| Story of a Rwandan Child Soldier |
| I was admitted to a high school in Kigali. Then in 1994, genocide started. It was an afternoon in April, during the Easter holidays, a week before the beginning of the school term. We went to hide in a hospital, about 500 metres from the village. There, we were joined by the military who divided us in to several small groups, telling that this was to ensure us the best security. These groups were made to prepare our enrolment in the army. We had military training during approximately three weeks, then, we went to the field for the fighting. We were ordered to fight around Kigali, to \liberate the capital\. I did not want to do this.
On 25 June 1994, I walked on to a minefield and I had to have my left leg amputated. This forced the military to put me aside. I was evacuated in a hospital in Byumba where I received two months treatment. After the wound healed, I was transferred in a military camp located at Butara, about 100 km from Byumba.
After the demobilisation of the child soldiers in 1997, I went back to SOS Children\s Village Kigali. With the help of SOS, I decided to go back to school. I started in a secondary high school in Ruhengueri (in the North of the country) where I did the junior classes. After that, I was moved to another high school in Byumba where I am studying biochemistry. I will finish school next year and take exams to qualify for entry to university. I hope to get a good job at the end and support SOS Children myself. |
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