Left to Tell

My most recent reading was he novel Left To Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza. The story recalls Immaculee’s experience throughout the Rwandan Holocaust and how she avoided a hard heart towards those who murdered her family. To give some background to the Holocaust, in Rwanda there are 3 main tribes; Tutsis, Hutu, and Twa. As I discovered from reading the book, the Twa are secluded to the jungle, and are not involved in the tribal rivalry; however, the tension between the Tutsis and the Hutu is indescribable. There had been many minor killings between the tribes throughout the years, but it was nothing compared to the genocide of the Tutsis tribe in Rwanda in 1994. Although wars had been spreading for a long period of time, it wasn’t until the President of Rwanda, who frequently arranged peace treaties, was killed that the genocide really began. Immaculee refers to her life in two separate portions, before and after.

Once the killings began, Immaculee’s father forced her to leave home and find refuge in the pastor’s home, since Tutsi women were at a greater risk of being taken advantage of. As the numbers of murderers exponentially grew, the risk of hiding Tutsi women increased, which forced the pastor to hide the 6 Tutsi women that he was helping in a 4x7 foot bathroom that was secluded from the rest of his large house. During her 91 days cramped in the bathroom Immaculee was constantly tormented by thoughts of the devil, that would cause her to have a hardened heart and turn away from her loving God. However, through constant prayer, she was able to overcome these harsh feelings and focus her whole heart on God. Later in her life she realizes that “Being in that bathroom had become a blessing for which I’d be forever thankful…. I’d been born again in the bathroom and was now the loving daughter of God, my Father.”(LTT 107) Even as she was constantly in danger of being discovered and murdered by the Interahamwe, she kept eventually learned to pity these murders and pray for them to find the light as she was able to. The most brilliant example of Immaculee’s truly pure heart is at the end of the war, she is able to visit the prision and sit face-to-face with the man that lead the group that brutally slaughtered her mother and brother. Rather than yelling, seeking for an apology, and even questioning, the only words she said were “I forgive you.” (LTT 204)

As I was reading the novel, I think the think I was most surprised by was how much I didn’t know. I knew that there had been a holocaust in Rwanda, but I was completely blind to the magnitude of it all. In school we would always talk about WWII and the Jewish Holocaust, but I can’t recall a time that I really discussed the Rwandan Holocaust. The thing that frightens me the most by this ignorance is if we aren’t aware of it, how can we do anything to stop it from happening again? As Immaculee states, “The world had seen the same thing happen many times before. After Nazi Germany, all the big, powerful countries swore, “Never again!” But here we were, six harmless females huddled in darkness, marked for execution because we were born Tutsi” (LTT 86) These stories need to be known, or else a few years down the road another group of people will be in the same situation of that of the Jews, or of the Tutsi, with little to no defense just as these people had. Their issues are our issues, and the key to future is understanding the past.

Not to sound cliché, but this book honestly changed my point of view on a lot of things. I don’t know if I could be as strong as Immaculee and be able to survive these trials, but also forgive those who had caused them. However, after hearing stories of individuals who had held grudges, I don’t know if you would have any other option. I would honestly recommend this book to anyone. It is extremely educational of the Rwandan Holocaust, but it also gives great council on how to find God in any situation, and how no matter what, you can always look to your Savior for comfort. Immaculee was "left to tell" her story for a reason, and her story is one that needs to be heard.

Ilibagiza, Immaculée, and Steve Erwin. Left to Tell: Discovering God amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 2006. Print.

Rwandan Genocide.

This week in my Salgado reading, it focused on the Genocide in Rwanda. One of the facts that stood out to me most was the number of orphans that were forced to live on their own. A brief history of the Rwandan Genocide is in 1994, over the course of approximately 100 days, more than 20% of Rwanda’s total population, an estimated 800,000 people, was murdered. It was the culmination of longstanding ethnic competition and tensions between the minority Tutsi, who had controlled power for centuries, and the majority Hutu peoples, who had come to power in the rebellion of 1959–62. In 1990, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a rebel group composed mostly of Tutsi refugees, invaded northern Rwanda from Uganda in an attempt to defeat the Hutu-led government. They began the Rwandan Civil War, fought between the Hutu regime, with support from Francophone Africa and France, and the RPF, with support from Uganda. In response, many Hutu gravitated toward the Hutu Power ideology; Hutu Power asserted that the Tutsi intended to enslave the Hutu and must be resisted at all costs. Continuing ethnic strife resulted in the rebels' displacing large numbers of Hutu in the north, plus periodic localized Hutu killings of Tutsi in the south. Throughout many years the country went from cease-fire, to civil war, to relatively peaceful times. Until the assassination of the Hutu leader, this set off a violent reaction. Genocide had been planned by members of the Hutu power group known as the Akazu, many of whom occupied positions at top levels of the national government; the genocide was supported and coordinated by the national government as well as by local military and civil officials and mass media. Alongside the military, primary responsibility for the killings themselves rests with two Hutu militias that had been organized for this purpose by political parties: the Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi, although once the genocide was underway a great number of Hutu civilians took part in the murders. It was the end of the peace agreement. The Tutsi RPF restarted their offensive, defeating the army and seizing control of the country.

While I was researching the Genocide I realized that everything I read seemed rather impersonal, and it wasn’t until I looked at the Salgado photographs that I realized, these are real people. These are people just like me. Granted, they have had a completely different life experience from me, but they still are people just like me. They have feelings, and dreams, and love. Looking at the pictures of the orphans I tried to imagine myself in that situation. I can’t even comprehend what it would be like to watch both of your parents murdered and be forced to flee to a foreign land on your own. These people are so much braver than I could ever be. Especially the children. In the photo below, all of the children in the Biaro Refugee camp were told to line up along the train track and told to wait to be counted and receive rationed food; both of which never happened and many children died of starvation and disease at this time.

In the photo below it shows how terrible the genocide was. This is of a school that was abandoned with all the bodies left inside, because all of the survivors had to flee for their own life before they had time to bury the dead.

With every story I research, I become  more and more shocked by the horrid things that people do to one another. That this genocide was all though up because one group of people thought they were superior. I know it seems rather “beauty pageant”, but how can we ever seek world peace if we can’t even tolerate our neighbor? Even if you can’t go to Africa and solve the tribal issues, reach out within your own community. Volunteer, serve, and love one another. Their issues are our issues, and if we don’t start trying to help now, soon we won’t have any other option.

Works Cited

Salgado, Sebastião, and Lélia Wanick. Salgado. "Rwanda, A Torn Nation." Migrations: Humanity in Transition. New York: Aperture, 2000. 197-217. Print.

"Rwandan Genocide." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Nov. 2012. Web. 12 Oct. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_Genocide>.

Waste Land

In my Rhetoric class we had the opportunity to watch the film, Wasteland. A general synopsis is renowned artist Vik Muniz travels to his native homeland, Brazil, where there is the world's largest garbage dump, and photographs a group of “catadores” that work there. The Association of Recycling Pickers of Jardim Gramacho (ACAMJG) is an organization of “catadores” or "pickers" who sort through garbage finding recyclables as a means of survival. Its members are paid in exchange for the recyclables that they collect, sort, and trade. The Jardim Gramacho landfill has one of the highest rates of recycling due to the entire economy generated by the association. Muniz’s initial objective was to “paint” the catadores with garbage for his next gallery. However, the people ended up serving him much more than he was able to serve them, as he intended. His collaboration with these inspiring characters as they recreate photographic images of themselves out of garbage reveals both the dignity and despair of the catadores as they begin to re-imagine their lives. One hundred percent of the sales from Vik Muniz’s “Pictures of Garbage”, the portraits of the catadores, as seen in the film, went back to the ACAMJG. Approximately $250,000 was raised from the portraits and this was used for: New homes for the catadores, to fund the ACAMJG deficit, to improve the infrastructure of the ACAMJG community (such as the first Garbage selection station), a new truck, a learning centre, Vik funded small business training program, a library at the ACAMJG office with 15 computers, and Irma the chef set up her own little cooking business. 

The films is very eye opening, you don't realize what is out there until you actually look. Even if it is normally something you don't want to see. Even if you can't dedicate 3 years of your life to travel and help these people, there are many other ways to get involved and help out. 

To watch a trailer for the movie, get more info, or contribute a donation to the ACAMJG fund, go to http://www.wastelandmovie.com/

A Second Birth.

This past week I had the opportunity to attend the play A Second Birth performed by the Brigham Young University Department of Theatre and Media Arts. The play is set in present day Afghanistan and the main character is a young lady named Nasim/Nasima. The reason for both names is that she was a daughter of poor Afghani parents and was raised as a boy since age five to improve her family's economic and social standing in the community. As it says in the program, “If there is a man’s job that a man cannot perform, or a man is not available, sometimes a girl will become a bacha posh—literally dressed like a boy. The earliest documented example of this is a picture of women dressed and armed like a man in order to guard the king’s harem. A man’s job, but no man can be trusted with it, so it is given to women dressed as a man.” I realize that the play wasn’t an exact replica of what it would be like to actually be living in that situation, but it was very eye opening. Nasima had to be raised as a boy so that she could attend school and get a job. She was top of her class which showed when she came out as a girl, that females were more than capable. One line that stuck out to me in particular was when Nasima said, “Why should gender decide your talents?” Growing up, both of my parents worked full time, which compared to my friends, was very peculiar. Ever since I was little I have realized that women are just as capable as men; Women make just as great CEOs and surgeons as men. I know that the women’s ultimate responsibility is to raise the children and make sure the home is always taken care of, but I don’t see why females can’t do that concurrently with achieving their fullest potential. Whenever I tell people that I want to become an orthopedic surgeon I get one of two responses; either congratulations for being ambitious or the classic “don’t you want to be a mom?” I’ll save my feminist rant for another day, but even though it is defying odds to be a duel career family in my community, after seeing this play I realize how fortunate I am that I can even imagine that. I’ve gone to school my whole life, I’ve had a job, I get to choose my own spouse, I get to wear what I want; all of these things that I’ve taken for granted. I hadn’t realized there are women in the world who aren’t even allowed to leave their house without an escort and their entire body covered.  The title of the play A Second Birth comes from the idea that Nasima is being given a second chance to live up to Allah’s expectations as a woman, since she was going against him by being a bacha posh. It was pointed out in the play that she had to drop her past life completely if she wants to have a successful new life fulfilling her actual role; which was where Nasima had the most difficulty because she was the top of her class but because of tradition she had to forget about all of her dreams of attending university. This play made me so grateful for the freedoms that I have been given and I hope that eventually all women will be able to have this great freedom.

Lost Boys of Sudan.

All of my life I have heard the term ‘Lost Boys of Sudan’ but I am embarrassed to admit that I didn’t actually know who they were until I began researching them this year. In the book Migrations by Sebastião Salgado there is a section dedicated to the Southern Sudan and how it is an entire population in distress, and has been for many years. Since 1983, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and the Sudanese Government have been at war in southern Sudan. The conflict has already claimed more than 500,000 lives and displaced huge numbers of people. Among these were at least 20,000 children, mostly boys, between 7 and 17 years of age who were separated from their families. These ‘lost boys’ of the Sudan trekked enormous distances seeking refuge from the fighting. Hungry, frightened and weakened by sleeplessness and disease, they crossed from the Sudan into Ethiopia and back, with many dying along the way. The survivors are now in camps in Kenya, the Sudan and Uganda.

Traditionally in Sudan, after being initiated into manhood, young boys would leave home for a period to look after cattle, go to school, or seek fortune in the city, before eventually returning home. But during the war this process escalated dramatically. Fearing they would be targeted as potential combatants, many boys left their villages and headed for cities where they hoped to find work or schooling, though as these cities became saturated with migrants, the boys often had to resort to begging or petty crime. Another alternative was to set out for refugee camps; however few were prepared for the journey that often took 6-10 weeks, and many died of disease, hunger, or exhaustion. (UNICEF)

Since 1992, United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has managed to reunite nearly 1,200 boys with their families. But approximately 17,000 remain in camps in the region.

To this day there are still stories of these ‘lost boys’ that come across the news; such as, Lopez Lomong who ran for America in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, just a year after becoming a citizen. “My journey started when I was 6 years old […] we were in a church when the rebel soldiers came in and ordered everyone to lay down. They took all the young kids to the training camp - I was too young to hold an AK-47 and go to war because I was only 6 years old. […] One night Lopez Lomong managed to crawl out of the rebel camp and started running. He thought he was going back to his village, but his first ever race took him all the way to Kenya, where he spent the next 10 years in a refugee camp. Life was hard and he would run to forget his hunger. But one day he caught a glimpse into another world. He spent all the money he had - five shillings - to watch one Olympic race on TV.” It was shortly after that encounter that the United States agreed to take 3,500 of Sudan's Lost Boys as part of a government resettlement program, where he was able to live his dream and become an Olympic athlete.

It is strange to think that so many horrible things can go on in this world, and people don’t even have a clue. The phrase “ignorance is bliss” may be true, but it isn’t practical. We must be willing to acknowledge what is happening and search for ways to correct it, not just ignore it and hope it will resolve itself. “Their issues are our issues.”

There are many ways that we can help whether it’s as simple as donating to a foundation or volunteering in a refugee center. Here are some places to start…

Donate at: http://www.allianceforthelostboys.com/

http://www.thelostboysfoundation.org/

…. And many more!

Works Cited:

Salgado, Sebastião, and Lélia Wanick. Salgado. "Southern Sudan: A Population in Distress." Migrations: Humanity in Transition. New York: Aperture, 2000. 155-57. Print.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2012/08/120807_witn_lost_boy_runs.shtml

http://www.unicef.org/sowc96/closboys.htm