Surviving the Rwandan genocide

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 29 March 2024

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

April 1994 was the start of the Rwandan genocide, 100 days of slaughter, rape and atrocities.

As part of the Tutsi ethnic group, Antoinette Mutabazi’s family were a target for the killings.

So her father told her to run, leaving her family behind. She was just 11 years old.

As a survivor of the genocide, she speaks publicly about reconciliation and forgiveness. She tells Rosie Blunt her story.

(Photo: Antoinette as an adult. Credit: HMDT)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
0:04.7	My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:08.5	As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.
0:18.0	What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,
0:24.6	poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.
0:29.7	If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds.
0:37.0	Hello, welcome to the Witness History Podcast from the BBC World Service with me Rosie Blunt.
0:48.0	We're looking back to the start of the Rwandan genocide.
0:52.0	Before we go ahead, please be aware that this episode
0:55.2	contained some upsetting and at times graphic content.
1:01.0	It's April 1994.
1:03.0	Antoinette Mutabazzi is 11 years old.
1:06.0	She lives in Gagali, the capital city of Rwanda,
1:09.0	with her parents and three brothers.
1:11.0	My mom used to be a tailor so she used to
1:14.1	saw clothes. My dad used to work with this company that was selling the car
1:20.1	spares. As an African Rwandan who have extended families and we always had a great time with
1:28.6	the cousins and it was great.
1:31.9	It was a loving childhood.
1:34.0	Antoinette's family are Tutsi,
1:37.0	Rwanda's second largest ethnic group
1:40.0	that ruled the country until 1959
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.