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"At the time they told me, '“If the killers happen to come here and find that Patrice, don’t you think we would face many problems?' I answered, 'We have no choice! As I decided to save Patrice by hiding him, I will accept what God will do.'" |
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Pierre Nyambere and Patrice Ciza (Continued.)
Nevertheless, I thought it was important to help him escape. I knew that if other Hutu heard he was with me, they would kill us both.
I woke up early the next day, around 5am. I put him on my bike and I rode with him on the main road. At that early hour, there were few people on the road. Most people were afraid to be out so early morning. I had to take that risk because hiding a Tutsi in my home was endangering my life too.
I rode with him up to the garrison. There he met his relatives who had fled there earlier. “We thought you are dead,” they told him. He said that he was indeed fortunate and that it was only because God and me that he was saved. I left Patrice there and advised him to go to Bujumbura as staying in the Hutu areas of the countryside was dangerous.
Patrice: At the garrison, Tutsi were sleeping on the ground. It was a very bad and dirty place. Many of my relatives thought I was dead as I had stayed back in Gakungwe. The situation was difficult. After two or three days of sleeping at the garrison, the soldiers asked us to move in with relatives in town. They told us that if we stayed on we might get ill. I caught I bus and ended up in a displaced persons camp in Kabezi. In short, that’s what happened.
Pierre: After the crisis, we have been meeting in town. We have remained friends ever since.
Patrice: I’m very grateful to Pierre. Sometimes I come to visit him from Rumonge where I now live. He saved me from a terrible situation. I was close to death. Only the kindness of God and this man saved me. Pierre is good, I witnessed it.
Q: Why did you risk your life to save Patrice?
Pierre: I am a Christian. I pray to God and I cannot accept the killing of someone I didn’t create. I decide to risk my life for Patrice because I pitied him and because of my love for God. I I saved him willingly.
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