I have come to Armenia as a sister, a sister of pain

Rwandan genocide survivors’ speech touched everyone

Today Esther Mujavayo had an exciting speech at public-political conference «Against the Crime of Genocide» who miraculously survived heavy losses of genocide losing her husband, parents, sister, aunt, father-in-law, and mother-in-law. Just during three months more than one million people from Tutsi tribe were killed.

“I have come here as a sister of pain. I am here as a survivor of the Rwandan genocide. I have been living with this pain for 21 years now. I was lucky to stay alive. They killed my husband, father, sister and my husband’s relatives. They were killed, but I stayed alive to bear that pain and live with that memory,” Mujavayo mentioned. Mujavayo paused from time to time during her speech as she remembered the horrors of the past, wiped the tears and kept repeating: “We survived, we must live for the sake of those who were killed.” “By remembering your pain, I am also your sister who was saved and survived,” Mujayavo mentioned, adding that she compares the Armenians to a tree that hasn’t dried, and the small branch of which has given life to an enormous tree.

Full text in Armenian