I leave my house for Rwanda, di kontri wia dem born me, 30 years ago wen I dey 12 years- I run comot wit my family from di horrors of di 1994 genocide.
I grow up for Kenya and Norway com settle for London, I start to wonder wetin e go look like to go back to see if and how di kontri and di people take heal.
Wen di opportunity to travel go dia come, to make a documentary on di same topic, I happy well well but I bin still dey worried about wetin I fit find – and how I go react.
Warning: Some pipo fit find details inside dis story wey fit disturb dem.
I don live wit di emotional scars of dis events in di form of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), wey fit come or start anytime.
Like many Rwandans, I lose many family members. In just 100 days, ethnic Hutu extremists bin kill 800,000 pipo and dem bin dey target members of di minority Tutsi community, and dia political opponents, no mata dia ethnic origin.
Di mainly Tutsi forces wey bin take power sake of di genocide bin also get allegation for dia head say dem kill thousands of Hutu pipo for Rwanda to retaliate.
Emotions just dey shake inside me wen I land for di capital, Kigali.
Belle sweet me wen I hear as dem speeak my language Kinyarwanda all around me. But I also recognise say di last time I bin dey dis city, katakata dey evriwia, wit millions of us wey dey run for our lives as we bin dey try to stay alive.
Some few places wey I for like to see during my short trip na my primary school and my last home for Kigali – wia I bin dey siddon for dinner table wit relatives on dat fateful night of 6 April 1994.
Dis na wen we hear say dem don shoot di president plane down – di phone call wey turn all our lives upside down.
But of all di tins wey bin dey worry me, notin pass di sadness inside me wen I no fit find my family former house.
Afta I try four times, I call my mother for Norway so she fit guide me.
Finally I stand for front of di gate wey dey closed, I cough wen I remember di sunny warm afternoons wey we bin siddon for di verandah dey gist witout any worry.
E also make me remember di katakata wen we dey comot – as dem tell us calmly to wear three sets of clothes come bundle us into di car for journey wey none of us for fit think of.
I no remember if any of us even tok or complain, even though dem bin pack us togeda as small pikin for back – and even wen hunger wire us well well.
On day 6, we realise say no wia dey safe for Kigali so we join di pipo wey run comot.
We try our best to make sure say we no attract any type of attention for di roadblocks wey militia men wey carry machete dey.
E bin feel like say di whole of Kigali, thousands of us – wey dey waka wit leg, bikes, cars, trucks – dey run comot di same time.
We bin dey go our family house for Gisenyi, one area wey dey near di border wit di Democratic Republic of Congo wey be Rubavu district now.
As I do di journey dis time, I try to retrace our path to safety, di traffic dey flow smoothly, no gunshots or roads wey pipo wey dey run comot bin line up. Dis time e dey very quiet, sunny, beautiful day.
I see our three-bedroom house, wey about 40 pipo bin dey stay for about three months of di genocide.
Di house still dey stand – even though e bin dey empty since we run comot for July 1994.
And I dey fortunate enough to meet up wit some relatives wey survive, including my cousin Augustin, wey bin dey 10 years old di last time I see am Gisenyi.
E be like dream as I hug am- di type of dream wey go wake you up wit smiles for your face and your heart full.
My best tins I remember about im na wen we bin dey run for one vegetables field wey dey nearby, as we dey enjoy wetin be like Easter holiday extension for us – webin no know say danger dey come.
I no fit imagine wetin e be like for am, young boy alone witout im parents for wetin turn to big refugee camp of Kibumba. At least my family bin dey wit me wen we run comot.
Luckily some former neighbours wey bin dey wit am tell im parents say im dey alive- dat time mobile phones no dey- and all of dem stay for Kibumba for two years.
“For di first days, life bin dey very bad for dia. Cholera outbreak bin dey and pipo begin sick, thousands die from di disease sake of poor hygiene and lack of proper diet,” na wetin im tell me.
His story nearly dey di same wit my own. I remember di first weeks as a refugee for Goma wen deadibodi dem bin dey piling up for di streets for di city before my family managed to organise more permanent refuge for Kenya.
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