Umutesi Stewart, Rwandan genocide survivor

I WAS 12 when the genocide in Rwanda began. Up to a million people were killed in 100 days between April and June 1994. My mother, brother, aunts, uncles and cousins died. I lost more than 40 members of my family.

After my mother was killed a family friend from the Democratic Republic of Congo suggested we flee there. We spent three months walking and couldn’t use the main road as there were bodies everywhere. It was important that we kept hidden until we reached Congo.

I was responsible for looking after my two sisters and brother. Sadly, my seven-year-old brother died from malnutrition on the way to Congo. There was such a huge number of people trying to escape that we lost him. After three days of searching we found him dead at the side of the road. We had to leave him there. There was no other choice.

That left me and my sisters, who were aged six months and four. My biggest concern was how we could live in Congo. The jungle was filled with rebels. They would kill people and rape young girls and women.

I spent five years suffering in the Congo jungle. I was attacked by rebels one night while trying to get food. They strangled me and I was left for dead. Luckily, I didn’t die. My injuries were so severe that for three months I couldn’t open my eyes.

I returned to Rwanda in 1999. Our life in Congo was filled with danger and I decided that if I was going to die, I would die in my own country. I couldn’t remember the address of where we had lived. It didn’t matter because our house had been burned and was gone.

My sisters and I found an uncle who had survived and he gave us a small room in his house. I also contacted my father’s sister who told me all of her children had been killed. She said: “I can’t let you stay because I don’t want to see children again.”

It was hard to tell your story because everyone in Rwanda had terrible stories of their own. I had a long period of sadness and darkness where I couldn’t talk to anyone. On the outside I looked normal, but inside I was hurting.

I met my husband Iain in 2012 when he was working in Rwanda with Jean Paul Samputu, a musician who is a genocide survivor. Iain and Jean Paul recorded a beautiful song called Window of Peace and a hit album, Rwandan Dream.

When Iain returned to Scotland we kept in touch. The next time he visited Rwanda we met up again. We got engaged in 2013 and were married a year later.

Moving to Scotland in 2015 was a dream come true. At last I had somewhere I could feel safe. Rwanda is my country but there are too many bad memories and reminders everywhere of what happened. My only sadness was to leave my sisters because they feel like my own children.

The big difference now is that I can talk openly about what happened to me. I feel like I have removed a big stone from my heart by being able to tell my story. I am starting to heal.

Umutesi Stewart will address school children from across Scotland at the national Holocaust Memorial Day event in Bishopbriggs on Thursday. The Interfaith Service of Peace and Reconciliation, open to the public, takes place at Glasgow University Chapel tomorrow. Visit interfaithscotland.org