Chapter 9 – Alive in the Grave

The question … was how would we get to his place, which was nearly four miles (6.4 km) away from the goat shack. Roadblocks were everywhere—manned day and night. Wednesday evening, June 1, 1994 … . By six o’clock that evening, a steady rain started to fall. Justin wisely discerned that the time had come to move our family to Jean de Dieu’s place. He instructed … “The Seminegas should dress in black, wrap themselves in black blankets, and walk barefoot”(115).

Being all but invisible, we escaped the vigilant watchmen searching for victims. The torrential rain was a valuable ally. We met no major obstacles. The watchmen had abandoned the roadblocks and went off to the shelters. Somehow in the pitch darkness, Jean de Dieu met us halfway to take over from Damascène and lead us to our new hiding place in his home (116).

The tiny underground chamber would be our safe haven for the next month and a half—we called it “the grave.” The “room” was actually a space about 6.5 feet by 6.5 feet, and 6.5 feet tall (2 m³). A wooden plank concealed the access leading to the secret chamber. A heap of sand sat atop the plank. The place smelled of mold and only the smallest ray of light reached us from a crack in the mud wall. We six would share this space while we waited for the rest of the family to join us (117).

Knowing that the killers especially hunted male Tutsi to extinguish Tutsi offspring, it took a clever ploy to transfer Joel from Justin’s to Jean de Dieu’s. This very active boy had to disguise himself as a girl and walk four miles (6.4 km) with a group of Witness girls as if they were going to the market. That was the plan. Dressing like a girl was easy—but his boyish walk was a dead giveaway. The sisters on our rescue team patiently practiced with him so his gait would match his disguise! The sisters took the group with Joel and Naomi to the market in broad daylight, pretending they were visiting relatives. In time they brought them to the underground room (117).

All told, ten people crammed into that tiny space! Sleep was impossible. We had to sit or stand with our backs against the wall. We felt stupefied from exhaustion. We all grew weaker and thinner. The nights and days dragged on. Jean de Dieu … bought small quantities of food to maintain his routine and avoid arousing suspicion. Without taking precautions, he would have given the killers the chance to discover the hiding place of “those who were supposed to die” (120).

Frequent bouts of asthma and palpitations accompanied malaria, brought on by swarms of mosquitoes that multiplied with the rain. Fresh air barely came through the cracks. But day and night the sounds of dying and death penetrated the dirt walls, reminding us to be grateful for our lives (120).

It was scary to hear all the screams going on outside day and night (199).—Benjamin age 7

Our bodies continued to weaken. Because of rationing, we sometimes went three days without food. In those close quarters, we had washed our bodies only once in two months (120)!

Chapter 8 – A Mud Wall Between Us and Death

Chapter 10 – Let There Be Light