His widow, Josepha, and their five children fled to an uncle's home in Gikongoro, a town 15 miles north of Butare. For two years, Josepha supported her family by growing bananas and sweet potatoes. When her uncle died, she took over his two-room mud hut and plot of fertile land. Then problems began again. My mother refused to sell a piece of our land to a neighbor.
Land is scarce and highly coveted in Rwanda, Africa's most densely populated country.
Ninety-three percent of the 7 million people here earn their living through subsistence agriculture. Bitter conflicts over property rights often divide families and communities. A few days following the neighbor's threat, Josepha died suddenly after eating at another neighbor's home.