BUJUMBURA, 2 February 2010 (IRIN) - When her husband cut off her arms in 2008 for giving birth only to girls, life changed drastically for Francine Nijimbere.
She fled her home in Burundi's southern province of Makamba and sought refuge in Bujumbura, under the care of the Association for the Protection of the Human Rights of Women (ADDF).
In September 2009 ADDF moved her to a suburb where she shares a two-room house with another woman, also a victim of gender-based violence. Nijimbere told IRIN about her life:
"[ADDF] rented this house for us; it supplies us with food. But life is not only food; there are many other things we have to find by ourselves like clothes, soap, body lotion, etc. It is not always easy to get them. All depends on good-hearted people who can offer us this or that.
"ADDF also hired a housemaid to help me in daily activities. I totally rely on her for bathing, feeding, dressing myself, cooking - everything. I am like a baby; without her, I am helpless. In fact, my six-year-old girl performs better.
"ADDF told us it would cater for everything for six months. After that, we are supposed to sustain ourselves. We are waiting to know if the assistance can be extended. If it stops, I do not know what I will do.
"I cannot go home because I have nobody to help me. My mother is old and my father incapacitated as a result of an accident.
"My husband's family live near mine, [but] I fear that his relatives could do me harm. They may think if I am killed, the [court case] could be shelved with nobody to follow it up.
"When he was released last year [her husband was jailed] by presidential decree as he was suffering from an incurable disease, I appealed and he was sent back to prison.
"My child is in boarding school at Rutana but I cannot go to see her. I do not have [the money for the] bus fare.
"I need a house of my own to live with my child, and money to start a small business. I am not stupid; I can work if the maid is with me. I am tired of begging. I was not used to this life.
"I dream that one day I can buy something, a pair of shoes, a dress for my child, and offer her a present, knowing it really comes from me, her mother."
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