Why I Wrote The Book
Why I wrote You Alone May Live
It took me 15 years and stepping down from the running of Survivors Fund (SURF), a charity I established to give survivors of the genocide in Rwanda a voice, to understand my own story.
While writing my book, You Alone May Live, I started reconstructing obstacles. I began to recognize the degree to which trauma and the recurrence of memories about my lost family, and those of other lives lost, was relevant to my life.
I set up Survivors Fund (SURF) to give survivors a purpose to survive, a reason to live and fight, whether as witnesses to the genocide and families that fell, or as human beings with dreams and aspirations to better themselves and their families.
The burden and stress to me was worth every sacrifice, not just for my lost family but for my brother Jean Baptiste. I believe that through him and his death I made his life worthwhile. That his sister would stand up against the hate of Hutu killers to raise the voice of those that survived horrendous crimes against humanity, that for all the victims, those known to me and those not, I could make every man, woman, child who fell proud that the Hutu killers did not destroy entire families, because they were different from them.
That has been my strength: that survivors would focus on rebuilding their lives rather than be consumed with despair and hate; that the Hutu killers would not triumph over the innocent lives they took away in the most savage way; because survivors can now fight back, because their lives and survival has a meaning.
You Alone May Live highlights that despite the world’s obsession with forgiveness and reconciliation, survivors still live in a dire situation: no shelter, no income, no appropriate rehabilitation, ill health and no justice for their lost families. Fear is ever present in their lives. Through their stories, I hope my book talks to you, talks to the world. Voices of survival against the odds will resonate.
There is a need for political and restorative justice, before a healing of hearts and minds is possible. If survivors are ever to eventually forgive and reconcile, this is imperative. For such justice the book calls, and I continue to work.
