A MOTHER sits slumped against the wall of the stable where she will spend the night. Her five children huddle close, their hungry eyes adjusting to the new surroundings.
This family is tired, famished, unwell. But it has come home.
Throughout Rwanda, hundreds of thousands of returned refugees are ending the long trek back to their communes of origin.
Eugenia's wanderings began when she left Katale camp in eastern Zaire a month ago. With her children, she joined the flood of more than 500,000 refugees who crossed the border 10 days ago. Prodded on by Government troops, she overcame hunger and exhaustion to make it home yesterday.
"Once, some men gave us biscuits. But nothing else. My children are hungry all the time now, she says.
"I have no food. Not even inside," she adds, pulling out a shrivelled breast from under her dress.
Eugenia shows me her youngest whose stomach is disfigured by a lump the size of a tennis ball. She has no words in French or English to tell me what it is and I have no medical skills to help her.
Nearby, in the office of the local bureaucrat, Sean McDonnell of Concern is laying plans to bring the help that is needed to refugees like Eugenia.
Reception centres are springing up in every district, providing emergency food, shelter, clothing and medical attention for those returning.
In this commune near Kigali, Concern is active in two districts and GOAL in three more. Some refugees will be able to reclaim their old houses, under a new law which requires squatters to move out within a fortnight.
Some have been absorbed by their families. But others have nowhere to go, and urgently require houses.
The mass influx of refugees will place tremendous pressure on land, in a country which is already one of the most densely populated in the world. Largely Hutu areas such as Gisenyi and Ruhengeri have seen their populations jump by 30 per cent in a week. Refugees fearful of the receptions they might receive in their home communes have tended to head for Kigali.
In nearby Nyamirambo, almost 1,000 refugees have been registered, although only one small group is actually staying in the camp.
"Once they have been registered, we send them home," explains the local organiser, Gaspard Kalemera.
"These people are weak and tired and thirsty and hungry. When you provide help, we will tell them to come back."
Housing, however, was not a problem, he believed as most refugees would be able to return to their houses and be taken in by their families.
In this way, the authorities are handling the return of the refugees throughout Rwanda. They need short term help with food and shelter, and more houses must be built. However, local officials are insistent that their communities are capable of absorbing the additional numbers.
There are few reports of refugees being arrested on suspicion of being involved in the genocide of two years ago. But that may be only a matter of time, with the authorities waiting for more to return before swooping.
In Nyamirambo, I asked to talk to the refugees. Mr Kalemera would not allow this: "These people are tired. They must rest. We must process their registrations before dark."
The refugees themselves looked on, watching, as refugees do, someone else decide their fate.
