Below: We wanted to do more than write a cheque
Lambert Ndakaza saw his parents killed during the Rwandan genocide and then somehow survived as those seeking refuge were slaughtered in a church. After being adopted by an Australian couple, has he found peace? asks AMY BUTLER.
When the killing started in Lambert’s neighbourhood few foresaw how horrific it would be.
As the situation became worse, Lambert’s father decided their family had to leave. “As soon as we were outside the house, someone threw a grenade just in front of us,” Lambert said.
Frightened Lambert ran off but soon came back to see if his parents were dead. “My mother had been taken to hospital because her stomach had been damaged by the grenade. My father had been left in the same place and his left leg was almost gone. It was just hanging but there was nothing I could do.
“I had said to my father, ‘What do you think is going to happen?’ My father was almost at the point of death. The only thing he told me was, ‘Don’t worry too much about me now, because I don’t think I’m going to survive many hours. I just want you to go on and live life.’
“When they came back and tried to kill us, I just ran and ran. Two guys ran after me but after three hundred metres they gave up and went back. I wasn’t sure if they were going to kill my father. I was told later that they took him to the hospital, but someone else followed him and killed him.”
Lambert was smuggled to ‘safety’ at a nearby church guarded by government officials. However, their ploy was to lull people into a false sense of security. They opened fire at 10am one following morning. By late afternoon, the killers ran out of ammunition. Lambert miraculously survived the onslaught and escaped to neighbouring Burundi.
There Lambert stayed with some family friends. He didn’t want to return to Rwanda. “I resolved not to go back to my country because I had no one to go back to. All my family were dead.”
But one week after this resolve, Lambert had a strong sense he had to return. Once in Rwanda, he found his two sisters.
Having completed a business degree, Lambert now works at Opportunity International in Australia while completing postgraduate studies. As he reflects on his life, the question ‘why me?’ keeps repeating. Why was he chosen from so many to come to Australia? (see accompanying story). “Having the opportunity to come to Australia means so much to me. The only way I can describe it is that it has emphasised how much God cares.”
Lambert plans to return to Rwanda to help small businesses grow. But for now he is seeking every opportunity to learn and be used by God.
“When you come out of genocide, you have hope but at the same time it keeps playing in your mind and you don’t know the future,” he said. “The only person who can help you with those situations is God.”
We wanted to do more than write a cheque
Cheryl and Steve Blackwell who adopted Lambert Ndakaza meet Bishop Bilindabagabo.
Steve and Cheryl Blackwell wanted to do more than write a cheque to help victims of the Rwandan genocide.
The Blackwells first heard about the genocide after the mass exodus of refugees from Rwanda. They gave to an appeal in 1994 but in 1995, when a second appeal was made, they decided to do something different.
“We thought about donating some more money – but we’d already done that,” Steve said. “We felt God wanted us to do something more substantial, more tangible, something that would actually impact some lives.”
Steve and Cheryl heard about the work of Bishop Alexis Bilindibagabo, dubbed ‘father to the fatherless’ after he set up the Barakabaho Foundation to assist orphans of the genocide. After discussions with the Bishop, the Blackwells decided to host some orphans so they could study in Australia. The hope was that the orphans would return to Rwanda to help rebuild the country.
After the Blackwells offered to help, they were sent photos of Lambert Ndakaza and Olivier Nyamushi, selected from among thousands of applicants.
After Christmas in 1996, the Blackwells flew to Rwanda to spend time with Bishop Bilindibagabo, meet Lambert and Olivier and to work for the Barakabaho Foundation before returning, with Lambert and Olivier, to Australia.
“The trip to Rwanda was exciting and a great experience,” Steve said. “Meeting Olivier and Lambert in their own country before bringing them to ours gave us a much better understanding of where they had come from and what they had been through.”
Lambert and Olivier spent 1997 in Quandialla, a tiny town in south west NSW. There they did their HSC with one other year 12 student and learnt English.They then attended Charles Sturt University, Bathurst.
Today Lambert and Olivier both work in Sydney and are undertaking post graduate studies. Olivier is married to a Cambodian - who fled her country’s genocide - and they have a daughter.
The Blackwells still keep in close contact with their adopted sons. “This changed our lives forever – Cheryl and I will never be the same and we certainly believe we are better people for it. God has blessed us in many ways,” said Steve.
