Gemima Mukashyaka

Gemima Mukashyaka (Photo by Sue Nichols, University Relations, MSU)

Life before the 1994 genocide

Thank you for giving me this opportunity to tell my story of how important coffee has been to me and my family.

My name is Gemima Mukashyaka. I was born in the southwest of Rwanda, of the Maraba district of high mountains of Butare province.

My parents had nine children and a modest income. I was the sixth child in my family. My parents were farmers. The principal income earning crop was coffee; this allowed them to provide us with everything we needed to attend school like books, pens and school uniforms.

I attended primary school and was lucky to have access to secondary education. My oldest two brothers completed their secondary education and the third was in fourth year, secondary school. Two of my other brothers were craftsmen and the other four were still in primary school. Unfortunately, all of that changed because of the 1994 genocide.

The 1994 genocide

In April of 1994, I was at my godmother's house visiting her on spring break from high school when the genocide began. I was just 16 years old and in my first year of high school. My godmother was Hutu and the only person who knew about my ethnic group. Three days later, people started to ask about my ethnic group. My godmother betrayed me and revealed that I was Tutsi.

After that, the Interahamwe (Hutu power movement) came to the house to take me for killing. As they were taking me away, a young man who was a neighbor of my godmother came and gave them some money to let him have me. He wanted me as his wife and if I did not take him, then the Interahamwe would kill me whenever the order to kill Tutsi women who married Hutu men would be given. I did not love him nor did I want him, I was only 16. I was obliged to stay with him, otherwise, I would have been killed.

The killers did not stop trying to kill me, persecuting me even after he took me to his home. One week later, all the young men from the village wanted to rape me but the one who had married me refused and told them that I belonged to him. They all became furious and wanted to kill me even more.

The young man who married me was a doctor and was leaving me alone at his house every morning. Several times when he was at work and I was alone in the house they would come and threaten to kill me and then one or several would pitch in to "buy" me and proceed to violate me.

They would come and ask me to dig my own grave before they kill me. I dug my own grave three times. Fortunately my so-called husband got word and always came back and gave them some money in order to save my life.

It became even worse when defeated soldiers running away to former Zaire came to Gikongoro and wanted to rape me. As those soldiers were more powerful than my so-called husband, sometimes there was nothing to do. We eventually were obliged to move to another place. This young man was really in trouble for overtly protecting me. Normally, these people were also killed. As for me, I was frightened to death. I was waiting for my death every day. I can't really explain what it was like....there are no words.

When Gikongoro was captured by the Inkotanyi (ARPF soldiers), I was not afraid to die anymore. Things had changed. I came back to Gikongoro where I heard of what happened to my family. I found out that my mother, father and six of my brothers and sisters had been tortured and fiercely killed. Only my two younger sisters, ages 8 and 12, were found and still living. Having met back up with my little sisters, I felt some relief.

Then I went back to my so-called husband and asked him if he could put my sisters up. He refused, arguing that it was not possible to accommodate three people. I left him in order to stay with my sisters. We moved to the Kizi refugee camp and started a new life as refugee orphans. Life in the refugee camp was not easy; we were like beggars living off of AID. Moreover I was pregnant.

Post-war life

As we had become orphans, people thought that we would prostitute ourselves so as to earn our living. However, we did not prostitute ourselves. We were not afraid of being hacked by machetes anymore. Therefore, we would walk back from the refugee camp to our destroyed house and try to grow crops that take only a short time to harvest such as beans, sorghum and potatoes.

In addition, there were some NGO's that were helping orphans. Since everybody pitied us because we were very young, this helped us get priority for small foodstuffs. We only lacked affection.

We had lost our family. We had nobody to give us advice and I did not know how a pregnant woman should behave. When we got some food aid, we sometimes sold part of it so as to get some money to buy sugar and salt. Although my sister and I tried to cultivate, we were not strong enough and it was very hard. On top of that, I was becoming weaker and weaker because of pregnancy. I had no means to hire people who would help us cultivate. Finally I had a baby. I was taken to hospital by my neighbors. It was very difficult and painful because I had never gone to a doctor's office for any consultation.

Coffee

As I mentioned before, my parents had a coffee plantation which allowed the family to earn their living. After the 1994 genocide, our abandoned coffee plantation was in ruins, just like our house.

We immediately thought of renovating the coffee trees. It was the only heritage from our parents. We also thought that maintaining the plantation was a way of paying tribute to our beloved parents.

They had 800 coffee trees. We managed to renovate 400 trees by 1996. We harvested and made $30 from coffee that year. This was a small amount but it allowed me to maintain our coffee plantation and fill some of our needs. This money encouraged me to continue maintenance of the plantation. In 1997, I got $100 for the coffee because the market prices were high and I decided that maybe I could go back to school because I was still young.

After two semesters I realized that it was not possible for me to pay my school fees anymore. I had to stop studying and devote myself to coffee. In 1998, the prices went down again. I got only $50. This was a small amount but it helped us fill our needs.

In 1999, the Maraba Coffee Growers Association, ABAHUZAMUGAMBI, was created and I joined it. The best thing about the association was that we could sell my coffee at higher prices by cutting out the middle men who were buying our coffee before. Now, we put our efforts together and sold the coffee at higher prices.

The other thing, joining the association could help us get loans from the People's Bank. I needed money to hire people who would help me maintain the whole plantation so I could make more income.

Thirdly, I thought that it was important to join the cooperative in order to listen to different views from all the members. One year later, I harvested 300 kg of coffee and got $150. This was an important amount for me. I had never owned $150 before.

In 2001, I heard that the association was starting work with the National University of Rwanda and the USAID/PEARL Project from Butare. They were saying that they would help us improve our quality by focusing on better production and processing techniques. As a result, they said we would make more money from our coffee. That year I replaced some trees that were old and I sold 150 kg and got about $70.

By 2002, the association grew to 700 members and we became a nationally recognized producers cooperative. That year, we constructed a central washing station in the Cyarumbo district of Maraba. This station allowed us to bring in our fresh cherries and already get a price of over two times what we were getting if we processed at home and sold the parchment to a buyer.

This was especially great since all I had to do was pick my cherries and bring them to the washing station, where they were processed. Before joining the cooperative I had to process my coffee and sell dry beans myself which was a lot more time and work. I had to use hired labor and my sisters.

Later that year, our president, Paul Kagame, came to the new station to inaugurate it and to meet with some coffee companies interested in buying our coffee. Those companies were Community Coffee and Union Coffee Roaster. They did not lie to us, they did buy one container of coffee each and have continued to buy our coffee. That year was my best. I sold 300 kg to the station and 250 kg to local buyers.

In 2003, I was able to sell even more coffee because I worked more trees. I made $130 and received a profit sharing rebate from the total cooperative profit.

The money I get from coffee fills my needs, those of my sisters and my child who is in primary school. The cooperative helps me get loans from banks too if I need one. I have a bank account now where I keep my money. I am able to pay people who help me and to buy fertilizers.

Now, in 2004, with help from our own profits and PEARL, we are building another coffee processing station near my plantation which will make my task much easier. I will not have to haul my cherries for long distances. Before, it would take three or four hours to walk the cherries to the old central station. Now, the new station is near my house.

These central washing stations also help us on the social side of life because we meet, work and talk together about all kinds of common issues. It brings us close together where we didn't have that before. We also discuss issues related to coffee with other members of the cooperative that allow us to make improvements whenever necessary.

In addition, I recently got a job at the coffee processing station. Now that I have a salary too, I don't have to ask for loans anymore. Moreover, this salary allows me to maintain the whole coffee plantation and get excellent crops and thus more income.

Coffee saved my life and my family's life. I don't know where I would be without coffee. I earn my living thanks to my coffee trees. I get money and buy food, clothes, health care, medicines and home improvements. I am very proud of my coffee.

I can also say that I owe my open-mindedness to coffee which allowed me to travel to London last month and now to the U.S. and see what is going on in foreign countries. I see how people buy coffee and how they drink it so much. I am speaking from a foreign country just now. My coffee gave me and my family a hope of a better future that was not even a dream before.

I want to thank all of you in this coffee industry that care about our lives. It's not an easy life even when you are there to buy our coffee at good prices and it's not even a life at all when you are not there. My love and thanks go out to you and you are always welcome in our country.

Thank you and God bless you.

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