REFINED BY FIRE 2

THE AFTERMATH
I was formerly a Catholic. However, even before I got born again,
I used to get dreams and visions. I had dreamt about the
genocide while still in France. However, whenever I shared the
dream with friends and family, none of them believed me. They
all said I was traumatized. When it finally happened, it was just
like I had seen in the dream. Back in Kigali, the aftermath of the
dreadful mass murders began to manifest. No one could trace
their homes or properties. Most had been razed down or looted.
No one could claim ownership of any property. Everyone who
returned from the various camps around the country just found
deserted homes and occupied them. Our own house had been
occupied by someone else, so we also just had to find a house
and occupy it. A large number of Hutus had fled the country
because of the war and many Tutsis had died, so it was their
houses we were occupying. Tutsis all over the country thronged
Kigali in jubilation, occupying empty residences, taking out their
dead bodies, cleaning the houses of any blood stains and living
in them. My family and I; which included my mother, Helena,
Patrick and my daughter Justine, moved into one of the empty
houses.
When we reunited after the genocide, the wounds and the
sadness were intense. Picking up the broken pieces was very
difficult. Can you imagine moving around seeing people who
killed your loved ones and you are expected to love them? We
46