# Esther Mujawayo

Esther Mujawayo (born 1958), is a Rwandan sociologist and psychotherapist. She survived the Tutsi genocide, but lost many members of her family. She is the author of several books. In 1994, she founded the Association of Widows of the Rwandan Genocide. She gained a Graduate Diploma in Psychology from the University of East Anglia in 1997.

## Quotes

* From her birth on a Rwandan hill to her current life in Germany. She tries to recount the appalling wound of the genocide in order to overcome the terrible guilty feeling about: "Why did I survive?
** Esther Mujawayo said her life. (Archive, 24 Apr 2015)
* Even though they have lost everything, they still keep their role as a mother, as the caretaker of the household.
** Rwandan genocide survivor helps refugees heal. DW. (July 2018)
* The women still have a strong sense of purpose, which makes it easier for them to start their lives here.
** Rwandan genocide survivor helps refugees heal. DW. (July 2018)
* Alone, you are just by yourself, but together you can be strong again.
** Rwandan genocide survivor helps refugees heal. DW. (July 2018)
* From the worst, most terrible experience, we managed to make something good, something beautiful.
** Rwandan genocide survivor helps refugees heal. DW. (July 2018)
* When you are constantly thinking you will be deported tomorrow, you cannot integrate, you cannot learn the language, you cannot start to live again.
** Rwandan genocide survivor helps refugees heal. DW. (July 2018)
* You can take your unfortunate history and use it to grow, to be even better.
** Rwandan genocide survivor helps refugees heal. DW. (July 2018)
* It is possible to become the man or the woman you used to be again, to become alive again.
** Rwandan genocide survivor helps refugees heal. DW. (July 2018)
* What is forgiveness? Forgive who? Who has asked me for forgiveness?
** Rwandan genocide survivor helps refugees heal. DW. (July 2018)
* So we learned to deal with it very early in a way that doesn't stop you living.
** A family looks back on Rwanda's genocide and considers when forgiveness is 'too much to ask'. TheWorld. (April 2019)
* It was surrealistic. I was really thinking, 'Are we dreaming?' They deny everything, they deny everything.
** A family looks back on Rwanda's genocide and considers when forgiveness is 'too much to ask'. TheWorld. (April 2019)
* You have to learn again to trust, to reconcile yourself, your life, come to the point where you say this life is worth it and I have the right to live again.
** A family looks back on Rwanda's genocide and considers when forgiveness is 'too much to ask'. TheWorld. (April 2019)
* Most of the survivors we have today were broken in their bodies and their souls.
** From ‘dead on the inside’ to ‘truly alive’: Survivor of genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda recounts her story as UN marks 25th anniversary. UN. (April 2019)
* What is the point of coming here if I’m going to be politically correct – I’m not a politician – the truth needs to be heard.
** Esther Mujawayo: The Voice Of A Survivor. The Concordian. (October 2007)
* I want to be nice and forgive, but I can’t because you failed us once, and now you are failing the survivors.
** Esther Mujawayo: The Voice Of A Survivor. The Concordian. (October 2007)
* I truly have hope because there are a lot of young people here. I challenge you all to make a difference, it’s in your hands.
** Esther Mujawayo: The Voice Of A Survivor. The Concordian. (October 2007)
* Too often, it is preceded by repeated warning signs that fail to receive a strong and early international response.
** Calling for urgent attention to prevent the ultimate crime. ohchr. (April 2014)
* We had been feeling the tension increase for a long time.
** Calling for urgent attention to prevent the ultimate crime. ohchr. (April 2014)
* Many of us have lost close friends. And we have asked ourselves: Why have we not seen the obvious? Why have we as church institutions not been able to push the international community to stop the killings?
** Empty hearts. United in Mission. (March 2014)
* The more we keep silent, the more history repeats itself.
** Chief Justice Ntezilyayo challenges international community on new mechanisms to fight Genocide ideology. RBA. (February 2020)
* People mistake us talking about this to be out of hatred but that's not the case. It is because we want people to know how it happened. So if people know how this comes about, then it would be easy to stop such actions.
** Chief Justice Ntezilyayo challenges international community on new mechanisms to fight Genocide ideology. RBA. (February 2020)
* If it could have happened, it can happen again.
** Aegis launches exhibition with UNITAR in Geneva. Aegis. (September 2018)
* I do not know if my reaction comes from pride or if it's a survival instinct. I know only this; that to be fully alive rather than to survive, is a way of punishing them. It's the only revenge possible to me.
** Shadows of life, death and survival in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide. Scielo. (January 2015)
* Because I am not dead, I must live. Upon waking up, I find that I am as distraught as I was the night before.
** Shadows of life, death and survival in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide. Scielo. (January 2015)
* Every morning, I put one foot in front of the other and I don't know if I am moving forward or backward.
** Shadows of life, death and survival in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide. Scielo. (January 2015)
* I was not born to live. I died at birth. The small grave was already dug. Everybody was ready for my funeral. Only my mother clung to the crumpled little corpse, refusing to let it be buried.
** Shadows of life, death and survival in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide. Scielo. (January 2015)
* Why do I need to reconcile with the killer of my husband? I'm just glad to have a government that creates rule of law so we can live together peacefully.
** CCNR’s Lemkin Reunion Reflects on the Rwandan Genocide 20 Years Later. CEU. (October 2014)
* We were condemned to live.
** CCNR’s Lemkin Reunion Reflects on the Rwandan Genocide 20 Years Later. CEU. (October 2014)