25 July 2012

Half Serious, Half Not.

HALF NOT-SERIOUS PART


We went on a SAFARI!! OH YEAH!!!!! Talk about touristy.  Hahahaha.  I was asking everyone on the drive up to the park what animal they were most excited to see.  Some said lions, some said elephants.  What was mine? Drumroll please........ THE GIRAFFE (aka the camelopardalis)!  To ensure that I saw at least one, I wore my giraffe looking dress Kristi bought me in Ghana (seriously, just look at the resemblance?!).  Well, I guess the Animal God liked my dress, and my heart felt plea to see the giraffe because we saw at least 30!



....... oh, they are beautiful creatures.  They move so slowly, elegantly.  And their spots... oh! So beautiful.  Did you know their spots act as thermal windows to keep them cool? Oh, did you also know that their tongues are blackish purple to act as sunscreen so they do not get sunburned? I mean, who thinks of this stuff?! 


Anyways, it was an AMAZING experience.  I am in LOVE with nature and all of its wonders.  Seeing the animals in their natural habitat, seeing the gorgeous waterfall we went to the next day, it makes me SO GRATEFUL to be living on this planet. Earth is beautiful and I thank God for creating it.   



Now for a photo montage of animals/scenes of nature from the trip.  Enjoy. 


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Half Serious Part

Genocide (noun): the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group.

After a weekend of natural beauty, we spent four days in Rwanda.  It is a country endowed with beautiful rolling hills, trees that look like they belong in the Redwood Forest, and gorgeous sunsets.  Eighteen years ago, those beautiful hills and sunsets were covered with the blood of one million Rwandans-- killed because of a hatred bred out of colonialism.  It started on 6 April 1994 and lasted about 100 days. (To learn more, visit this Frontline special.  It has a timeline, pictures, and other really good information).  "It was genocide from the first day... the genocidaires were more successful in their evil plans than anyone would have dared to believe. Rwanda was dead".  One million persons  were killed in 100 days.  How does that happen? Why does that happen? The fact of the matter is, Rwanda has not been the only genocide.  Part of the memorial was paying tribute to other genocides that have occurred since 1900-- Armenia 1915-1918, Herero in Namibia 1904-1095, the Balkans 1990s, The Holocaust 1939- 1945, Cambodia 1975- 1979. How does this happen? Why does this happen? I want to spend my life figuring that out.  


To say the least, visiting this memorial was one of the most sobering experiences of my life.  I wish to share with you some of my thoughts, my emotions while I learned, as I felt, as I experienced the Genocide.  So, some of these comments will be my own thoughts, some of them will be quotes that were displayed at the Memorial.  


About 250,000 people are buried in these graves. There is a wall next to the mass graves. It is a wall of names.  It was standing in front of that wall that it really hit me, "these were real people".  When the numbers start to get large, the more impersonal it becomes.  The easier it is to group them all together en masse but the truth is, they were individuals; they were killed individually. 


"If you must remember, remember this,... the Nazis did not kill six million Jews... nor the Interhamwe kill a million Tutsis, they killed one and then another and then another... Genocide is not a singe act of murder.  It is a millions of acts of murder"  Stephen D. Smith



After learning the history of the Genocide and learning about what actually happened, you came to this room.  It is a room where survivors put pictures of the victims.  Pictures of family members, friends or neighbors who were killed.

As I took the time, trying to pay each photo the time it deserves, I came across a letter. It was a letter from Hellen.  She was writing to her uncle and his family who were killed.  She expresses how much she misses them.  I did not write down the whole letter but I can give you the part that struck me the most:

 "I wonder why I do not have any cousins and then I remember.  But today, I work really hard so I can accomplish very many things.  I did not know your dreams and passion but in those very many things I do, am sure there is one that was your dream". 



The next room you enter was a room of skulls.  (This picture was taken at a different memorial in Rwanda).  I tried to count all the skulls... I cannot remember how many.  I tried picturing what Hellen said-- she did not know her uncle's dreams but she hopes that in her dreams, his will come true. 


Each of these skulls represents a person, represents someone whose dreams were cut short... for what? For hatred? For nothing, that is what. 

Before entering the room, there is a sign that reads, "Please respect the sanctity of their final resting place".  That room was truly sacred.  We tried to give them peace and sanctity because in their death, they did not have it.  I struggled to find a way to respect their final resting place.  Finally, I simply tried to imagine who that person was-- I imagine a girl, hair in pigtails with a worn pink and blue dress on.  She is smiling because her mother let her go out to play with her classmates, instead of having to help cook dinner.  Then a man.  He is single, my age.  He spends his nights sitting next to his food stand bugging the mzungus who walk by.  He hopes that the girl he fancies will finally say yes to a date.  




Later that day, we visited a church.  Churches were a common refuge spot during the Genocide.  Unfortunately, it did not prove to be a safe place, for many different reasons.  The church we went to had been hit with a grenade, killing most of the people inside.  Those who were not killed were dragged out and killed with machetes and other instruments of murder.  I do not remember how many survived, but it was not a large number. 

We walk into the church and all I could think of was God.  At first, it was the question "why did this happen?!" but then it turned into "how did You let this happen? Over and over again, people flocked to their churches, seeking safety in their God and You did nothing. Why?" I was angry. For the first time this whole entire trip, I was angry.  Angry at God.  

I do not like being angry at God-- he does not deserve it.  And I know he did not do nothing.  I know it is not his fault.  So, I decided I would not leave the bench I was sitting on until I understood, until I could find the answer to my question.  This is what I came up with: 



These people died for no reason, waiting for their God to deliver them and he did, but he delivered them not by saving them but by letting them die.  He delivered them from a world of hatred and cruelty to the great courts of heaven above.  These people died believing, trusting in their God and because of that, they shall be in paradise.  Perhaps they came here because in the midst of confusion, the church brought them peace.  The church brought that eternal perspective.  They were delivered from the chaos of the world they were living in. 



At the beginning of the museum part of the Memorial, there was a quote: "This is about our past and our future; our nightmares and dreams; our fear and our hope, which is why we begin where we end... with the country we love.  OUR RWANDA".  So, in honor of that, I end where I began, with the beauty of Rwanda-   this video is of a dance we came across the following day in the hills of this beautiful country. (in case it doesn't work: here is the link: http://vimeo.com/45623511).  It is worth watching, I promise.