Kaduha residents mourn German nun who rescued lives in Genocide

The Genocide against the Tutsi left many people helpless, hopeless, devastated and with no hope for the future. This was not due to the lack of good people, but due to the betrayal of their friends and neighbours. When Edmund Burke said: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing”, no one knew Paula Koïser Milghita, a German nun, would be among those few good people. Fidèle Rwamuhizi, a genocide survivor from Kaduha Sector, Nyamagabe District in the Southern Province and also a member of Groupe des Anciens Etudiants et Elèves Rescapés du Genocide (GAERG) an organization founded by Rwandan graduates Genocide survivors said that Sister Milghita, as she was fondly called, sacrificed a lot for them. “She came to Rwanda in 1973 when there was no single health center in Kaduha. She established the first health center, became the director and started looking after patients. However, her heroic efforts were during the Genocide where 45,000 people had taken refuge. She catered for them and when she ran out of resources, she asked CARITAS for help but they turned her down but she didn’t give up,” he says. Rwamuhizi continued to say that on April, 24th, 1994 she started going around looking for people who were still alive among dead bodies and bringing them to the health center for treatment. She saved 90 people, majority of whom were children. However, on June, 13th, the Sous Prefect then, Joachim Hategikimana asked her to leave but since she knew that those remaining behind would be killed, she devised other means. “She went to Huye, and talked to charity organisations, among them the Red Cross and Terres des Hommes, and they managed to take more than 70 people to safety. The critically injured were left behind and taken care of by Dr. Ignace Gasana. Due to the oppressive regime, she fled through Cyangugu to Bukavu, then Uvira and finally to Bujumbura where time and again she would cross over to visit the children in Huye,” he added. Most of the children she helped are now doing well. She came back from Burundi on August, 27th to continue work at Kaduha health center. However, in 2010, she relocated to Kigali where survivors had the opportunity to visit her and appreciate her efforts in ensuring their wellbeing. She left for her home country, Germany last year in December for Cancer treatment which she succumbed to on February 3, 2016. On February 12, Kaduha, survivors held a mass and a night of remembrance in her honour. They paid tribute to her unconditional godly love and dedicated commitment that helped them survive when the whole world had turned their back on them. “We will always remember that, when you came to Kaduha, you found that some Tutsis workers at the health center had been dismissed and you rehabilitated them into their positions,” said Généreuse Mujawamariya and Evariste Bizimana, health workers and survivors of the genocide. She was laid to rest in Germany and her funeral service was attended by government dignitaries, including Senator Jean-Damascène Ntawukuriryayo.

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Kaduha residents mourn German nun who rescued lives in Genocide