Nziyunvira, Ntakamaze
- Born: January 10, 1985
- Country: DR Congo
- Family: Father, mother, siblings
- Grade: completed primary , needs educational assistance to start secondary level education
Unedited email(s):
I am a male Congolese born in a minor village known as Gisigari. I was born in January 10, 1985, in Goma District of North Eastern Kivu. I am the first born of eight children in my family. My parents are peasants and depend on a hand hoe to farm. I live in Kyangwali Refugee Settlement camp since December 22, 1998. My hobbies are, playing soccer, reading novels, storytelling and listening to music.
In 1996 only a few months after I had completed primary five, something I don’t want to remember occurred. I had experienced some civil wars between Bangilima and Kinyarwanda speakers in Zaire but the new war changed its face. It begun to rain bullets and bombs which almost killed me. I was very much traumatized by war. So many people were killed, among them were my two uncles, but as for me I escaped death narrowly.
The second war by Rwandese troops against Kabila Laurent claimed as many as one can could imagine. Life became difficult for all creatures. That one could no longer hear the singing of birds! The only sounds were of suffering children crying for their parents and their siblings who were being chopped into pieces as they watched that in agony. We fled to the nearby forest but the rebels captured us. Many young girls and beautiful women were raped in my face. There was nothing for me to accomplish apart from crying. It was such a stupid act that up to now I still bear a picture of it in my mind. Young people like me suffered all injustices, but the worst of all, was raping one’s sister while watching all that in horror. All men had been tied with ropes, but all those who resisted were killed badly. I immediately made my mind about escaping, but to gun men chased after me, fortunately, I fell in an old pit and I was covered with grasses. The two gun men could not find me, so they left following me so that other refugees would not escape as I had done. While in the pit, my heart pounded loudly, had the two men tried to come near they would have heard the beating of my heart. A little while longer, I heard many voices of people crying for help. It was the other men who had been tied and now they were being slaughtered, so women and children were crying. I suddenly began to crawl down like a snake for about 20 meters from the old pit latrine. I got up quickly thanking the one who had dug the latrine in my heart, and took to my heels at a breakneck speed. I never thought of what would come in my direction because what I had seen was enough for me to try to escape. I made it to Virunga Mountains (volcanoes) by the border of Rwanda and Zaire. There I spent three days. I had neither food nor water. What helped me was the vegetation in the national park and stagnant water where elephants had stepped. There are vicious animals, like leopards and lions. I spend the three nights on guard there. I could hardly behold my home country as I had gone very far. So I said a silent prayer to God after going from dawn to dusk, I realized that I was in the frontier of Zaire and Uganda. I went to the mountains in the interior of Congo where I met many of my village, but my parents were not there.
In 1997, were told to go back home as Laurent Kabila was in power, there I met my parents, but life was characterized by abject poverty. Many children lost life due to lack of food and medical treatment. This made me angry; as this was my future was to be successful. In November 1998, Rwandese army invaded my village killing everything which had life. We managed to escape narrowly and ran to Uganda through Bunagana border. As if that was not enough, they followed us in our hiding places. Many were taken back to Congo leaving others dead. After a week, more refugees went to Uganda. We began to fetch water for rich Ugandans in order to get what to eat. Others sold themselves in prostitution for food, yet, they would get AIDS.
In December 1998, UNHCR became aware that we needed urgent assistance, so on 22 December 1998 we arrived in Kyangwali. The camp was so bushy that baboons and monkeys were in large population. UNHCR gave us pangans and hoes in order to cultivate the land, but after two years, UNHCR stopped giving us food, forgetting that even what we managed to grow is eaten up by monkeys and baboons. Here I suffer from malaria all the time, because mosquitoes are very many. I have no mosquito net, here nets are considered as secondary needs. In 2000, I sat for Uganda primary leaving examination, but attending secondary school was very difficult. I dug from sunset to sundown to get school fees. The school I attended was very cheap, now that I need to attend an Advanced level of education, but my father cannot even get a coin to give me, as he says I have love for you, but I cannot even support my family. My future hope is now becoming a mere dream, because I cannot pay my school fees for Advanced level education. Since the age of 13, I have seen that suffering this way of life. I, and others, are growing up without knowing peace and prosperity. My future goal is to become an illusion. That is why I would kindly beg donors to help me reach my future goal so I can help transform my community.
Thanks. Nziyunvira Ntakamaze