During a Gacaca hearing, he was later sentenced to 19 years in prison, and after serving six years of the sentenced years, he was pardoned and released from prison.

This was of course good news to him, but his biggest worry was how he was to integrate in society.

“When you are sentenced to life imprisonment, it feels like you have been thrown in a lake. But while I was in prison, I kept having hope that I would eventually be released. After serving 6 years, I was released. I couldn’t believe it,” he recalls.

He was to be released and go back home. But where was home? How was he to live with the very people he had had their loved ones murdered?

“I was starting another journey but I was afraid. How was I to live with others?”

But with courage, he accepted what was to happen and wrapped himself in the community. “I reached out to survivors, asking for forgiveness. This didn’t come easy for them but they finally accepted me and welcomed me in society. They even signed documents to prove it. I gave myself peace, I was happy for the second chance.”

Life has since moved on for Mutsinzi, “I even started a family. It’s later I joined Mvura Nkuvure. During the training, we had good teachers who helped us gain back our hope for life, I no longer see myself as a prisoner, my focus now is on the life ahead, imvune zose zarakize mu mutima (All the pain I had in my heart is healed).”

Her siblings would make fun of her ‘weaker’ stature; they would also tell her how her features looked different from theirs.

“This really bothered me because rumours had it that my father was different from that of my siblings. I didn’t like this story. All I wanted was my family, for us to be the same and nothing else.”

She would approach her mother with her worries who instead assured that there was nothing to worry about, and that her siblings were just playing.

It was during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi that she came to learn of the truth. A young man with whom they used to sing together in the church choir advised her to hide or else she was prone to being murdered. But the rest of the family never had to hide for their safety. They were of different ethnic groups, and that’s when she realised that her siblings were not playing after all.

“It was true my father was different. I approached mum and told her that she kept the truth from me and now I am facing consequences. I had to escape and hid with others.”

“When the genocide was over, I reunited with my family and that’s when we had an honest talk with mum. She finally told me the truth, but it was too late because father had passed on. I carried so much trauma and pain. I had to go all through that and carried the shame and pain for all those years.”

Joining the Mvura Nkuvure program, Muteto says it has been such a big blessing, “I was among the first ones who joined. It healed me of many wounds that I had carried with me for such a long time. I am in a much better place now, I have a family of my own, they healed, and I am grateful.”

Theirs was a polygamous family; her father had two wives and conflicts had been inevitable in their family, cooperation among them as siblings was minimal at best.

It was such conflicts that led to the killing of her father and first born brother. The son of the first wife was said to be the one who committed these murders. Without enough evidence, the family never took matters far, but this drove their family even further apart.

All that happened when Yamuragiye was still a toddler. As if what had happened was not bad enough, when she was 15, Yamuragiye was raped and got pregnant. It was a relative staying with them at home who abused her and as with the first crime, everything was concealed and everyone moved on with their lives.

This wasn’t the case for her however. She was not well but didn’t even know what or how she could save herself. She suffered immense trauma to the point of having a heart disease, an illness she still battles to date.

As she grew up, she was able to start a family of her own, gave birth and now has two children. Trauma however had become her daily struggle and her mental health was deteriorating day by day.

This is when she was invited to be part of the Mvura Nkuvure training, where she met with experts who helped her mental wellness. In the training, she had space to share her pain and grief. Little by little, she started opening up and being able to express herself.

“I grew up a lonely child. I didn’t want others or even opening up to anyone. I hated them for killing my family. But in this training, I was able to dig deep to where this pain was and was able to let go of it. It wasn’t easy but they helped us do it,” she says.

After attending this program, Yamuragiye says she was able to unite her family, “We got united with the rest of the family. My goal is to have a family gathering, where we will sit and talk and openly forgive each other.”

While growing up, before her mother divorced and married another man, their family had conflicts rising from the fact that her mother was of a different ethnic group from her father.

“My father’s family hated mum. They separated and she got married again. But as kids, she also hated us because we are Tutsi. She didn’t want to stay with us or feed us.”

However, Mukamugisha had to stay with her mother because she didn’t have where else to go.

As we had this interview, she had her baby on her back. Mukamugisha had anger evident on her face; she also looked frustrated and so young to be taking care of another human being. But for young women, though not the best choice, when faced with such trying times, at times they seek solace in relationships that often leave them in even deeper trouble.

When the situation with her mother and step-father worsened, she started seeing someone. And at the age of 16, she got pregnant and had to drop out of school.

“Things got worse at home.  Step-dad was emotionally torturing me telling me that if I wanted, I could take more pregnancies and give birth. At some point, I left home and stayed with neighbours but I later had to go back. I had no choice, I had to fend for my child,” she says.

She had to look for jobs in order to support herself and the child, because even though she was staying, she was not entitled to any support as other kids (her mum had with her husband).

By the time she joined the Mvura Nkuvure program, Mukamugisha says she was tired of the loneliness, discrimination and wanted hope for a different life.

“I joined because I wanted to be with others. I was tired of loneliness.”

Mvura Nkuvure is a program that reaches out to genocide survivors and perpetrators in a bid to help them heal from their trauma and foster unity in communities.

Through this space, people are able to speak out and seek/ offer forgiveness.

Mukamugisha, just like most participants, says her life has started to change for the better.

“Even if conflicts are still at home, there is a big difference for me as a person. I used to hate my step-father’s kids; I didn’t want them to even hold my child. But this is changing. Also, I didn’t know how to open up, care for others, this is changing too.”

According to her, she has now learnt how to deal with conflicts at home, with respect to her parents, “At home, we used to quarrel and I would talk back…but now I keep quiet. I am sure all will be well.”

When they went to court for the first time, the court ruled in defence of Kampire declaring her the rightful owner of the property. But on 24 December 2020, after the Honorable President of the Supreme Court saw the report made by the Office of the Ombudsman, he saw it as an injustice for Uwamahoro and ruled for it to be repeated on grounds of injustice.

He then ordered for the Supreme Court, the Rusizi Chamber, to review the case.

Uwamahoro, represented by her mother, Clemence Mukamihigo, said the property belonged to her father Deogratias Muyango who passed away and that this property was given to her grandmother Nyirahene.

In defence, Florence was also saying that the property belonged to her husband JMV Nzigira who passed away and left it for her, and that it was given to him by her mother Mukandoli (who is the mother of Muyango and daughter of Nyirahene).

The trial took place on 21/03/2023, and the reading of the judgment took place on 15/05/2023. The court ruled that the disputed land belongs to the heirs of Deogratias Muyango (Leoncie Uwamahoro), and that the property deed written to Florence Kampire be annulled, and Kampire was to refund Uwamahoro Leoncie 500,000 Rwf of attorney fees.

Their biggest issue was adultery, and they always had conflicts because of this.

The husband had children outside their marriage and brought them in the marriage but never trusted his wife to take good care of them.

He would therefore constantly yell at his wife, verbally and psychologically abusing her.

Upon attending dialogues on GBV prevention conducted by Haguruka, they learnt to communicate peacefully and resolve their disputes in a mutually respectful manner.

Today, there is no more abuse in their marriage and they are both determined to continue striving for an even healthier, prosperous and happier home.

Uwumugisha was then raised by her grandmother whom she still stays with to date. Kamondo says her daughter told her that she was impregnated by Fabrice Tuyisenge who raped her when she had gone to the bush to get feeding grass for cattle. According to her, her daughter told her that the man stopped her from aborting the child and promised to take good care of her and the baby.

“However, he later changed his mind and never helped her. He never kept his promises and even denied being the father of the child,” according to Kamondo.

Kamondo sought help from Haguruka to help her look for the father of the child. Haguruka filed the case on behalf of the child.

The court ordered that the tests of the child and the defendant be taken. The DNA tests showed that there was no doubt that Fabrice Tuyisenge was the father of Uwumugisha Esther.

The hearing was resumed on 03/04/2023 and the judgment read on 26/04/2023. The court decided that Fabrice is Esther’s father, and that he was to register her in the register of births, give Kamondo 10,000 Rwf every month for child care support until Esther is 18 years old. Tuyisenge was also told to pay for her school fees, health insurance, clothing, and repay Haguruka 178,023 Rwf for DNA testing and 500,000 Rwf for the lawyer’s services.

They share that even when conflicts present themselves in their marriage, they are able to resolve them together without them causing any severe damage to them or the children.

With that, their goal has been to reach out to other families and help those that seek to stabilise their homes that are affected by conflicts. However, they lacked the skills or the approach on how they could go about that.

“We have been living peacefully and happily for 10 years. All along, we had a desire to help other couples live in harmony as well, but lacked the skills and knowledge.

Through dialogues organised by Haguruka, they were able to gain all they needed to embark on their objective.

“Through these dialogues, we deepened our knowledge on GBV prevention, response and reporting pathways. Because of that, we are now more equipped to champion for peaceful homes as well as stand against GBV in our community.

However, when they received the money, her husband refused to give her her share yet they had a plan of splitting it into half.

“My husband kept all the money to himself and even abandoned the family. He had put all the money on his account, I kept asking him to give me my share as I also had financial needs I wanted to meet at home, but he totally refused,” she says.

That is when she reported the case to Isange One Stop Centre. They received her case under the GBV department and oriented her to Haguruka.

“The legal department at Haguruka recommended a mediation process and invited me and my husband to help us mutually and peacefully resolve our conflict.”

Through mediation, her husband learnt that Marlene, as his wife, also had equal rights to their family property and depriving her of her rights was economic abuse.

“He then acknowledged his wrongdoings and apologized to me. He also went on and gave me my rightful share of the money. I got three million and he stayed with three million as well. We are now reconciled and he also returned home. Thanks to Haguruka.”