I stayed there, Léonie offered me food but I had no appetite. She insisted that I eat because now she was taking care of me. She told me that she was going to stay together with me. They would have to kill her first before they could hurt me. I felt safe, comforted and protected.. Later that night she said, "these people are very determined. If you stay here, they may kill you. I will try to find out how you can escape. Now that it is getting dark, these murderers are going to sleep. If we go now, they will not follow you." She accompanied me. We walked slowly past the place where they first stopped me. I crossed the Kanyosha river and I went home. When I arrived they asked me what happened as it was very late. I told them killers had caught me and that they wanted to kill me. I told them about how Léonie saved me. That is my story.

Q: Why did you risk your life by saving them when you knew your neighbours might harm you later?
Léonie: I am against killing, naturally. I also believe that the pity one has for the others is the same pity God may feel for him. When I saw people who died in front of my house, that made me feel sad. Risking your life to save someone is not so significant when you know that if you let him to be killed, someone else may come and kill you.

All the problems that happened in Burundi have touched me. The killings did not begin in 1993. They happened before. They happened in 1972 and in 1988. I saw it all and whenever possible, I have tried to save people.

Interview by Maziar Bahari
Translated by Tatien Nkeshimana
Edited by David Shem-Tov