Life in the capital, however, proved tough for a widow with three children. Unable to pay rent, the family returned to their
The area was an FNL stronghold. "The army was convinced that we pretended to be school pupils by day but turned into FNL fighters during the night," Nduwimana told IRIN. "I knew by staying here, I would be killed. I chose to die on the battlefield."
That was 2003. Two weeks after joining the FNL, she had completed basic training and was deployed on the battlefield. "I was afraid, I couldn’t figure out I could kill people," she said. "But there was no way out – you either killed or you were killed. The choice was clear."
Now 21, Nduwimana is back to civilian life in Muyira, but with little to show for her time as a combatant. She is traumatized, has not been fully accepted by society and lacks capital to start an income-generating activity. Like Nduwimana, many women in the province were forced into war. Others who stayed in the villages ended up performing chores either for the army or the FNL.
While some took food to combatants, others fetched water or firewood, or sheltered the fighters in their houses.
"We used to leave home [carrying food] at around 8pm in the night and walk and walk; we arrived at their [FNL] hiding places at dawn," Annabelle Nshimirimana, 20, said.
"The next night we walked back home, taking care nobody observed our absence," she added. "It was a difficult task because it was a long way through the mountains. Sometimes we were ambushed and forced to fight."
Source: Africa World News