The 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi brought a lot of loss and suffering as it claimed more than a million lives in just 100 days, leaving survivors in despair with wounds still healing as time goes by.
These numbers are upsetting, but there are a number of amazing success stories that give Rwanda the feeling of hope for a bright future after all tragic moments they went through.
For example, there are people who not only survived but went on to become successful in various fields, including sports.
In this article, Times Sport brings you some of the survivors who walked their way to becoming successful sports personalities to reckon with.
Olivier Karekezi
The Amavubi legend is regarded as one of the most successful footballers that Rwanda has produced. He is part of Rwanda’s golden generation that secured the historic qualification to the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia.
The 39-year-old has for the past two decades found joy in football which, he says, saved him from the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
Karekezi was born in Gikondo, Kicukiro District, in a family of six, three sisters and two brothers who, with their mother, were killed during the Genocide against the Tutsi.
His mother (Adele Kayirangwa) and two elder brothers (Aimable Ryamugema and Eric Gatera) were killed by the Interahamwe.
He is one of the good examples of survivors who became successful in sports as he featured for big local clubs like APR and some foreign teams like Swedish side Helsingborg and Norwegian topflight league side Hamarkameratene.
Aristide Mugabe
Mugabe is the second born from a family of three boys. Born in Huye District, Southern Province, to the late Theotime Habiryayo and Veneranda Mukamurehe, on February 11, 1988.
The 35-year-old first got involved with sports through football in his childhood where he used to play soccer with other kids in his neighborhood including his big brother who was later killed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi along with their father.
Following the death of his father and brother as well as other relatives, Mugabe fled several places as his family tried to escape from the murderous Interahamwe militia who had vowed to finish off the family.
From 1994 through 2000, Mugabe gave up on sports especially on football he used to play with his late elder brother as he became disillusioned with life because he could not understand why his family and other Tutsi were killed for being who they were.
It is under pressure from his former secondary school (E.A.V Ntendezi) in 2001 that he decided to return to sports again and he ditched football for a different sport – basketball, – a sports discipline that he says has since given him a new lease of life and a new family.
Although he started out playing basketball in 2001, it was not until 2007 that he made his debut in the national topflight division league. His first national league side was the Rusizi basketball club.
He has played for the Rwanda national team, he won the Fiba Africa Zone 5 Championship in 2011 and led the team to a first runners-up spot in 2013 as well as qualifying for the African Basketball Championships (Afrobasket) on both occasions.
Joselyne Umulisa
Joselyne Umulisa, a female tennis player whose career span 18 years, is also a survivor of the Genocide against the Tutsi.
Born on July 14, 1984 in Kirehe District, Eastern Province, Umulisa was born the seventh child from a family of eight; five girls and three boys.
At barely 9 years of age, her late parents Pierre Claver Gashumba and Godberthe Mukangarambe , and five siblings were killed during the Genocide against the Tutsi.
Umulisa herself suffered back injuries during the genocide, and, in order to recover from the injuries she was recommended to exercise. That is how, she recalls, she tried different sports such as volleyball, athletics, basketball and, to a lesser extent, tennis.
The shift towards tennis started taking shape almost instantly, with the help of former tennis player Emmanuel Ngirumpatse.
Umulisa was in her second year of secondary school when she actively started practicing tennis at Amahoro Stadium’s tennis courts, but it was not an easy undertaking because her guardians did not understand how a girl would tap into the game.
In early 2002, Umulisa was approached by Alain Hakizimana, then a tennis coach at Nyarutarama Tennis Club, who proposed that she join his club and start participating in competitions. In June that year, she joined the Rugunga-based club Cercle Sportif de Kigali.
About three years later, she would land a scholarship to go to Cape Town Academy, South Africa, where she trained for one year.
Upon her return from South Africa, Umulisa had matured into one of the best female tennis players in the country as she started to dominate different local tournaments. All the while, she was also representing Rwanda in various international competitions.
Her brilliance on the court and discipline off it would, in 2008, also earn a scholarship to pursue her university studies at the University of Rwanda’s College of Education – formerly Kigali Institute of Education (KIE).
Adrien Niyonshuti
Calm, soft-spoken and humble can best describe Adrien Niyonshuti, Rwanda&039;s only professional cyclist.
Perhaps these attributes engulf the shock and pain of the 36-year-old, who at the tender age of seven years witnessed first-hand one of the world’s most tragic and horrific atrocities - the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
Among them were his six brothers and up to 60 members of his extended family. He survived after hiding between two mattresses for days before moving to the bush with his parents for a week with no food and water amidst the rainy season but he was alive which was what mattered.
At 16, Niyonshuti was given a second-hand bicycle by his beloved Uncle Emmanuel and just like any other boy his age, he was elated but little did he know that this combination of small metallic cylinders would change his life and destiny to build a foundation of hope and healing to a nation grieving a million lost lives.
Niyonshuti, who won the Tour du Rwanda in 2008, became the first and only Rwandan cyclist to represent the country at the Olympic Games more than once [London 2012 and Rio 2016] and was the first to play the sport as a professional when she joined MTN Qhubeka of South Africa in 2009.
Christopher Mukunzi
National volleyball former captain Christophe Gasarasi Mukunzi was only six when the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi occurred.
His father, Mathias Gasarasi, was killed during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. Yet 29 years later, the family is yet to locate his remains so they can accord him a dignified burial.
At the age of 20, Mukunzi made his league debut with Kigali Volleyball Club (KVC) in 2009 – a few months after completing secondary school. Prior to his maiden league player licence, he had featured for different school teams in local and regional championships.
Mukunzi also played for continental clubs like Libyan side Tarsana, Algerian side, Blida Club, Al Arabi Sports Club in Qatar, and Bulgarian first division side VC Marek Union-Ivkoni.
Cathia Uwamahoro
During the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, Cathia Uwamahoro was only six-month-old when his father was killed along with other relatives.
At the time, her family was living in Gisozi, a suburb in Kigali.
Her mother miraculously survived with her. She was the firstborn and for this reason; she ended up being the only child.
Although her father’s absence left an indelible mark on her life in general, Uwamahoro points out that it also made her strong just by looking at how her mother worked hard for them to survive.
Uwamahoro is arguably Rwanda’s most famous female cricketer, popularly known for breaking a Guinness World Record for the longest cricket net session by a woman in February 2017.
Becoming a world record holder did not only raise the profile of the sport in Rwanda, but it also helped Uwamahoro achieve her dream.
The sport, she says, has impacted her own life in many ways including getting a new family, which has seen her find comfort because of the love and the unity people have in this particular game.