She lived through the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda. Now she researches health of other survivors' kids | CBC News LoadedGlorieuse Uwizeye believes it was a miracle she and her family survived the 100-day genocide in 1994 against the Tutsis, a minority group in Rwanda. Uwizeye, now an associate professor in nursing at Western University in London, Ont., studies the physical and mental health outcomes of survivors' children.
More than 800,000 Tutsi civilians were killed by the Rwandan military and Hutu militia during those months, and Uwizeye's research found its impacts still linger many years later.30 years after she was left for dead, London, Ont., woman reflects on surviving Rwandan genocide"The effects of the genocide continue to be transmitted between generations, especially when you're exposed at a very young age when the body is being formed," she said.
"Not only were these young people exposed to their mothers being raped and having to live with that, most of them don't know who their fathers or the other side of their family are," Uwizeye said. "Some of them didn't even know their birth origin until they were older." Her important knowledge mobilization work gives practitioners and policymakers the toolkit needed to inform better support services and policy responses"When I was collecting data, I sensed a desire from these young people to understand the effect of their parents' experiences on their own health and the generations to come," Uwizeye said.