Elisabeth

(as told by Clare, Elisabeth's mother, continued)

When I found out I was pregnant, I thought that I would kill the child as soon as it was born. But when she arrived, she looked like my family, and I realized she was part of me. Now, I love my daughter so much; actually our relationship is more like sisters. I got married to a man and told him the whole truth about my daughter. I thought he would protect me, but four years down the road, he seemed to change his opinion about her. We are separated now. I think I would rather be alone and have my daughter with me. If I had the means, I would send her to secondary school because that is the only inheritance she will have.

I don’t encourage my children to advance ethnic ideologies. My message to my children is: Don’t look at whether one is Hutu or one is Tutsi. That’s not what is important.