The Day I Will Never Forget
Mfurakazi,
Esperance
Grade: 11
School: Fargo South High School, Fargo ND
Educator: Leah Juelke
AWARD: Gold Key, American Voices nominee
“Help! Help! Help! Help! Help!” someone
desperately shouted.
“Mufatane amaboko,” my mom told us. We came out of the house intensely
holding each other’s hands and we saw the dark sky. It looked like it had
turned red. I was following where everyone else was going, I was so scared and
I did not know what was going on. I was soon separated from my family and I
started running faster.
Earlier in the evening, everyone had
been happy. The people in our community of Banyamurenge in Burundi had integrity and respect for everyone.
I was five years old and I was playing with my sisters. Sometimes we used to
make fun of my elder sister and tell her that whenever she would get married,
we would all have to follow her.
“Mwarasaze,” my sister would say.
My parents were always the best gift I
could ever ask for. My wonderful dad used to encourage us. He would tell us to
not listen to people who think that girls won’t be able to achieve much. He
told us
to always remember that we may not be the best in everything, but there
is something we are all good at.
That night, some people were singing
and others were in the church. It was part of our culture to always go to
church before going to bed. As I was happily playing with the other kids, we
suddenly heard a loud gunshot and my mother told us to go silently into the
house. My sisters and I went inside but we told mom that we could not sit down
without knowing where my dad was. My mom tried to convince us that Dad would be
here any minute, but something in my heart kept on telling me that we should go
and look for him. My mind was racing and then we started hearing kids crying.
Then, we heard someone screaming for help.
“Why don’t we go outside and see what
is happening?” my mom asked. When we opened the door we were so surprised to
see a dark red sky and to find everyone running away to save their precious
lives.
My family and I started running too.
Eventually, I got lost. It was very dark and difficult to recognize people.
Some of the enemies started to catch up to us and when they saw us, they would
shout to their group to let them know where we were.
“Sanga mama wawe,” someone immediately commanded me from behind. I kept on
looking around to see if I would see one of my lovely sisters. As I was
standing by someone, I heard a loud gunshot. I thought that they had shot me,
but when I looked, I saw the person that was standing beside me was shot and
died immediately. Even though I did not know the person well, I started crying
quietly. In a blink of an eye, I was thrown on someone’s back and carried away.
I was confused and I wanted to cry at the same time.
The enemies started to burn people
alive and women were mistreated and killed in the worst way. I kept on
running until I saw two of my sisters and I felt like I was saved. My elder
sister tried to save us by hiding us under a small roof that had fallen down.
We told her that we couldn’t keep on hiding without knowing where our parents
were. She suddenly told us to go with her. We were slowly walking and we saw my
dad lying on the ground. Then we saw some guys pouring something that I thought
was water on top of him. It wasn’t water; it was gasoline. We all started running
to him and I saw something that I will never forget.
One tall man removed a lighter from his
pocket and lit my father’s clothes on fire. As my sisters and I were watching,
I heard my dad say, “Don’t ever forget your dreams.” My dad said it as he was
burning. I felt like my stomach was being ripped from my body. During that
moment, I did not care if I was killed or anything else happened to me. I told
them to kill us because they took all we had. The guys started laughing at us
and I felt like my world had ended. The man told us that they will make sure
that we won’t be killed by anyone because they wanted us to suffer. They
started arguing. One said that they should kill us the other ones said no. They
eventually decided to let us go.
My two sisters and I had nowhere to go.
We were afraid and we had no family left. I tried to think of someone to go to
but I could not. We finally found my only aunt with a wounded elbow and leg.
She immediately grabbed my hand and my sister and I went to her house. After
awhile, we started to hear people shouting in our language.
“Musohoke tuje kubatabara!” someone
shouted from outside.
As I was seated, I kept on thinking of how my life would be without my parents. The
voices outside said that we were going to be rescued, so my cousins opened the
door. As they opened the door, they were instantly shot and died right there on
the floor. We thought that we were being rescued but it was the enemy’s way to
see how many were still alive so that they could finish us. Within two hours
those criminals killed 160 people.
My family had been in Burundi for only
a few weeks when the massacre of my people started. The people who attacked us
were actually Congolese rebels who followed us to the refugee camp. They were
working together with corrupt officials from Burundi. We had come to Burundi
when our country, Congo, was at war. The government allowed us to enter the
country as refugees and stay in a refugee camp on the border. The main reason
why our people were being killed in Congo was because of how we looked. Many
tribes were very racist against our tribe. They didn’t like that we spoke a
different language. Because we spoke a different language, they accused us of
not being Congolese.
It wasn’t easy for us to get used to
living without my dad. We found our mother the next day at the hospital where
most people were getting treatment. We decided to move to Kenya. We stayed in
Kenya for another six years. We started life
there and I went to school. When I started eighth grade, I soon became one of
the top five students in the whole country. It was my first moment of
happiness since I lost my dad. It was also the first time I saw my mom smiling
in a long time. I got a scholarship and I started high school. Going to a
boarding school away from my family wasn’t easy. The first time I was shown my
dorm room, I did not like it because it was small and I did not know anyone
there.
One day, I was called into the office. It was my first time being
called by the principal. I was really scared, but I knew that I had not done
anything wrong. She told me to sit and wait for someone to come and talk to me.
I started to bite my nails with my teeth. Surprisingly, it was my mother who I
hadn’t seen for so long. She told me the best news ever. She told me that we
were going to America the next month. I was sad but also happy. I felt sad that
I was going to leave my friends. We did our check ups and got our
immunizations. When it reached the actual date for us to leave, my friends were
all crying and it was very hard.
My first time going on an airplane was
really uncomfortable because I felt like I wasn’t safe. The food did not taste
that good. It was not the kind I was used to. When we arrived at the Fargo
airport, I was surprised to see one of my uncles whom I hadn’t seen for so
long. I did not like the climate because there was so much cold and snow. It
wasn’t easy to get used to the environment, but I learned that in order to get
used to a place, you have to try to like it first. After a few days, I started
school on the west side of the city and later in the year, we moved to the south side. I learned a lot after joining a
military class at school called AFJROTC. I learned that you can never know what
someone has gone through unless you talk to them. I also don’t feel alone
anymore because of how I interact with other people. I’m glad I was able to
start a new life; I just wish my dad was here to enjoy it with us.
Kinyamurenge Language
Glossary
Mufatane
amaboko: Hold each other’s hands.
Sanga mama wawe: Go
to your mom!
Mwarasaze: You are crazy.
Musohoke tuje
kubatabara: We have come to rescue you!
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