REFINED BY FIRE 2

PREFACE
When I think about my roots, I come to terms with the
complexity of human relationships. Before the Belgians
colonized Rwanda, it was a monarchy that had been ruled by the
minority Tutsi ethnic group for many years. Two new countries
emerged in 1962 — Rwanda, dominated by the Hutus, and
Burundi by the Tutsis — and the ethnic fighting flared on and off
in the following decades. The majority Hutus in Rwanda
overthrew the Tutsi monarchy and tens of thousands of Tutsis
fled to neighboring countries, including Uganda, DR Congo and
Tanzania. Fighting continued until a 1993 peace deal was signed.
Unfortunately, it exploded into the genocide against the Tutsis
in 1994. During the approximate 100-day period from April 7 to
mid-July 1994, an estimated 500,000 –1,000,000 Rwandans
were killed, constituting as much as 70% of the Tutsi and 20%
of Rwanda’s total population
When I began dealing with ethnicity, I was caught in a whirlpool
of conflict borne out of divisions among my fellow country
people, with whom we spoke the same language. Having grown
up among people who lived in harmony, shared the little they
had, donated cows to each other and freely inter-married, I was
now like a child waking up from the worst nightmare. During
that time, I asked my parents why they had not told us about
these deep-seated divisions, to which they said they did not
want us to know about the differences at such an early stage.
They obviously wanted to protect us from what they themselves
had experienced while growing up. They had been forced to
leave their land to start new lives as internally displaced people
in uninhabited forests. After hearing their account, I understood
why they had shielded us from the truth. It was for our own good
after all, because had they told us about it, I know I would have
grown up with hatred in my heart. Being aware of those
problems during my childhood would have shaped my life
differently.
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