| "They decided not to talk to me any more because I would tell all the secrets to the Tutsi. I seemed to have been abandoned by people of my ethnic group."
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Georgette Mahwera and Anne Marie Nzeyimana (Continued.)
Q: Why did you risk your life to save Anne Marie?
Georgette: To be good to others you need to accept them as human beings. A good person does not feel happy when someone else is suffering. That is why I behaved like I did. This woman was a mother. We were working together. She was not amongst these who killed Ndadaye. She was not a politician. She did not deserve to be killed. That is why I saved her. There was nothing to be gained by seeing a person like that killed.
Q: After you saved Anne Marie, how did other Hutu treat you?
Georgette: At first they hated me. In Kinama every Hutu who was in good terms with the Tutsi was called a traitor. One could even be killed because of that. Some people were looking to kill me but I managed to evade them until the crisis was over. God helped and the situation is quiet now.
Neighbours kept telling lies about me. They were saying that I was a traitor who was taking Hutu secrets to the Tutsi. One of Anne Marie's brothers was a soldier working in Muramvya. He used to come to visit us, go out with us and buy us drinks and brochettes. Thus people concluded that I was his prostitute and a traitor. They said one had to be careful of me. They decided not to talk to me any more because I would tell all the secrets to the Tutsi. I felt abandoned by my people.
Interview by Maziar Bahari
Translated by Tatien Nkeshimana
Edited by David Shem-Tov
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