Diana Mbabazi, 55, the eldest of 14 children, was living her life in bliss, just like every other child in her neighborhood. She had no idea she was born to Rwandan refugees, or what it even meant.

When she started school in Uganda where she was born, other children would always refer to her and other Rwandan children as ‘akanyarwanda’- a term that loosely translates to ‘little Rwandan’.

One day, she asked her paternal grandmother with whom they were living together, and she explained to her that they were refugees in a foreign country, although one day they would go back home. This is something the now-retired lieutenant would later understand and take part in, but not at the time.

The time came and her parents sent her to a boarding school in a different area. When she was around 12 years old, she and all of her classmates found themselves in an area of conflict in Uganda’s bush war between Yoweri Museveni’s NRA and Milton Obote’s army.

Mbabazi, like all other students in her school, couldn’t go home, they also couldn’t keep studying because of all the chaos. If there was a breakthrough, it was only through fighting with the rebels and winning, and so they did.

At home, they thought Mbabazi and other children from the community had died. They even held vigils in their memory, and each day got worse because rumours would spread about how people saw dead children in the area where they were going to school.

To their surprise, about six years later, Mbabazi would return home to visit her parents and they couldn’t believe it. She had grown so much, and although it was frowned upon to join the army, what mattered right then was that she was alive.

Joining the military, let alone a rebel group was regarded as indiscipline, and it was even worse when it was a woman. But this is not how they felt when Mbabazi explained to her parents a couple of years later that she would join the Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA) and help them get back to their home country.

"They were happy to see that their children were willing to fight for their return to Rwanda. They wouldn’t rebel, they were encouraging us instead. They had spent time dreaming of the day they would return to Rwanda and we were going to do it for them. They were grateful that we didn’t die for a different country’s liberation, so we were able to fight for theirs,” Mbabazi said.

The parents wanted their dignity back as citizens living in their country, with full human rights and liberties.

"We Rwandans, would have conversations in the army (Ugandan) and say that although we are serving in the military, we have our home, our country. When the time came, we joined the RPA to liberate the country,” Mbabazi said.

Mbabazi would later be part of the famous Yankee battalion of RPA which was female dominated and led. She was the records and documentation officer, so she was referred to as "Afande Mbabazi - records officer” to distinguish her from the other officers with the same last name.

Although we rarely see women acknowledged as brave fighters, especially in guerrilla wars, Yankee was just like any other RPA battalion, formed by the High Command, and deployed in areas of fighting—as other battalions were.

"Yankee battalion was like any other battalion in the RPA. The only unique thing about it was that it was female-dominated, but the structure, deployment, and everything else were the same. We all worked towards liberating the country, and we achieved it,” Mbabazi said.

"There was no boy or girl, nor woman or man. At war, everyone manages the required task depending on who is there at the moment,” she added.

Apparently, despite the first RPA Inkotanyi leader Fred Rwigema being shot at the peak of a hill at the start of the liberation struggle, Rwanda's mountainous nature generally worked to their advantage in the battles that followed.

One of the key positions was a hill called Shonga located in Nyagatare District. The peak has a breathtaking view— except for people scared of heights. It was the first strategic position for RPA, and it’s where they captured Kabuga, the first strong enemy position to be defeated.

Among the battalions that were cutting supplies for Kabuga as they had surrounded it was Yankee. And this is just one of their military triumphs, although Mbabazi insists that it was rather RPA’s win than just Yankee’s.

At a time when women were mostly viewed as mere homemakers in the region, Rwandan refugee girls and women took to war to liberate their country alongside their male counterparts, challenging traditional beliefs that there were things women couldn’t do.

Besides going to the battlefield, they also performed outstandingly as political cadres, fundraisers, finance managers, and nurses, and by raising the next generation of Rwandans when their partners or family members went to participate in the struggle.

"We worked with courage and without hesitation. There is nothing that a man can do that a woman cannot, whether it requires physical or mental energy. It requires positioning yourself and self-awareness. It was evident and it still is evident,” Mbabazi said.

After the successful liberation struggles in 1994, the next task for the Inkotanyi was to go back and bring their families to their home country.

"Do you think they even waited for that? They didn’t. The moment they heard we had captured Kigali, they rushed to join us. They wanted to see us. My parents came asking for me, and I was an officer then. I wasn’t a young girl anymore. There was so much joy and pride because they stepped on Rwandan soil again without anyone bothering them. I cannot describe the joy there was,” Mbabazi said.

Joining the military was never Mbabazi’s dream

Mbabazi’s parents were immensely proud of their daughter who had liberated two countries and made them alive and successful.

Although Mbabazi would spend 20 years in the military, it was never her dream. Well, the first time, she had no choice, and the second time, she had to get her parents and other Rwandans who were then refugees home.

"I had dreamt of doing many things, but among them, joining the army was not part of it. I would see soldiers in their combat uniform, but it wasn’t my dream. I used to think I would be highly educated and become a doctor, or a lawyer,” Mbabazi said.

During her service in the military and after, Mbabazi continued her studies, and she says that now, she achieved her childhood dream. She retired from the army when she had the first two of her four children. She resumed school to graduate with a Master’s degree in Finance and Administration and has worked in several companies, until now, where she works with World Vision International in administration and logistics.

"There is still a long way to go. I wouldn’t say I have fully achieved what I want because so many times we are limited in resources. But thinking that I managed to get myself through my Master’s degree programme, is a big achievement to me, and it doesn’t mean I can’t get a PhD or other master’s degrees. I love studying and working, and I will keep doing that,” Mbabazi said.

She also celebrates her children who cheer her on as she makes the strides. "I have beautiful children—three sons and a daughter. They are now grown up and they are wonderful children. I am grateful to God,” she said.

A liberator’s dream

Mbabazi said that her greatest dream is the development of Rwanda because she wouldn’t even dare to dream without that factor. With that, everything she wants she can get, at least according to ‘Afande Mbabazi’.

"My dream is never giving up on what we fought for as Rwandans. We are not there yet. Yes, we got our country, and we are grateful, but we need to sustain it so that we don’t go back,” she said.

"We used to want Rwanda to be like Singapore. I have never been there, but when I think of it, I am in awe. My dream is to see Rwanda develop in governance, well-being, and more until people start wishing that their countries become like Rwanda. The good news is that we are on the right track because we have good leadership, different forums where women get to solve unique challenges, and more,” Mbabazi added.

For Mbabazi, Yankee was the beginning of great women's forums where unique challenges would be discussed and sustainable solutions adopted. She believes that good leadership from back then which recognised and encouraged women to take up opportunities was key to gender equality milestones achieved by Rwanda today.

"Women are now everywhere. They are in all leadership positions, all careers. There are so many countries where women are still oppressed. Having this is something we are proud of, and should tell the whole world of,” Mbabazi said.

She also finds gender roles "old-fashioned”, and that in this time and age, people should move on from giving them space.

"I want to encourage young women and girls. If we liberated the country when some of us hadn’t even gone to school, they should dream big. They can be pilots, great surgeons, drivers, carpenters, and others. They should not allow anyone to discourage them because of their gender.

"If I were still young, I would fly planes and fix them,” Mbabazi said.