Rurangwa denied a plastic surgery due to his will to keep the genocide memorial vivid in people’ minds

Révérien Rurangwa is a survivor of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. He was 15 years old at the time when it was being committed. He lost 43 family members killed by the Inteahamwe militias.

He held an interview with Europe-based magazine called NeoMagazine and narrated why he denied to undergoing a plastic surgery to remove the signs of his wounded body caused by the machetes that killers used to kill him.

He said that these signs of his wounded body will remain visible to everyone as to let him/her witness the atrocities that Tutsi, especially his family members, suffered.

His family members were killed on April 20, 1994 as they were Tutsis.

Different plastic surgery experts urged me to undergo the surgery as to readjust my face but I denied because my face is a heritage from my beloved late Mother, Rurangwa said.

He said that killers used machete to kill him but they left him bleeding so that he might suffer a slow death but the Red Cross agents rescued him afterwards.

All of these signs to my body should tell the history of my family members and of all the Tutsis killed during the 1994 genocide, he revealed to NeoMagazine.

He said that in Belgium, black people living there mistreated him and this increased his distress and trauma. For that very reason, he is currently in permanent fear of  appearing in public squares as those people are likely to harass him.

UM– USEKE.RW