He may be 25 now but he still has nightmares. John was only eight years old when he was forced to watch as his mother was hacked to death. "I will never forget the look in her eyes, a mixture of helplessness and fear at what was happening to her and what she feared would happen to me.

Up to today, I still don’t know why her killers changed their minds and spared my life,” he says.
 
There’s also the mother who disowned her family so she could survive. Some might call her selfish or a coward, but that was the only way she would come out alive.

Elsewhere, a man was awakened by loud banging on his door. It was about 6a.m. He knew they had come for him. He had been expecting them for days.

Hiding was no good because they would break into the house anyway. He opened the door and his worst fears were confirmed.

Three men with glistening machetes stood outside. He was so terrified and before he could do anything to defend himself, both his hands were cut off. The shock of it made him collapse to the ground.

His attackers left him to bleed to death. He couldn’t even cry out for help because he was too weak from the blood loss. It was only when his sister passed by hours later that he got help.

A beautiful girl didn’t just lose her entire family but lost her right leg too. She lived alone for many months after that until a Good Samaritan took her to an orphanage. Only then did she regain a semblance to a normal life.

Another girl sought refuge in Zaire, now Democratic Republic of Congo. She and her two little brothers walked many nights, at times going days without food to get there. At one point, they would only move at night so they wouldn’t be seen. There were several roadblocks and they feared they would be arrested and killed.
 
Fearing for their lives, another family sought refuge in a local church. Surely, no one would attack harmless people in the house of God. Late one evening after Mass, a mother went out to ease herself and when she returned, the church was on fire.

She survived but wished she hadn’t because her five children and husband died in that church. She attempted suicide twice because the pain was unbearable and she saw no point in living.

A ten-year-old boy watched as a neighbour he had always thought was his uncle because that’s what they called him, hacked his parents to death. He thought he was next. The neighbour walked towards the corner where the boy had crouched but just when he was about to reach him, he turned and left.

You’ve probably heard or read about these harrowing stories before. But every time, it’s like you’re hearing it for the first time. I can’t even begin to imagine the pain these people must have gone through, losing not just their loved ones but parts of their anatomy as well.

There was also the fear of not knowing whether they’d live to see the next day. The killing was indiscriminate. Women, men and small children who had done no harm to anyone murdered just like that.

There were survivors of course but life wasn’t any easier for them. Those are scars that can never heal. They may have forgiven the perpetrators but they can never forget.

And perhaps remembering the events of that terrible time is a good thing because it reminds us all to never let the same happen again.We owe it to ourselves and those who lost their lives to stay united.

To be continued…
nsophie77@yahoo.com