Copyright © 2019 GM&A Publishing
Excerpts by permission of Publisher
PROFILE
Joel Seminega
Tutsi survivor
Fourth child of Tharcisse and Chantal
Nine years old during the genocide
Temporarily separated from his parents
Had to be disguised to escape
Joel was born in France and was three years old when his parents moved the family back to Rwanda in 1988.
Doomed to Die
On April 21, 1994, Joel’s father was gone for hours with a colleague. When his father returned home he was terrified because people were being killed for being Tutsi. Joel did not understand why people were being killed because of what they were. When his father tried to hide the family in a neighbor’s house Joel felt it was dangerous. He became very scared when the neighbor’s Hutu servant threatened to kill the whole family.
That evening the Seminegas had to flee their home. Joel went with his parents and two other siblings through the valley. His sister Naomi and brother Benjamin went with Adolphe, a family friend. As Joel lost sight of his brother and sister he thought he would never see them again because they were Tutsi and were doomed to die. When Joel’s group arrived safely at the home of Adolphe’s coworker, Evariste, they were offered a meal. Although they had empty stomachs, they did not have the courage to eat, knowing they could die at any minute.
That same night, as they moved to Justin’s home, Joel trembled as they came across a roadblock. The militia kept Joel’s father with a machete to his throat but allowed the rest of them to leave. He cried thinking he would not see his father again. He would be missing him just as he was missing Naomi and Benjamin. Joel’s father managed to join them at Justin’s later that evening.
During the month they were hidden in Vincent’s goat shack, Joel was anxious wondering when the war would end.
Disguised for Survival
When the family had to move to another hiding place, they left in small groups to avoid being exterminated. Joel went back to Justin’s house, this time with his sister Naomi.
The next day, in order to join the rest of the family in the underground room Joel had to be disguised. Because Tutsi males were being hunted down he was dressed like a girl. He wore a white dress and earrings, but his walk was obviously that of a boy. Joel eventually learned to walk like a girl well enough to blend in with a group of Hutu girls and his sister as they walked through the marketplace to the underground room.
Joel was happy to be back with some of his family. But he was anxious because his mother and brother Benjamin did not join them for two weeks. As Joel got to know the three others that were hiding in the underground room with his family, he learned that some of their relatives had been murdered. He was constantly reminded of the fact that he could lose his parents or siblings at any time.
The Liberators
Joel remembers the soldiers who came to rescue them as serious but kind. They appeared to be a mixture of Hutu and Tutsi and did not seem to care about ethnic groups. Joel wished that soldiers only had the task of rescuing people.
In 2003 the family immigrated to Canada where Joel now lives.