Ivan Munyengango was only six years when the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi spread out. Born and raised in Kicukiro, when the killings started on April 7, he and his older sister were in Gatsata at a friend’s house. One of his earliest memories was the days leading up to the start of the Genocide. His mother would send them to go and spend the night at a family friend’s place because Interahamwe would go to their home during the night to threaten them. ALSO READ: The plight of children born of rape during Genocide On the rare occasions that Munyengango’s father would come home, he would leave around 5pm and go back in the morning, then prepare for work at a construction site. He also believes that the reason his father never slept at their house was that he was hiding from those who caused insecurities during the night. “On the night of April 6, it was total chaos,” he says and recalls people seeking refuge in the yard of the mother’s church friend where she had sent them at the time. Munyengango vaguely recalls a group of Inkotanyi soldiers coming for them, though he doesn’t know how long it took them to find them; they were asked to pack light belongings, but only the most important things. Munyengango who was soon starting primary school remembers how he tried to carry his new school bag. But he was told not to take it with him because it would slow him down. “I remember being given two items of clothing to carry; two pants and two shirts for the journey,” Munyengango says. ALSO READ: New documentary to show impact of Genocide on children During the day, they would hide in trenches, and continue the journey when it got dark. “There’s a story I was told of a guy who almost blew our cover when he lit a cigarette during the night, yet they had warned us not to use anything that produces light, like a torch or fire because it would reveal our hiding place.” He remembers, albeit vaguely, that before arriving at the place that the RPF-Inkotanyi had taken over, one woman’s child died and she kept on carrying her on her back, but eventually, they buried her. “When we arrived, we went to a temporary camp which was a school before, and later on, they handed us to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR. We stayed in the camp for a while until the Genocide was stopped and we were returned to Kigali,” Munyengango says. ALSO READ: When Genocide survivors, perpetrators face tough questions from offspring When they got to Nyabugogo, everything was a mess, broken glass everywhere, houses and buildings with bullet holes, and bloody streets. “From there we were taken to Kicukiro where we lived before the killings, only to find our home was no more.” His family, that is, his father, mother, and four other siblings were separated at some point. But only three siblings survived. Munyengango faced unimaginable hardships, including hunger, however, he was now with another family friend who stayed with him till he reconnected with his siblings who were living with other families. The hardest moments, he says, weren’t during the Genocide as he was too young to remember more clearly, but after, as he tried to make sense of things. “Life after the Genocide was hard, I was a traumatised kid with trust issues, being passed on from family to family, those were the hardest moments for me,” he says. “I was a mess, very skinny, my bones were visible. I was always scared, and lonely, and never engaged with anyone. Most of all, I was afraid of separation,” he says. As a student, Munyengango was part of the association Genocide Survivors Student Association (AERG) and later GAERG, an organisation founded by Genocide survivors’ graduates with a mission to create a world in which the memory of the Genocide is preserved and a self-sustaining genocide survivors’ community exists. “It had a great impact, especially on the social integration part. Being part of a family that shared so much of my pain was important to me at that time,” he says. Munyengango got to continue his studies when his uncle who lived in Burundi came back to Rwanda and paid for his primary education at a good private school. The Genocide Survivors Assistance Fund (FARG) paid for his high school education, after which he earned a fully funded scholarship to the University of Rwanda’s College of Science and Technology (KIST). As Rwandans observe the 29th Commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, the period brings back those memories. “It’s a time to reflect on the progress we’ve made in healing, rebuilding, and not getting stuck in the past,” he says. Munyengango, now a fitness entrepreneur and owner of Cali Fitness Gym, believes that it’s important to keep remembering, but not hold onto the pain that the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi caused. The sister he survived with is well and married with one child and lives in Kigali.
