ambassador who had served in many<br />
countries. They were well-off, so I definitely expected financial<br />
help from her without a problem. I thought I had approached<br />
just the right person. I was wrong. As soon as I took a seat, I<br />
could not hold back my tears, because both my baby and I were<br />
very<br />
Hungry. “I am here because I need your help”, I told her. “I need<br />
some money. The baby is hungry, and we are hungry too,” I<br />
implored. “How much?” she asked. “Thirty Thousand,” I<br />
answered. My plan was to use the money to buy Justine’s food<br />
first, then our food which would be just enough to take us by, as<br />
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