Zura Karuhimbi

Zura Karuhimbi (c. 1925 – 17 December 2018) was a Rwandan woman who saved more than 100 people from being killed by Hutu militias during the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda. A traditional healer, she hid the refugees in her house and deterred attackers by masquerading as a witch. Her role was recognized in 2006 by the award of the Campaign Against Genocide Medal by Rwandan President Paul Kagame. Quotes No one was killed among those I took in. I fearlessly confronted Interahamwe whenever they would want to enter my enclosure to kill. I warned them that if they entered they would face the anger and incur the wrath of Nyabingi (a powerful spirit in folklore). To instill fear among the attackers, I would anoint my hands with herbs that cause body irritation and touch them. Because they didn’t know the existence of such herbs, whenever I touched them, they got upset and I used to tell them that it was Nyabingi doing it. And to supplement it, I would go back in the house, shake whatever I could find, including metals and bags and tell the people I was hiding to scream. Then I told the killers that the voices were of my spirits and that they were angrier against them. The killers would flee in fright. I only believed in one God and the thing of magical power was just an invention and cover I was using to save lives. I am not a witch doctor. Interview with The New Times (2014)https://web.archive.org/web/20140628213723/http://www.newtimes.co.rw/news/index.php?i=15707&a=76397 I put them here in the compound and covered them with dry leaves of beans and baskets. I hid so many people that I don’t know some of their names. I hid little babies I found on the backs of their dead mothers, and I brought them here. ... I hid those people seriously. I’d prepare some magic, and when the killers came, I’d tell them I would kill them. I told them no Tutsis had come to my house—that no one comes in my house—while all the time they were all inside. They [the Interahamwe] killed my firstborn, my son Hanganimana; and my other daughter, Ugiriwabo, was poisoned and died. People would mock me, saying, ‘You hid people, but your own children were killed,’ and I replied to them, saying, ‘Our days to pass away are not the same. God is the only one who understands why these things happen.’ Love is the most important thing. Find someone to love and the future will always be bright. Interview with Vice (2014)https://www.vice.com/en/article/schindlers-witch/ During the genocide, I saw the darkness of a man's heart. I remember one Saturday, they came back again, I confronted them as usual, warning them that by killing the refugees in my house, they were digging their own graves. Interview with Rwanda Today (2014)https://web.archive.org/web/20191214041319/https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/rwanda/News/At-almost-100-Zura-still-has-a-vivid-memory-of-1994-killings-/1433218-1740448-j1tymvz/index.html If they are to die, I die with them. Quoted by the Kigali Genocide Memorialhttps://kgm.rw/if-they-are-to-die-i-die-with-them-sula-karuhimbi-genocide-rescuer/ Money could not cost me lives of Rwandans. One day, President Paul Kagame visited our village and said if everyone was a witch doctor like me, genocide could not have happened. Interview with KT Press (15 April 2015)https://www.ktpress.rw/2015/04/meet-mukaruhimbi-whose-prank-saved-100-tutsi/ You can not die, you can not give up, we can defeat these evil people. Quoted in her nomination for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prizehttps://www.benerwanda.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/profilo-zura-i-eng.pdf Quotes About Karuhimbi She risked her life to save others. And to do that, she only had to improvise: she faced armed gangs with her full body and intellect and she won. Her story is a reminder that humanity prevails - even in the most difficult situations. Rwandan reporter Jean Pierre Bucyensenge (2018)https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-46618482 External links Category:Women from Rwanda Category:1925 births Category:2018 deaths Category:Women born in the 1920s