Nineteen years after the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, some survivors find it hard to cope with life while others say justice is yet to be delivered.

The mass massacres swept across the country for 100 days from April 7, 1994.

While surviving a genocide is in itself the epitome of human resilience, hundreds of survivors have lived on to face other rigours of life, with many battling to stay afloat in a life of squalor.

Esperance Nyirakaragwe, 72, who lost the bulk of her family to marauding Hutu militias, is one of the many survivors who after nearly two decades is yet to recover from the trauma caused by the genocide.

The elderly lady, who walks with a stoop, is still trying to come to terms with losing two of her four children while the only surviving son has not recovered from the effects of the genocide.

“When the genocide began I was living in the current Kamonyi District, in Rugarika Sector. We fled to Commune Taba but the militias kept hunting us down. We ended up in Kabgayi, in Gitarama,” Ms Nyirakaragwe told Rwanda Today in a touching interview.

“I had three of my children. I lost one to the killers, who also killed my daughter, who was living in the city. By the time RPF soldiers rescued us, I had two children remaining.”

Ms Nyirakaragwe had come to Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre to pay tribute to her kin buried at the site as the country kicked off a week of commemoration on April 7.

Life is hard

“My two dead children are buried here, along with more than 20 close relatives,” she said. “I commemorate my dead every day. I do so physically and emotionally.”

The elderly woman said her life changed after the genocide despite support by the government.

“As a survivor, I appreciate the progress the country has made since the genocide. I also appreciate what the government is doing for us. It has supported us in many ways.”

Even then, she says, life remains hard for her and other survivors, noting that the genocide deprived her of family members who would have supported her in old age and now she has no one to fall back on since her only surviving son is in a state of trauma and the daughter is married.

Ildephonse Nsengiyumva, 41, is Ms Nyirakaragwe’s eldest child. He has not been mentally stable since 1994.

“I am hopeful, looking at where this country is headed, but I am not getting any younger,” she laments. “I have a house from the government but I have no other means of survival.

“I wanted a cow but they say since I leave in a mudugudu (communal settlement) I cannot have one.

“The means of survival are scarce. I cannot do anything for myself because of old age.”

Ms Nyirakaragwe, who was widowed before the genocide, says if she had an opportunity to meet the Head of State she would ask him for welfare support.

No justice yet

Like many genocide survivors, Ms Nyirakaragwe is still waiting for justice to take its course.

The Gacaca Courts found 16 people guilty of looting her property during the genocide and ordered them to pay her back but only six of them have adhered to the court order, she said.

“Only six people have compensated me in small instalments; the other 10 say they are too poor to pay me back. The court ordered them to pay me damages worth about Rwf1,200,000 but I have not received even half of that.

“Some local officials kept asking me to forgive those who have failed to pay me, asking us to reconcile. I have given up on them. I am tired of running up and down.

“I cannot keep travelling to Kamonyi and back.”

Ms Nyirakaragwe’s case is similar to that of Felicity Mukagatare, 53, who at the time of the genocide was living in Kibeho, Nyarauguru District. She lost three children, a mother and a brother to the genocide.

Ms Mukagatare has not received any compensation from the convicted perpetrators of her family’s killings. She said: “There are those who are convicted and are serving their sentences.

“Their immediate families claimed they did not have properties to sell to pay us back.

“I got back only three cows, to replace those that were slaughtered by the killers.”

Ms Mukagatare claims that two of the perpetrators of genocide against her family have not been brought to justice. One fled to Burundi while the other escaped before completing his sentence in the Works for General Interest Programme (TIG).

Ms Mukagatare caters for her brother’s three children, who survived the genocide as their four siblings were murdered. She says she has struggled to see them through school and, with the support of the government, the eldest two are in university.

Spending keeps going up

“I pray that they get jobs so that we can support ourselves,” she said. “We know it is not easy for the government to provide for everyone. That is why I want to see them get jobs so that we can get out of this struggle to survive.”

While there are complaints of pockets of survivors still living in bad conditions, the government says it is still doing what it can within its means to ensure that the needs of survivors are catered for.

In fact, the government has spent Rwf136 billion on the genocide survivors’ fund FARG, which it established in 1998, while at least six per cent of domestic revenue in the national budget is dedicated to addressing the needs of survivors.

According to Minister of Sports and Culture Protais Mitali, the country was faced with way too many problems regarding the welfare of genocide survivors.

He added that the needs of all genocide survivors cannot be addressed entirely.

“Every year the government’s spending on genocide survivors goes up,” said Mr Mitali. “In fact, the government has done whatever is within its means to ensure that the lives of genocide survivors are catered for.”

About Rwf9 billion is released annually to the fund, which it uses to pay for education, medical coverage and social welfare such as housing for genocide survivors.

According to Dr Jean Pierre Dusingizemungu, the president of Ibuka, the umbrella association of genocide survivors, there is ongoing advocacy that is aimed at mobilising resources to support needy genocide survivors.

“We cannot say there has not been any effort,” Dr Dusingizemungu said. “The government has done its part but what we are saying is that a lot more needs to be done.

“Our job is to highlight these concerns so that they can be addressed.”