Barely a year after losing her husband, two children, one adoptive child, and relatives in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, Yolande Mukagasana, 66, took on the role of fighting genocide denial and revisionism, especially in Europe where she resided at the time. She has done this through writing books on the genocide and at every other opportunity, including public lectures in different universities, conferences, meetings and other forms of gatherings. Mukagasana lived in Belgium until 2011. She asserts that in addition to wounds inflicted on her by the genocide, while in the Europe, she encountered genocide denial and revisionism, forcing her to confront it at every costs In an exclusive interview with The New Times’ Lavie Mutanganshuro, Mukagasana shares her experience in fighting genocide ideology and denial, and her future ambitions. Excerpts; When and how did you get the inspiration of writing on the Genocide against the Tutsi? During the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, I was hidden in a cupboard by a daughter of one of the perpetrators, and while there, I had a pen and a paper with me where I would record dates on which my family members were being killed whenever I got to know about it. My idea was to narrate all that in case I survive. When the genocide ended, my two priorities were to treat soldiers of Rwanda Patriotic Fronts (RPF) who had wounds because I was a nurse, and the other one was to write about what had just happened in the country because I felt overloaded in my heart and regarded writing as the path to healing. One year later, when I went in Belgium, I had written 100 pages from this experience and a friend of mine gave me an idea of writing a complete book. I was challenged because I had no skills in writing, but that friend told me that I can narrate my story to someone with such skills and they write on my behalf. That is how it all started. How did the zeal to confront genocide ideology and denial come about? When I arrived in Belgium in 1995, I was shocked to find that many genocide perpetrators had been given a safe haven and supported by politicians to spread genocide ideology both back in Rwanda and in European countries, which I could not stand because I had seen the genocide with my own eyes, and my entire family had succumbed to it. Since then, I said to myself that it was my responsibility to fight genocide denial and ideology at all cost. In the same year, during the first commemoration of the genocide against the Tutsi in Belgium, I was given the opportunity to share my testimony of how I survived the genocide, and from there many people started inviting me on different media platforms, in universities and large gatherings to talk about the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. I kept doing this alongside writing books on the genocide, and helping authors with information to write alike books. What challenges did you face along the way? The first challenge I faced was that genocide perpetrators and some foreigners who were promoting genocide denial and revisionism were in large numbers and were backed by authorities of European countries, therefore, their false statements would reach far and faster than mine. Another challenge was that I lacked people with the same commitment as mine, because, at first, even genocide survivors would not understand how telling the truth about the genocide against the Tutsi would be of great significance, especially while confronting genocide denial. Nonetheless, the commitment I had kept me going even through such challenges. You recently launched Yolanda Mukagasana Foundation. Where did the idea come from and where do you envision to see it in the coming years? I am growing old. I thought that it was my responsibility to build a foundation which young people and the country as a whole would use as a resource while combatting genocide denial. Some of its objectives are to fight against denial and revisionism of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, to conduct research on the genocide against the Tutsi in collaboration with relevant organisations, archive the history of the genocide and promote the culture of reading and writing about the genocide against Tutsi, especially among young people. All these are very crucial considering that some people are still denying the genocide out there. The foundation is still new and not every necessary thing (enough human resource, infrastructure and others) is in place. Nonetheless, I dream to see this foundation becoming a tool to be used by the next generation to fight against genocide ideology, denial and revisionism. The help of everyone to make this dream come true is vital. What role do you think young people should play in this fight? Young people should know that they have a role to play in making this country suitable for them and their descendants in coming years. For this to happen, they should not give room to any form of divisionism, but instead put humanity in front. If this was the case before the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, I am sure the genocide would not have happened. Parents also have a role to play here, by sowing seeds of love in their children, and not seeds of hate because they don’t benefit anyone.
