Rwanda 94: A Plane Crash

By Minega K Albert

They were both engaged to their respective lovers, with people who belonged to their ethnic groups and with a common background. She was a Tutsi and he was a Hutu and they met on the eve of one of the most deadly tragedy in the world; at one of the most remote areas of Rwanda.
She will be hunted, hidden and debunked and will fear for the lives of her loved ones at the same time.
A doctor at a local hospital where she was sent to undergo her internship, he will try everything to save her life and that of many other threatened Tutsis –colleagues and patients alike. At the risk of losing his own; through humiliations and threats and defying his family and neighbors.
Will Grace and Luis survive their fellow countrymen's madness? And how about their relationships?
RWANDA 94- A Plane Crash will take you into the meanders of a country weakened by a political war, undermined by technical divisions until it collapses into one of the fastest and most deadly tragedy know as the Genocide against Tutsis and which forever changed the lives of all Rwandans. For these who were born by the time there is always a –before and an –after the PLANE CRASH.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Minega K Albert
• Release date: Mar 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311639684

Minega K Albert

Minega K Albert is a native Rwandan who likes to use the power of words to share experiences of his wonderful motherland. As a direct witness of the Rwandan Genocide, his first work is inspired by the times of that dark period. A Plane Crash is a first book of a two series story named RWANDA 94, and Back Home will follow soon

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RWANDA 94:

A PLANE CRASH

By Minega K. Albert

Copyright 2015, Minega K. Albert

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. Thank you for downloading this book. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or no-commercial purposes. if you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favorite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

This is a work of fiction. Names of characters and places, events and incidents are all either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious way. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead or any event is purely coincidental.

Special Thanks:

- Muzungu J.F.S.

- Branco E.A.

- Jessica A.

To the piece of my soul,

My star in the sea of shadows,

I miss your warmth,

But your pain keeps me afloat.

M.K.A.

Table of contents

Prologue

Chapter one

Chapter two

Chapter three

Chapter four

Chapter five

Chapter six

Chapter seven

Chapter eight

Chapter nine

Chapter ten

Chapter eleven

Chapter twelve

Chapter thirteen

Chapter fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter sixteen

Chapter seventeen

Chapter eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter twenty

Epilogue

About the Author

Sneaks of Rwanda 94 II

Connect with the Author

Prologue

Sitting in the back of an overcrowded coach, Luis and Grace were very tired. The day before has been full of events and very exhaustive. And staying overnight, sitting on a bench at a bus station wasn’t anything restful.

They have left the refugee’s camp in the north of Burundi in a rush, out of a terrible row between Luis and Mbaraga,his brother. They have walked many hours without knowing exactly where they were going until they reached the main road late in the evening. They have thought that once there, they would catch a bus to any destination. They hopped on a pickup truck instead, as the drive offered to drop them at the nearest bus station. Once there, they would sit down to catch their breaths and think on a final destination. By the time they got out of the pickup, it was already late in the night and they knew none who would let them inside his house for the night.

They were tired and hungry and the station was dark and empty. They sat on a bench, waiting for the next day to come. And there, they made a decision. They would take a bus to the South- East of the country and cross into Tanzania. Once there, they would seek for political asylum, as they have done it before in Burundi. And hopefully things would be different. None will question their being a couple and threaten Grace’s life. They assumed none would know them. Once their decision made, Luis has leaned his back on the bench’s seatback, and Grace has leaned hers on his chest, as they both fell asleep. The next day morning, they found the coach easily, paid their tickets and started a very long journey.

Luis could not believe how his life changed in such a short time. In less than four months he got engaged to his long time girlfriend, lost her, saw his friends dead and others kill. He has lost his job, his country and then his family. And there, he was sitting behind a woman, to whom he has become attached, at a scale he would not have guessed only weeks before; to the extent of risking his own life for her.

And together they were heading to an unknown destination, with only their hopes for passports. He wondered what was waiting for them. If there was still a future after what he has witnessed back in their country. What if the whole humanity has gone insane? What if they find Tanzania worst than Rwanda and Burundi combined? What ifs...

Grace’s warm hand touching his arm interrupted his thoughts.

"Are you ok? You look worried.

- I am fine, thanks. I was only thinking...

- I understand, what else one can do? She said not really asking but rather making a statement.

She has had her share of thinking since morning. Pretending to sleep, she has covered her head with a scarf Luis has bought her the same day at the station, and let her mind at work. Sitting on the bus beside Luis, and watching landscapes changing as they drove mile after mile has reminded her of another trip. It was almost five months before, and another man sat beside her. At that time she was happy and enthusiastic. She knew where she was going and when she would be back. Things have changed since then. She didn’t know where her family or her fiancé were, if they were dead or still alive. And she was surprised she was still alive herself. And there she was embarked on a trip for an unknown destination with a different man; wondering whether she would keep safe.

She only knew one thing: she will stick on life, as long as the life will still want her to be around.

The couple has been travelling since early morning and the journey was still long. They chatted time to time as their bus drove through villages and towns they have never heard of, places they will never remember of after they pass them. The rest of the time they were thinking of their former lives, how much different, and full of events which have brought them together. In the most unexpected way.

One

Freshly graduated at the Ecole Secondaire St Kizito, where he completed his high school in Biochimie, Luis Munyakazi got a scholarship to continue his studies at the National University, in Butare town. He registered in the Faculty of Medicine, in the public health branch. The reason why he chose this branch was that he could only study until the first level and stop once he would get his bachelor diploma. Then he could start working as a Medical Assistant at any hospital of his country. Luis knew very well that completing the whole medicine studies at the University, and maybe specialize in one pathology, would open more doors to his career and secure him a brighter future. But his family needed his assistance. He could not allow him the luxury of taking long studies; he needed to start working as early as possible to help his parents. They were humble farmers who trimmed hard on a daily basis in order to raise their many children.

He was born the fourth in a family of six children. Their small land was exhausted due to over- exploit, and by the time Luis reached the high school would hardly feed them. Boniface his father, often had to rent himself to some of their much richer neighbours, in order to secure Luis’s school fees after he won the high school admission exam. His father worked in his neighbour’s fields, or as manpower at construction sites and road building.... or at anything else which would have brought them few more incomes. The family considered Luis’s education as a worth investment and they vowed to do anything to sustain it.

Luis was aware of all his family’s efforts and sacrifices and he was willing to help them as much as they have done for him. They were getting old and his younger siblings’ education had to be supported as well. Then only once his obligations met, he would check on the best way to resume his studies for a further level. Getting a job wouldn’t be a hard task; his country was in a big need of public health staff and these who had a university level were very rare by the time he wrapped up his studies.

Once his bachelor degree in hands, he applied for a job at the Ministry of the Public Jobs. Lucky enough, he got appointed the director of Karama hospital, close to his own village in the south of the country. This came as much helpful as he didn’t need to rent an apartment in the hospital’s Estate for his first working months. He could stay at his parent’s house until he saved enough money, and attend his work every morning from there. All he needed for the time was a bicycle to ride an hour and half twice a day.

Then later, when will come time to create his own family, he will look for an affordable piece of land in which he will build the house of his dreams, find a nice woman and get married. For a nice woman, he had no troubles as he already had someone in his mind who met all his expectations. And so far he remembered the girl was crazy about him too. But at that moment, time wasn’t for heart issues. He ought to settle down first and deal with love matters later.

He started his job at Karama hospital little after his 24th birthday. He was young, ambitious and full of energy. Among his new colleagues were two other Medical Assistants, and three nurses with whom he quickly created a good working environment. The rest of the team were made of other people mostly older that the new director. Few nuns from a nearby catholic convent also worked at the same place every day, in charge of the dietetic section of the hospital.

Karama was one of the biggest hospitals in the southern part of the country; with the only regional nursing unity for patients suffering from tuberculosis, it required a big responsibility from its manager. Luis was appreciated by all the hospital’s staff, especially the younger ones with whom he created a strong friendship shortly after he started working with them. He spent the first months between the hospital and his family, attending work every day since eight o’clock in morning to finish late evening, before he picked up his bike and pedals off back home.

The work at the hospital was very hard and some days were longer than the others. Last minute emergencies could drop in anytime. But Luis was committed and very enthusiastic like any other person at his first job. Both attitudes helped him perform well his duties through which he learnt a lot at the same time. Through practices, he revised his school theories and soon he became a legend in the region for his precise diagnosis and good prescriptions, but mostly by his big heart. In Africa, where hospitals are overcrowded with patients and where staff have to work most of the time in the poorest conditions, to receive a smile or a kind word from a doctor or a nurse is a blessing. And Luis’s patients could count on him for that.

During his two years of work, Luis did a lot to help his family: he managed to put back in school his younger brothers, helped renovating the family’s house to make it a bit bigger and more comfortable to live in. Later he allocated to his parents a small, but significant amount of money on a monthly basis. The allowance helped his father to stop renting his hands in their neighbours’ fields. The family could afford to pay the few necessary things for home usage and a bottle of banana beer time to time for the old man who started concentrating his efforts only on the family’s farm, thanks to his son’s help.

Satisfied at the improvement in his family’s social conditions, he then moved out of their house and joined the hospital’s Estate. He did not need to make the long rides anymore so he could spend more of his time at the hospital. It changed a lot from the times the hospital used to send someone after him, miles away whenever an emergency or a complicated case arouse by the time he has already left. Many times it was too late by the time he came back. With a house close to the hospital, he would be much more available for both his work and his friends with whom he has decided to socialize with. His new life promised to be more exciting than ever before. His job paid him well enough to continue supporting his family, save enough money to afford a house and later start a family of his own. Looking backward, Luis realized that, for sure in almost two years he has achieved a lot.

Born from a poor family, he has never expected to get from life more than what other boys of his village had already got: a plain life in a rural area made of routines such as getting married, have babies and dig the hell out of their small pieces of lands. But for him –and due to his family’s sacrifices – everything went different. He was very respected and appreciated by many in the region, and his parents were considered at a much higher level in the society. Far were the days when he was once like any other boy of the area, running after his family’s small goats on the hills, once back from the regional primary school.

Things started to change when he got admitted in high school, and was almost sure of an even brighter future at his entrance at the university. Now director of a recognized hospital, in his own home region; his parents could not be more proud! His father could sit among other notables of the region as a ‘father of’! And he was a father of, Luis has made it happen.

Now off to the next step of my life, Luis thought one morning walking to the hospital.

Then I will be a totally accomplished man: build a house and get a woman, he said to himself. Talking about getting married could only lead his mind to the only woman on his mind, his beautiful Jeanine. The only one his heart beats for. Their relationship has been on an ascending path since they met years before. Luis has been so sure about his love for the girl by the moment he set his eyes on her. It took Jeanine a long time to express her own love for him, but her passionate letters betrayed intense feelings and a strong attachment for him. Luis could not have asked better. His next step was to be more expressive about what he expected of their relationship and his plans for their future together. It was about time.

Two

Grace Kalisa was a young woman finishing her training to become an assistant nurse in Kabwayi, near Gitarama town, located in the Centre of the country. She had followed an intensive course over two years, and there was the time for her big internship before she gets awarded a certificate and applies for a job. She has already sent her application and she was waiting for the answered, which would appoint her to one of the hospitals in the country. It could be anywhere and Grace was a bit anxious as she waited. She was secretly praying God to send her at least in one of her two favourite places: Gitarama where she could attend and still live at her parent’s house, or Kigali in the capital city. She has always hoped that, if she was going to leave her home place for few months, she would better move to Kigali.

Grace’s dreams have always been of living a true city life as she imagined it would be very exciting. But she has never got a chance to experience it. Her family stayed in Gitarama, a small town and she would probably get a job at one of the local hospitals as soon she finishes her training. And stay