Ten years ago, after surviving seven near-death experiences, Vital Akimana moved to the United States. On Tuesday, Akimana stood before a capacity crowd in the Joukowsky Forum in the Watson Institute for International Studies and spoke about surviving the Rwandan genocide. The speech followed a screening of the film "Sometimes in April."
Akimana said the film, written and directed by Haitian-born filmmaker Raoul Peck, accurately depicted the horrors that Rwandans endured as Hutu nationalists slaughtered Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The film tells the story of two brothers, one a hesitant Hutu soldier married to a Tutsi woman and the other a powerful member of Radio RTLM, which spread Hutu propaganda.
The film includes scenes showing truck beds filled with corpses, bodies lying in the streets and innocent women and children being killed because of their ethnicity. For Akimana, the scenes approximated the reality he experienced.
"Rwandans died because of ignorance," said Akimana, who has spoken at several high schools and universities. Akimana said he feels obligated to speak because it gives meaning to the lives of those who died and to him being alive. "I hear the voices of the dead urging (me) to make meaning of their lives. ... I live for them. ... I am speaking for them now, as I speak to you."
Only 20 years old, Akimana is now a sophomore at Guilford College in North Carolina, where he is majoring in peace and conflict studies and psychology. He has received several awards, including the Mark Curtis Award for Humanity and the 2004 WBDC Unsung Heroes Award.
Akimana's family was constantly in danger in Rwanda, even before the genocide had begun, he said. His brushes with death took different forms, from army convoys looking for his family to raging armies rallying in front of his house for two days and causing his family to flee to Congo.
Akimana and his family came across several roadblocks when traveling. Soldiers checked his father's identification card to make sure he was not a Tutsi, and his family tried to avoid roadblocks patrolled by the military because their name was high on the list of those who were supposed to be killed.
At one roadblock, after his father produced his identification card showing that he was a Hutu, Akimana's brother was stopped. The soldiers were suspicious of his brother's appearance, which resembled that of a Tutsi. Akimana's mother, who was not with them at the time, was half Tutsi. His brother was struck with a machete and separated from the group, ordered to be killed. However, Akimana's father pled and offered his watch and wallet to convince the soldiers to allow Akimana's brother to live.
Akimana and his family were considered "high-risk targets" and had to hide for six months in his father's home region in Rwanda. To get to this area, Akimana and his family walked 50 miles.
Akimana's mother was associated with the Tutsi political party and was one of the first in line to replace politicians who were killed. This meant she was one of the earliest targets for execution after the politicians were killed, causing the family's quick flight.
After Akimana and his three siblings were deposited at his father's home, within two weeks, their mother was pronounced dead over the radio. But six months later, Akimana and his family heard their mother's voice over the radio. He later came to learn that his mother had escaped from a military death camp.
Akimana plans to go back to his home country. "I am going to die in Rwanda," he said, adding that he is thankful to the United States and God for giving him the opportunities and education he has received here. Thinking about returning to Rwanda brings "fear, excitement, sadness and tragedy all boiled into one," Akimana said.
He was invited to speak at Brown by Andrea Maldonado GS, a community director.
"My hope is ... to educate the community more about atrocities such as this that have occurred, but more than that to really put a face, a name, a human being with the numbers and statistics," Maldonado told The Herald before the event.
Akimana concluded his speech by asking everyone in the audience to remember the victims of the genocide and the lessons he had imparted.
"Many people lost their lives, but their existence will not go unremembered," he said. "At some point or another we all have our share in contributing to the greed, arrogance and corrupt power that result in the destruction of life. ... Let's not perpetuate the violence by sharing in stories that (are) meant to demonize one group and victimize another. Let's take part in holding ourselves accountable for our ignorance."
