‘I used to sit alone’
When the unrest that shook Burundi in April 2015 spread to their home province of Kirundo, Gérard and his 14-year-old brother feared for their lives. “We left home in the middle of the night and followed other people who were leaving for Rwanda,” said Gérard. The two brothers made it to Bugesera in southern Rwanda, close to the border with Burundi, where they split up to try to find a way to survive. “I used sit to alone and wonder how I was ever going to find my parents,” said Gérard. A year later, Gérard and two other boys — 13-year-old Ernest and 12-year-old Eric — were reunited with their parents, brothers, sisters and friends with help from ICRC.
Kenya and South Africa offers some insights.