Even the memory of the pain that he lived through on 5 December 2013 is enough to distort the smiling face of Jean-Pierre Natoua. Hit by poliomyelitis as a child, he bears a serious, aching limp, requiring calm, unhurried motions. That night, however, Jean-Pierre was obliged to run, bearing the pain to save his life.

At around 21h00, most families in his neighborhood in Bangui were preparing for bed, when they heard shouts and a stampede on the street alerted them to danger. “Get out, get out of your houses, don’t stay there, they’re coming to kill you,” screamed the agitated crowd that was passing in front of his door. The 46-year-old newspaper seller soon realized they were right: Armed men were going from house to house, looking to kill their male inhabitants.

“Without delay or any of our possession, me and my family started running,” Jean-Pierre recalls. “We managed to reach the church Frères Castors, where others had already fled. Some of my closest relatives weren’t so lucky: My sister and four of my brothers were killed during those days.”

Five months later, Jean-Pierre is still living at the church compound. From time to time he goes back to his house, just to check that there is no damage. Insecurity, though, keeps him returning to the church compound at night. “At the site we do get help, but nothing feels like home,” he says. “If I was staying at my house, I could at least get back my dignity.”