Zura Karuhimbi

Zura Karuhimbi (c. 1925 – 17 December 2018) was a Rwandan woman who saved more than 100 people from being killed by Hutu militias during the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda . A traditional healer, she hid the refugees in her house and deterred attackers by exaggerating her reputation as a witch. Her role was recognized in 2006 by the award of the Campaign Against Genocide Medal by Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

Early life Karuhimbi's birth date is not known – some sources state circa 1909 but she is thought to have been born around 1925 which was the date stated on her state identity card. Her family were traditional healers in the village of Musamo in Ruhango District, around an hour's drive from the nation's capital of Kigali. She helped Tutsis as well as Burundians and three Europeans to hide from roving Hutu militias. Karuhimbi hid the refugees inside her two-room house, and possibly in a hole in her fields. In all she saved more than 100 people, including babies that she rescued from the arms of their dead mothers. Karuhimbi claimed her house was inhabited by ghosts, and threatened that those who tried to enter would unleash evil spirits and the wrath of God upon themselves. and that her witchcraft activities were only a means of deterring attack. In 2006 she was awarded Rwanda's Campaign Against Genocide Medal by President Paul Kagame. Karuhimbi subsequently wore the medal at all times, placing it beneath her pillow whilst she slept. In her later years she continued to live in the same house she had used to shelter refugees despite it crumbling with age. Poverty-stricken, she was cared for by a niece. Karuhimbi died at her home on 17 December 2018.