Françoise Muteteli

Born: Unknown, Nyanza, Rwanda

Françoise Muteteli was a young teacher who lived in a small town in Rwanda, with her parents and a younger sister. Her father was a popular teacher who Françoise adored. Her mother was known for her kindness. “Everyone loved our family until things took a different turn.”

In the early 1990s her family experienced some discrimination because they were Tutsi. Françoise’s father was often called to the police department for interrogation. The house was searched. Her mother was fired from her job. Still, they weren’t prepared for what happened in April 1994. Radio broadcasts and newspapers called for Hutu people to attack and kill every Tutsi.

Françoise’s family stayed at home. On April 22, policemen led by a neighbor, burst into the house shooting. Françoise lay down. Her mother fell on top of her, begging the attackers to let her say a prayer. Instead they shot her. Her body protected Françoise, who was shot in the back. The whole family was killed. As she lay in shock among the dead bodies, looters came. When they left, Françoise went outside and climbed an avocado tree in her yard. While hidden in its branches she heard some people ask where the older girl was. They meant her. She knew she had to get out of there.

An old Hutu woman agreed to hide Françoise in an oven dug out of the earth. The woman fed Françoise by pushing eggs and sour milk through a small hole. She hid in the oven for about six weeks. The wound on her back grew infected. She was very ill when she was finally rescued.

Eventually she healed and married and had children. She tries not to think of the people who harmed her, but she sometimes gets angry. She tries to help others and supports two orphans. She thinks it is important that Tutsi people live good lives with dignity to show that their spirit could not be destroyed.

Click here for background information on the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.