Crowds of attendees holding candles during a night vigil at the Kigali Arena on the 30th Anniversary of the 1994 Rwandan genocide in Kigali on April 7, 2024. — AFP
THE extraordinary story of how 1,000 children were saved from the carnage of the Rwandan genocide is emerging three decades later.
Smuggled out during one of the darkest chapters of human history, these children – most of them orphans – owe their lives to a daring Swiss-led humanitarian mission.
As Rwanda descended into a 100-day slaughter in 1994, aid workers from the Swiss charity Terre des Hommes (TDH) risked everything to evacuate children to neighbouring Burundi.
Many were traumatised, wounded, or had witnessed their families being massacred as Hutu extremists unleashed a genocidal campaign, killing over a million people, mostly Tutsis.
Among those rescued was 15-year-old Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse.
Hidden under a sheet in a truck, she was smuggled through checkpoints alongside terrified orphans. She later pieced together the stories of these convoys in her book The Convoy, shedding light on a little-known operation carried out amidst chaos and unimaginable brutality.
Risking everything for the children
The Rwandan authorities permitted only children under 12 on the convoys, leaving aid workers scrambling to shield older survivors like Umubyeyi Mairesse and her mother.
“We held our breath at the roadblocks,” she wrote, recalling the heart-stopping inspections by machete-wielding militiamen.
The mission was “perilous beyond measure”, said Jean-Luc Imhof, a long-time TDH volunteer.
“These were deeply traumatised children, some as young as three, many wounded by machetes,” he said.
The first convoy in June 1994 managed to reach safety, but subsequent journeys grew riskier as the violence escalated.
“The soldiers made the children get out. Their lives were hanging by a thread,” Imhof recalled.
By then, Tutsi rebels from the Rwandan Patriotic Front were closing in, intensifying the desperation of the genocidal Hutu extremists.
Escape under fire
For some survivors, the memory of their escape remains vivid.
Claire Umutoni, then 17, fled with her four sisters after a grim warning: “Your time has come.”
With their parents later murdered, Umutoni assumed responsibility for her family, dodging relentless threats until they joined the convoys.
“We were chased from one hiding place to another,” she said.
On the road to Burundi, their convoy faced armed militiamen at four checkpoints.
Umutoni became an orphan at 17 years old when both her parents were killed in the genocide. — AFP
“It was chaos. The killers had hammers and machetes, still looking for Tutsis to murder,” she said.
After crossing the border, Umutoni and her siblings were taken in by relatives. Eventually, she moved to Canada, where she now works in the Privy Council Office and is a mother of three.
In 2008, she returned to Rwanda to bury her parents, whose remains had finally been identified.
“I chose not to spiral into madness,” she said, “but to honour those innocents who were killed by living with dignity.”
Stories that heal and inspire
For Umubyeyi Mairesse and other survivors, the 30th anniversary of the genocide has become a turning point.
Many who were too young to understand their rescue are now seeking answers about their past.
Since publishing her book, Umubyeyi Mairesse has been contacted by several “children of the convoys” as well as aid workers who risked their lives to save them.
A survivor of the genocide, Umubyeyi Mairesse’s book ‘The Convoy’ details the operation that saved her life. — AFP
Some survivors were reunited with their rescuers during a poignant event at Paris’s Shoah Memorial in June.
One of them, Nadine Umutoni Ndekezi, now living in Belgium, shared her gratitude.
“We are here because you did not give up,” she told her audience.
Umutoni Ndekezi was nine when she was rescued. She recalled caring for a boy in the orphanage who had been so traumatised that he could neither speak nor walk.
“I thought if adults could do that, then I didn’t want to become an adult,” she sobbed.
Now a mental health social worker, she credits her rescuers for helping her regain hope.
“They stayed true to their values and saved our humanity.”
A legacy of bravery
The TDH convoys remain a testament to human courage. The aid workers, nuns and journalists who took part in the mission continue to inspire the survivors.
“These are our heroes,” said Umutoni. “What they did was incredible.”
She now sees her life as a tribute to the many who perished.
“I chose to live in the name of those innocents who were murdered,” she said. “To stand tall and defy the killers who tried to erase us.”
As the rescued children piece together their shared history, their stories serve as a powerful reminder of resilience, hope and the enduring impact of selfless acts. — AFP
