For years, Ansila Mukangwije, wished she had perished in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

The 58-year-old lost seven children and many more members of her close and extended family, her property was destroyed or looted and she could hardly find a meaning to life after the pogrom.

Like many survivors, Mukangwije was desperate with no one to comfort her.

"I needed someone to listen to me but there was none,” she says. 

So, months after the Genocide, she took an initiative to start cleaning up the place where her relatives and thousands of other Tutsis perished during the Genocide. That is Kabuye, the small hill in Ndora Sector, Gisagara District, where an estimated 50,000 Tutsis were killed during the Genocide.

Mukangwije says her initiative started not only as a way of honouring those who were killed but also keeping herself close to her relatives.

"I looked at it as a way of paying respect and honouring our departed relatives and friends who were cruelly killed,” she says. "At least, I saw it as comforting and sending them a massage that though they have departed we still care for them.”

She was later joined by other survivors and, together, they embarked on regular cleaning of the place. Later, they were joined by women whose husbands were either serving terms or served one, for their role in the killings.

Today, 20 years after the Genocide, these women still meet at the same Kabuye hill to clean up the memorial site that was erected in the place. They are not paid for their work but they say they find solace, comfort and the strength to move on with their initiative.

They have no regular days or hours to meet and clean the place but they say whenever there is need they always make sure the place is clean and fresh.

They have even created an association dedicated to maintaining hygiene at the memorial site, which they named Turacyabakunda (literally translated as "we still love you”), a name they say alludes to the respect and love they have for the victims of the Genocide.

The association, which comprises eight members, helps them remain together but also work to uplift their lives.

Today, though Mukangwije can no longer handle some cleaning activities due mainly to her deteriorating health as a result of her experience during the Genocide, she remains part of the association where she is considered as the ‘mother’.

She regularly spends her days (or hours) at the memorial as she watches others cleaning or as she meditates on her experience during the 100-day killings.

Sign of unity

It is hard to imagine how survivors could team up with those who played an active role in the Genocide or their relatives to tidy up the same place where those who were butchered are buried.

But for members of Turacyabakunda, that is a sign that they have buried their hatchets and resolved to work for common objectives: that of honouring the Genocide victims, rebuilding their lives and working together to ensure that Genocide never happens anymore.

"I feel comfortable when I give my humble contribution to this noble cause,” says Speciose Mukamunanira, whose husband is serving a 15-year sentence for his role in the Genocide.

"What happened was really bad and we need to work together to honour those innocent individuals who were killed and of course team up to build our lives,” she adds.

Mukamunanira says they regularly offer support to any member who is in need and often come together to work in everyone’s field as a way of contributing to their  economic growth.

"Being part of this group is a blessing I can’t afford to miss it,” says Jacqueline Nyirabatesi, also a member of the association.

"New found family”

For members of Turacyabakunda, their group is a standing testimony that championing reconciliation and unity is the way to go. It also proves that the commitment and resolve to building a prosperous nation still lives on.

"We have experienced the bitter fruits of divisionism and none would wish to go back again. We need to continue moving on and building our lives,” observes Gloriose Nyiramutabazi, a Genocide survivor and the association’s coordinator.

"We now make one family and we are strongly bonded together,” says Mukangwije , as she chipping in the discussion, cutting short her colleague.

"Everyone is here for the other, Nyiramutabazi continues. We always support each other and that makes us more than just friends: we make one strong family,” Mukangwije adds.