I always lived with the idea that my mother did not like us, but I don’t think this is the case. She was born in Kigali, Rwanda, to an African mother and a Belgian father. At that time, Rwanda was under the colonial rule by Belgium. The Belgian authorities imposed the apartheid and prohibiting marriages between races in their colonies. I was classified as a “human mule” or a half -full, as we became known: a child who does not know the group to which they belong.

My father died when I was six months old – and life changed mainly. After my father was buried, my brother was transferred by Belgian officials and placed in a Catholic internal school in Kigali. They took him away because my mother was African and we, as Metis childrenThey were considered a threat to the white superiority regime on which the colonial project was established.

They even did not tell my mother or ask for her permission. She went looking for her son, but dogs were placed on her. My brother was transferred to the Protestant Pillar in Burundi, where he had to hunt for himself as a servant and was later sent to Denmark.

When I was three years old and my sister was five years old, we considered the colonial authorities “independent”. He believed that my mother no longer needed. After several attempts by the police order, my sister and I were kidnapped and transferred to an institution for “mixed race” children. I was told that my mother tried to stop them.

We stayed there for six months. After that, I was sent to Belgium and placed with an incubating family on the coast while my sister was sent to the other side of the country. They are always dividing families. He was a criminal. You grow with the wrong idea of ​​your family, and don’t know how to feel about them. Systematic deportation of children is a crime against humanity.

Life on the coast

In Belgium, I grew up on the coast. There was an openness, a connection to the rest of the world. However, the nursery family with which I lived was not appropriate. The mother suffered from many miscarriages and wanted another child. I felt isolated and ignored, in favor of the Father. It led to the gap. I was given torn clothes to wear, and they did not give me money to study. The only thing that still connects me to my brothers is that my custodian’s parents have obtained guardianship for all of us. When I was 11 years old, I stumbled on our files and started deciphering. She found her birth certificate, and the first French word she looked at was “an illegitimate child.” I was shaken.

I lived with my incubator family until I was 16 years old, and then I went to study in sang, as there was a student uprising. My biological father left us to confirm the study. Since I was a legal child, and I considered the orphan state, I received double allowances from the government. I have made long -term friends and met with activists. I took a job in an organization that presented birth control methods and soon realized that the activity was part of me. She helped create women’s shelters in sang and a children’s forum to exchange their problems, while she tried to calculate a past.

In the end, I created a relationship with my brother and sister. However, I have never been able to have a relationship with my mother. When I saw my mother again, it was not a beautiful thing.

I received an inheritance from my biological father when I was 21 years old. I bought a small house in the city and used the rest to go to Rwanda. I went to search for and found my mother. I remember the preparation clearly. It was very beautiful. The hills were full of people who were waiting for us to reunite them. I arrived and so did my mother. I was with a translator promise to tell me what she was saying. However, as our meeting advanced, he told me that my mother was lying – she said she was alone, but the translator said she had a husband and two children. It was like torture. I turned, moved away and never retracted. I couldn’t deal with it.

We grew up in questioning the characteristics of our mothers, whether it is or a lover, or an easy woman, was she cared about us, why did you leave us? I am very sorry, but I must live with him.

The moment when everything changed

I always felt that I lived a secret life and wanted to learn about my past. I was studying African studies while working full time at IBM technology. In 2007, I went to a symposium, where the lecturers had a view of acceptance of colonialism. At one time, one of the journalists said it was a nice time in Africa, where young people lived freely, but not with local women. I could not accept this – especially since there was little talk about the children of Metis and their mothers and how they were affected by colonialism, so I took action.

I spoke to the director of the Research Center and demanded the study specifically about Belgian colonialism and its impact on the African people. He agreed. Access to federal archives was difficult. Documents about those who moved from Rwanda to Belgium were shrouded in her secret. However, my husband, the director of privacy, told us who should be written. With someone like this behind me, I knew I wouldn’t fail. In the end, the archive agreed to provide access. Pick a momentum, with a number of Metis groups that require answers.

I wanted to meet the largest possible number of Metis children. In 2008, a group of younger and largest individuals in the race from Brussels, Ghent and Antweep started collecting certificates and asked for funding. In 2010, the subject of sang celebrations was “the people of the mixed race of Belgian colonialism”. We have finally published our book, colonial generations, exhibitions and press coverage. It was a great success: crowded places, large number of visitors and continued: a documentary on regional television, in Belgium, and in other countries.

We collected signatures, demanding the arrests. Gradually, we gained an insight into what was done to us, got money, and achieving a leadership role.

Crime

We have talked about different parliaments in Belgium, the narration of our stories, the request for recognition, access to our files and our support to understand our history. Although people gain an insight into our story, Belgium is released recently apologyI still ask: “What is their justification?” However, there is no justification for kidnapping a child and sending him to live with strangers abroad. It is a crime.

There are many stories for Metis children – all incredibly horrific. Children from the former Belgian Congo, and now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on their own in isolated institutes, away from their families, in very dangerous and hostile environments. My brother, who was eventually sent to Denmark, was an ideal victim of exploitation. He fled to America, where he lived as an illegal immigrant because the Belgian embassy until recently will not provide his papers despite being a Belgian citizen.

For many years, the word “métis” was contaminated, but we tried to restore the word. This word prevented us from reaching our potential. You can never win. You are only between periods. For this reason we chose our own word – and we asked that Metis be present without a tone on é. The Belgian state was forced to present it in the official Dutch dictionary, then only Metis decision can be voted.

To go ahead, many of us Call to compensation, but in different ways. For me, I want to see the funds funded to help us understand our past. However, I am retired and many children of Metis over 70 years old. It is difficult to continue fighting. Support organizations such as African futures laboratory and Amnesty International It means the world because it helps us to continue telling our story.

While Metis was difficult, experiences formed from me.

The opinions expressed in this article are the author of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the editorial island.