USA: Refugee in Abilene who survived genocide earns her GED

By Loretta Fulton

Abilene Online ReporterNews

June 7, 2009

Photo:

Reporter-News Photo by Ronald W. Erdrich Immaculee Nikuze was a Rwandan refugee, bringing her three surviving children with her to the United States in 2005 through the International Rescue Committee. Nikuze will receive her GED tonight.

Earning a high school equivalency degree years after dropping out of school is a major accomplishment under the best of circumstances.

Immaculee Nikuze's life is hardly one defined by good circumstances. When Immaculee, 52, walks across the stage tonight at Abilene High School to pick up her General Educational Development diploma, it will mark an achievement set against the backdrop of the most incredible odds imaginable.

Before coming to the United States in 2005 through the International Rescue Committee, Immaculee had suffered the loss of her husband and three children in the Rwandan genocide of 1994.
She had foraged for survival in the jungle with her three remaining children for several years, only to eventually be separated from them and then reunited.

After living in various refugee camps following their jungle experience, the family was sent to Abilene just a year after the International Rescue Committee opened a branch office here. The Nikuze family may not have been familiar with their destination at the time, but they knew they would be safe and in a place where a new beginning was possible.

"We were just excited to know we were going to live in a good place," said the oldest daughter, Alice Uwumuremyi, 23.

After four years, she, her siblings and mother wouldn't want to live anywhere else. They have encountered the same West Texas friendliness that the city is known for.

"Abilene is such a great community," Alice said. "Everyone is friendly."

As is customary in their homeland, the family members have different last names. Nikuze's two other surviving children also live here -- Jean Luke Nshimiyimana, 20, and Grace Marie Uwiragiye, 22.

Alice is a sophomore at Abilene Christian University, where she is majoring in sociology with a minor in gerontology. Jean Luke is a freshman at the University of Texas at Arlington with dreams of becoming a doctor, and Grace Marie is a student at Cisco Junior College.

Alice and Grace Marie both work at Abilene State School, and Immaculee is a certified nurse's aide at Hendrick Medical Center.

Four years ago, when the family arrived in Abilene, none spoke English, although they were fluent in French and various African languages. Each has worked full time while taking English as a Second Language classes and then attending regular classes to attain seemingly impossible goals.

All are admirable, but the children defer to their mother when it comes time to hand out accolades.

"We are all proud of her," Alice said.

Add "proud" to the list of words that a former ESL teacher, Bronwyn Bowen, uses to describe Immaculee. Other words include "determined," "dignified," "admirable," and "goal-oriented."
"Immaculee Nikuze is a testament to the ability of the human spirit to prevail under extreme duress," Bowen said.

In 2008, Immaculee was named Student of the Year in the adult education program. And this year, she will add the GED degree to her remarkable resume.

As noteworthy as her accomplishments are since she arrived in Abilene, they pale when held next to her life in Rwanda.

Surviving war

Before 1994, when Hutu extremists waged war on the Tutsis in Rwanda, the Nikuze family lived a good life. Immaculee was the equivalent of a middle school teacher and her husband, Jean, was a university math professor.

They had six bright, well-educated children. When the bloodletting began, the family was caught up in it. Before it was over, 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus would be slaughtered at the hands of rebels.

Thousands of Rwandans like the Nikuze family would flee their homeland, never to return. The Nikuze family first fled across the border to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, sometimes referred to by the name of its capital, Kinshasa, to differentiate it from neighboring Congo.

From 1994 to 1996, the family lived in tents in refugee camps, and Immaculee volunteered as a teacher in the camps The family would later flee to Congo, which is usually referred to by the name of its capital city, Brazzaville.

On the run

The family, along with others, eventually was forced into the jungles because rebels were killing everyone in sight, including babies, Alice recalled.

"You just had to run to save your life," she said.

"Even if you were in bed, you jumped up and ran," her mother added.

They hid in the jungle, which was filled with people trying to escape, Alice said. Everyone lived off what they could forage. Sometimes a fellow refugee would kill a wild pig and all were welcomed to share. Some people died from eating the wrong plant or fruit.

"Anything we could put in our mouth, we ate," Alice said.

In 1997, Immaculee's husband, two sons, and one daughter were murdered by rebels and the remaining family was on the run again. Eventually, they became separated. Immaculee was alone in Brazzaville, and the three children were together in Kinshasa.

"We did not hope to find her," Alice said of Immaculee.

But eventually they did, with help from the Red Cross. It was a tearful, joyful reunion.
"We had some kind of party just to thank God for that," Alice said.

A new life

Safely reunited, the family moved to Cameroon in 2001 and remained there until being taken in by the International Rescue Committee in 2005 and moving to Abilene. They moved first to Cameroon in search of a stable environment where the children could continue their education.
"I was looking for some way the children could go to school," said Immaculee, ever the teacher and protective mother.

Although their life in Abilene is tame compared to what they experienced, the Nikuze family has hardly taken it easy since relocating. They quickly learned enough English that the children became successful students, and Immaculee was able to get a nurse's aide certification after working for eight months in housekeeping at Hendrick.

She hopes someday to resume her education in the United States and return to teaching or possibly become a nurse. But that will have to wait until her children are finished with their education.

For now, the family is living quietly and peacefully together in a home in north Abilene. Jean Luke is home for the summer, but will leave for UT Arlington in the fall in hopes of eventually getting into medical school.

The family hasn't had to go it alone in Abilene. In addition to the support they have received from the International Rescue Committee, they have been befriended by classmates, teachers, work colleagues and typically friendly Abilenians like Joyce and C.K. Bradley.

The Bradleys used to eat at Furr's Cafeteria before it closed. One of their favorite waiters was a young man from Rwanda named Jean Luke Nshimiyimana. They were so impressed with him that they invited him and his family to their church, Caps United Methodist.

He went and told his family about the church. Joyce Bradley was in charge of a ministry at the church that takes a loaf of bread to newcomers. She stopped by Jean Luke's home one day and met the rest of the family.

"It just all started from there," she said. "I was impressed with all of them."

The Bradleys helped move the family from an apartment to the house where they now live. They would stop by to pick them up for dinner.

All of it made an impression on a family who not long ago was scrounging for food and dodging bullets in the jungle. To the Nikuze family, Joyce and C.K. Bradley exemplify what they have discovered on their amazing journey.

"They have just been so great to us," Alice said. "We are just so happy and grateful."

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