Nizeiyman’s Story

November 24th, 2009

Nizeiyman, 21, fled to the outskirts of Kitchanga in North Kivu province when his village came under attack. He has joined a group of woodcutters in Mungote camp for displaced people.

They have pooled their resources to buy some basic woodcutting equipment. By selling planks they earn just enough to supplement the food handouts from aid organisations and provide themselves with a sense of independence.

“My name is Nizeiyman. I come from Butare. My father died in the war. Three of my brothers were killed, too. After that, I fled to Mungote camp. It’s two years now that I live here, I was one of the first ones who started the camp. I couldn’t bring anything with me; even my blanket was given to me here. When I saw that there wouldn’t be enough to eat I came and joined the woodcutters.

“I had just recently married when we had to flee. My wife became pregnant and gave birth here in the camp. Most days I work in other people’s fields, and also do this work as a woodcutter. We sell planks to buy food. If there’s anything left, we buy another tree to saw. I live with my mother. She is a widow and so when I work I have to feed her as well as myself. Whatever I earn, I share it with my mother. The only income we have is from selling wood planks.

Watch a video about Bahati, a woodcutter who works with Nizeiyman.

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“We have lived through some terrible things. But here we found a little bit of stability in the camp. Some humanitarian aid groups gave us food and cooking pots. We have a little to eat, but we realized that we’d need to supplement that with our work as woodcutters. And so we keep on working.

“I’m terrified - all the gunshots I heard and all the blood I saw. There were lots of gunshots and when we fled we had to jump over dead bodies to get away. I saw five dead bodies with my own eyes, and my three brothers too. Some were killed by bullets, some by machetes. I saw my brothers’ corpses and I was frightened. When we saw that, we fled this war. We fled for our lives and came here to this camp.”

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