Sylverine is 35 years old. Her father was a Hutu, and her mother was a Tutsi. She now lives in Rugendabari, Rwanda with her husband and children.

This is her story:

At the beginning of the war, I was living with my sister, but she died because of illness, and so I moved to stay with my brother.

The Interahamwe were hurting people called Tutsi. At that time, we dug a hole in the ground and put trees over it to hide. We were six persons at that time, but my brother went to Kigali because that is where he had a job. He died in Kigali.

Many times they [the Interahamwe] came. They came with machetes, hammers, hoes. They came during the day and during the night. They were looking for people hiding in the fields and in the bananas. Because of this we had to stay in our hole. We had a very small hole to breathe through.

One day my father sent my sister, who was in her first year of university in Butare, to find food. When she was returning the Interahamwe stopped her. They made her lie on the ground. They told her to tell them the names of everyone who was hiding or they would kill her. At that time a respected man came and pleaded for her life. The Interahamwe let her go.

We lived in our hole for almost three months. Finally the soldiers came to rescue us.

We knew the soldiers had sex with many women, and so I was afraid to marry my husband because of SIDA [AIDS], but after many years I agreed. My husband went to fight in the Congo for two years, and during this time I was alone and it was very bad for me. (Note: originally her husband went to Congo to tell the refugees to return to Rwanda, but when he arrived in Congo he found the first Congo war and stayed to fight.)

During these two years I lived with women whose husbands were also fighting in Congo or Uganda. There were three of us. Two would become widows. First we lived in Gitarama, and then we moved to Butare. We lived with orphans, people hurt during the war and sick people. I taught these children, and I also was a midwife.

After two years my husband came back and found me in Butare. We were married in Nyanza after his first return from Congo. He was later called back to fight in Congo. He left me pregnant. When he returned my son was so old and did not recognize him. He was shot in Congo. Once in the arm and once in the knee. He is now disabled.

I joined the Zamuka Cooperative 15 months ago. When we started this cooperative, people laughed at us, but this cooperative has helped me. It has helped my family. It has been very good for my life.

As of May 2009, Rising has helped Sylverine make $348 through her baskets.

To view products from the Rwanda Basket Project