About Sakina

Sakina Ntibanyitesha has experienced things that are hard to imagine. Today, Sakina tells her story to help others in the same situation. She has experienced constant abuse and torture and she has lived through a war.

Sakina believes she was born in 1975 when her father planted the avocado trees. She then grew up with her grandmother who herself had escaped from slavery. Since the age of 12, Sakina has been entirely on her own without parents or other adult support. She gave birth to a daughter when she was 18 who then sadly passed away as an infant. One year later, Sakina’s son Wilson was born. The same year, Sakina began her escape from the horrors of war, a journey that ended only nine years later. In 2003, Sakina finally received refugee status by the UN and she ended up in Sweden.

The survival

During the war in Kongo, Sakina was locked in a church together with 119 other women and children from Rwanda. They expected the soldiers to set fire on the church but it ended with all others but Sakina, and the children who were with her, being assassinated by the soldiers. As number 120, the last woman, she came out from the church and saw all other 119 women lying dead on the ground. She also expected to be shot but managed to survive since she knew the right language.

The books about Sakina’s childhood, the war and her life as a refugee

Sakina lives in Luleå, Sweden since nine years. She has made her debut as author in Swedish. Two books have been published so far and a third one is on its way. The first book is about her childhood, the second one about the war and the third one, about her life as a refugee in Sweden. “I wrote and cried. I cried and wrote”, Sakina says.

Sakina’s first two books, Ormbarn and Farligare än djur, are available for purchase here. The books are currently only available in Swedish.

A lecture with Sakina

Sakina also does lectures where she tells her story about her experiences from Burundi, Rwanda and Kongo. She speaks about a young woman’s vulnerability in the shadows of an ethnic conflict and a war. Sakina’s story includes an almost unimaginable suffering in a society filled with violence and hatred, where men take advantage of women who gets in their way and where a human life is worth close to nothing.

Would you like to get in contact with Sakina?

Please send an email to anna(a)thesocialbox.se or call +46(0)73-5001369.

Or contact Dr. Christer Fjordevik +46(0)70-5957110. Email:christer.fjordevik@varnamo.se