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That is true for Mariane Mukaneza, a mom of 4 whose husband was killed within the metropolis of Rubavu, within the west. As she fled, Ms. Mukaneza mentioned she was given shelter by Yussuf Ntamuhanga, an ethnic Hutu, who turned well-known for hiding Tutsis and serving to them cross into Congo.
Mr. Ntamuhanga can be Muslim, who like many within the Rwandan Muslim neighborhood didn’t take part within the bloodshed. On the onset of the genocide, Muslims have been socially and economically marginalized in Rwanda, mentioned Salim Hitimana, the mufti of Rwanda. As such, their leaders weren’t as near the political institution, he mentioned, and from the outset, they denounced the violence and saved these fleeing of their properties and mosques.
“He’s my household and my hope,” Ms. Mukaneza, 68, mentioned of Mr. Ntamuhanga on a latest afternoon as the 2 sat throughout from one another throughout an interview. “He didn’t care about my faith or the place I got here from.”
Mr. Ntamuhanga, 65, who was fasting for the holy month of Ramadan, mentioned he personally helped rescue greater than three dozen individuals. “My father raised me on love and compassion,” he mentioned, “and Islam bolstered that message, too.”
For now, Ms. Mukantaganda, betrayed by an in depth buddy, mentioned she was studying tips on how to heal. However reminders of these bloody days are fixed, she mentioned: locations round city that set off reminiscences of killings; the our bodies that proceed to be exhumed; and even the rain falling on her rooftop on a latest afternoon, reminding her of comparable wet days in April 1994.
“All of it feels prefer it occurred yesterday,” she mentioned.
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