Odette Nyiramilimo
Encyclopedia
Odette Nyiramilimo is a Rwanda
n physician and senator. She served as Minister of State for Social Affairs in the government of Paul Kagame
from March 2000 to October 2003.
Nyiramilimo, an ethnic Tutsi
, was born in Kinunu, Gisenyi
prefecture, the seventeenth of her father's eighteen children, born to his second wife. At age three many members of her family were killed in the power struggles following independence. After an eventful childhood, which included expulsion from school because she was Tutsi, she attended medical school in Butare
and became a physician. She later married Jean-Baptiste Gasasira, also a physician, and the two later founded a private maternity and pedatrics practice in Kigali
called Le Bon Samaritain ("Good Samaritan").
Nyiramilimo's life story was profiled at length in Philip Gourevitch
's book We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families
.
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
n physician and senator. She served as Minister of State for Social Affairs in the government of Paul Kagame
Paul Kagame
Paul Kagame is the sixth and current President of the Republic of Rwanda. He rose to prominence as the leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front , whose victory over the incumbent government in July 1994 effectively ended the Rwandan genocide...
from March 2000 to October 2003.
Nyiramilimo, an ethnic Tutsi
Tutsi
The Tutsi , or Abatutsi, are an ethnic group in Central Africa. Historically they were often referred to as the Watussi or Watusi. They are the second largest caste in Rwanda and Burundi, the other two being the Hutu and the Twa ....
, was born in Kinunu, Gisenyi
Gisenyi
Gisenyi is a city in Rubavu district in the Western Province of Rwanda. Gisenyi is contiguous with Goma, the city across the border in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The population of the city is about 106 000 .-Description:...
prefecture, the seventeenth of her father's eighteen children, born to his second wife. At age three many members of her family were killed in the power struggles following independence. After an eventful childhood, which included expulsion from school because she was Tutsi, she attended medical school in Butare
Butare
Butare is a city in the Southern Province of Rwanda and capital of Huye district. It was the capital of the former Butare Province, Rwanda, that was dissolved on January 1, 2006....
and became a physician. She later married Jean-Baptiste Gasasira, also a physician, and the two later founded a private maternity and pedatrics practice in Kigali
Kigali
Kigali, population 965,398 , is the capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is situated near the geographic centre of the nation, and has been the economic, cultural, and transport hub of Rwanda since it became capital at independence in 1962. The main residence and offices of the President of...
called Le Bon Samaritain ("Good Samaritan").
Nyiramilimo's life story was profiled at length in Philip Gourevitch
Philip Gourevitch
Philip Gourevitch , an American author and journalist, is a longtime staff writer for The New Yorker and the former editor of The Paris Review. His most recent book is The Ballad of Abu Ghraib , an account of Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison under the American occupation...
's book We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families
We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families
We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda is a 1998 non-fiction book about the genocide of 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda in 1994, written by The New Yorker writer Philip Gourevitch....
.
External links
- Frontline: The Triumph of Evil, Excerpt of program mentioning Nyiramilimo extensively