Tuesday, June 30, 2009

The Blue Sweater

Very soon now we will be leaving, and with alot of mixed emotion. I am already trying to stop myself from tormenting about coming home from Rwanda, and we haven't even left yet. Most people cannot understand, and never will, what a profound eye-opening, heart and soul cleansing experiance it is being in Africa....and thus for me the anguish. On Sunday we met two men from Rwanda, one of whom is going to help us when we are in country. Almost immediately I was transported back to Africa and the same sense of calm, serenity and joy filled my heart and I could barely contain myself from running out to the airport and jumping on the next plane out! Some say that it is wrong to be so emotional over a culture, a country, especially if it has turned your heart away from your own. I say that it is wrong to close your eyes and pretend that what is happening in other countries has nothing to do with you. As one of the richest countries in the world, we have alot to learn about humility and humanity from one of the poorest.

What tugged at my heart, is that upon meeting those men, I calculated that they would have been anywhere from 5-8 years old during the time of genocide in Rwanda and yet the love, kindness and happiness in their eyes was infectious. The genocide would have touched their lives in a way that we can never comprehend. If we ourselves would have had to have lived even a minute of it, it would have destroyed our lives. We would never have mentally lived through it, on any level. We would need medication , thousand of hours of counselling and then we would make sure that we held on to that hatred forever and tell everyone the atrocities that had befallen us, for the rest of our lives. That is the society that we live in. I have been thinking about those young men and comparing them to a couple of young adults I am aquainted with and I do not understand how two countries, two cultures can be so awry. The men from Rwanda have suffered so much and yet are so peaceful, forgiving, loving and want for nothing and believe that they have a rich life. The young adults that I know here, are always unhappy and have an attitude that life has dealt them the worst cards ever and they deserve more but should do less to get it. I know dignity plays a big part in it, and in our culture, dignity has been been replaced by an attitude of "it is owed to me".

From the book "The Blue Sweater" there is a quote from "Song of an African Woman" (Okot P'Bitek) and it goes like this.....

I have only one request.
I do not ask for money
Although I have a need of it,
I do not ask for meat....
I have only one request,
All I ask is
That you remove
the roadblock
From my path.


I hope that if you follow us, that something stirs your heart and you develop the unquenchable thirst to drink in all you can about what is happening around the world, and to examine your life to see and believe that you are truly blessed. I hope you learn to practice dignity because...

Poverty won't allow him to lift up his head;
dignity won't allow him to bow it down.
(Madagasy Proverb)


Vickie