Valérie: Now that they have returned to Kinama. We are living together and we share everything. Jean Marie works in Roi Khaled hospital. We are still neighbours. His house is there in front of mine.

Q: Why did you save them?
Valérie: I saved them because I see no reason to kill people. That is the way I am created.

Q: After you have saved them, how were you treated by your neighbours?
Valérie: Most of my Hutu neighbours did not kill. Many of them saved others. Shedding the blood of innocent people is wrong. These who killed did not gain anything from it. I believe that God will ensure that anyone who killed will be killed in the same way.

Q: In Burundi there have been interethnic killings. Why have more people not behaved like Valérie and saved others?
Gaudence: I pray God to change the hearts of people so that people may learn to live together and stop killing each other. We are all God's creatures. When God created us, He did not create a Hutu and a Tutsi. He created us as the human beings belonging to the same God. That is why we have to love each other. Let's pray God to change the hearts of people so that they abandon the quarrels and the killings. We have to live together harmoniously. Even Jesus Christ accepted to be crucified to show us his love to us. He died on the cross so us we may live. Then we need to show that love He showed us to the others. Let's love each other the way God loved us. That is what I pray everyday.

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