RETELLMany days, weeks and around a month had passed in that tiny bathroom. After a few days, the Pastor had thrown in 2 other women into our little space making it more difficult to do well, anything. They were dressed as Interhamwe killers, but soon after they figured they were just as scared as the rest of them in there. Immaculee had known one of the girls, Malaba, who was about her age but never really spoke to her. The other young girl, Solange was a brand new face. They had told the other women that one of the Pastor's daughters, Marianne, was hiding them in her house since the genocide had begun. Having been known to be a kind and compassionate lady, the killers were very suspicious and continuously searched her home. Sooner or later Marianne knew they would find the two women so she disguised them as Interhamwe killers and somehow managed to create a Hutu identity card for Malaba. Due to the absence of Solange's identity card, they feared they would be stopped constantly. So, Marianne encouraged them to severely act like the Interhamwe, yelling, "HUTU POWER, KILL THOSE COACKROCHES!" and waving their grenades, machetes and guns in the air. They eventually made it to the Pastor's house.
One night, Immaculee drifted off to sleep and dreamt of Jesus. In the dream, He had told her that once she got out of that bathroom, most of the people she loved and cared for would be dead and gone. He told her not too mourn too long for her family because they were with Him now, and they were happy. Did this mean her whole family had been killed in this nasty genocide? She hoped not. Not too long after the dream, Immaculee could hear a group of men talking outside her window. One of the few men were talking about the capture of a young man. He said, "This boy had a master's degree from university, and the killers kept taunting him about it- they asked him why they'd caught him if he was so smart. One of them said he wanted to see the brains of someone with a master's degree, so he chopped the boy across the head with his machete. Then he looked inside the skull." She prayed to God that this boy hadn't been her dearest brother Damascene, due to the fact that only very few Tutsis men in Rwanda earned a master's degree, and he had been one of those men. At this point in their survival, there was nothing to do but continue to pray and keep hope. The Pastor would come into the bathroom now and then, informing them on what was happening throughout the city and country. The killers came and went as they please arriving unannounced all hours of the day claiming they hadn't done a good job searching. They were either ordered to or grew bored and felt like hunting Tutsis. Immaculee kept her faith. She had even been starting to think about what she would like to do as work after she got out of the bathroom. That's when God put another idea into her mind. Working for the United Nations. Although there was just one little problem. She did not speak or understand english. That is when she asked the Pastor if he had any english dictionnaries or books that he could lend to her so she would be able to study. Once again, the Pastor doubted her saying it was a bad idea. He eventually gave in, and Immaculee was hard at work. She tried to make out many words and phrases, but the only sentence that she was able to say was, "Hello, my name is Immaculee." But due to her strong faith, she continued to pray to God to guide her through those long days.
RELATE:
I am not too sure in which way I can relate to Immaculee. At this point, I can only say that I am similar to her in the sense of learning new things. In this case, she was learning a whole new language and I am trying to accomplish the same thing. Although it is very hard to do so, she never once gave up. When I find things get too hard, I tend to give up quite easily but remind myself why I started in the first place.
REFLECT:
I pretty much learn the same things throughout each blog post, because the moral of the story never really changes. Here, I would say that I learned to never give up when times are hard. If a woman who was stranded in a tiny bathroom with 7 other women was able to not lose hope, and even have the strength to learn a whole new language despite what was going on just on the other side of the room, I think we could do the same. And we have it so much easier as well.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
Into the Bathroom
In my previous post, I had forgotten to mention that after saying goodbye to Damascene, she was also obliged to say farewell to her other brother, Vianney and his friend Augustine.
RETELL
Pastor Murinzi carried a flashlight down the dark hall and led Immaculee and 5 other women to his bedroom. "This is where you'll stay," he said swinging open the bathroom door revealing to the women their new home. The bathroom was about four feet long and three feet wide. There was a shower stall at one end and a toilet at the other- the room wasn't even big enough for a sink. How were 6 women supposed to fit in a such a small room? Pastor Murinzi squeezed them all into the tiny space and ordered them to be silent. He made it clear that if any sound were to be heard from this room, they would all die. They were also ordered to not use the shower nor the toilet; the only suitable time for such would be when the other bathroom on the other side of the wall was flushed, due to the same plumbing. No one was to know they were hiding in there, not even his children. It was an absolute crime to hide Tutsis during the genocide. If anyone were to find out of the Pastor's good deed, he himself, would also be killed. During those dreadful months in that tiny space, Immaculee was exhausted, hungry, cramped and very hot. It was impossible for her to sleep, if by any chance she would doze off, immediately she would be awakened by a leg cramp of someone's elbow knocking against her ribs. Once in a while, they would give themselves a few seconds each to stretch and then return to their original positions.
One day, when it was Immaculee's turn to stretch, she had heard a huge commotion erupting from outside. There were dozens, maybe even hundreds of voices yelling and chanting, "Let us hunt them in the forests, lakes and hills; let us find them in the church; let us wipe them from the face of the earth!" Immediately, with not one doubt, they knew the killers were present. Curious, Immaculee stood on her tiptoes and peeked out from the window through a little hole in the curtain. The other ladies urged her to get down because she would be seen. She ignored them, although she soon regretted her decision. Hundreds of killers surrounding the Pastor's house, many of whom were dressed like devils, wearing skirts of tree bark, shirts of dried banana leaves and some even had goat horns strapped onto their heads. What demonic costumes. Their faces were recognizable with murder written in their eyes. They all yelled simultaneously, " Kill them, kill them all; kill them big and kill them small! Kill the old and kill the young... a baby snak is still a snake, kill it too, let none escape! Kill them, kill them, kill them all!" What horror to Immaculee's ears, these people had once been their kind loving neighbours. To see them killing ALL of the Tutsis population due to a NAME they were given in society was heartbreaking. All through this mess, Immaculee never gave up and continued to pray harder than ever. Even when the devil tempted her, God was the only one she could rely on. That same night, while they were asking God to save them, the devil whispered in her ear, " Why are you calling on God? Look at all of them out there... hundreds of them looking for you. They are legion, and you are one. You can't possibly survive- you won't survive. They're inside the house, and they're moving throught the rooms. They're close, almost here... they're going to find you, rape you, cut you, kill you!" She clutched onto her red and white rosary that her father had given her, and prayed intensly, though the voice would not leave. "Dead bodies are everywhere. Mothers have seen their babies chopped in half, their fetuses ripped from their wombs.. and you think you should be spared? Mothers prayed for God to spare their babies and He ignored them- why should He save you when innocent babies are being murdered? You are selfish, and you have no shame. Listen, Immaculee... do you hear them? The killers are outside your door-they're here for you."
The Pastor had come to give the ladies a plate of food to share. Every now and then, whatever was left of dinner, Pastor Murinzi would bring. Although after everything that had happened, they couldn't eat. He told them that they got lucky that day. The killers had searched every part of the house and I mean every part. They searched the yard, dug through the dung heap, crawled into the ceiling and under the furniture. They even stuck their machetes into his suitcases to make sure he wasn't hiding any Tutsis babies. He claimed the killers to be on drugs due to their crazed behaviour and glazed red eyes. But when they reached his bedroom, they saw that it was neat and assured they'd leave it for now, but they'd search it the next time. To make matters worse, the next day the Pastor came running into the room with bad news. He had said that a friend of the leader of the "death squad" thinks that they did a bad job searching the house, that some of the ladies were seen and rumours were flying that they were hiding here. That was the end of them, they thought. The killers had found them, and they were now going to rape them, torture them and kill them all. They continued to pray pray pray until God put an idea into Immaculee's mind. The Pastor owned a wardrobe that miraculously had the exact same dimensions of the bathroom door. Tall and wide enough to hide the door completely. At first the Pastor hesitated, saying that it would just cause more suspicion, but Immaculee assured him that her idea was all God's doing.
And so, it was done.
RELATE
As I continue to blog, this book gets harder and harder to relate to. Clearly, Immaculee never lost faith EVEN during the times the devil tempted her. Keeping faith in a situation like this would be almost impossible for me. I'm sure most of us today would agree. This is why it is good to never abandon on God, especially in a time such as Immaculee's, where you need him most. I was touched when I heard that the killers were sticking their machetes through the Pastor's suitcase, making sure there were no babies. My mom's friend, Anita, the genocide survivor, had been hiding in a suitcase at the beginning of the war. Her once friendly neighbours and friends, now killers were looking for her screaming her name, convinced that she was in the house. Not knowing where to hide, she came across a huge suitcase with clothing. She quickly emptied the bag, got inside and blindly covered herself with the clothes. So one by one, she threw pieces of clothing on top of her, hoping to be fully hidden. She made sure to be as silent as ever, not even flinching. The killers soon arrived in the house, looking everywhere. They searched the washing machines, driers, wardrobes.. everywhere. They did see the suitcase, but thanks to God, they were only dumb enough to just kick the big "metal" bag. I suppose I can relate in that sense.
REFLECT
Anybody can learn from Immaculee. I have learned to never give up hope. If a woman who endured a genocide stuck in a cramped bathroom with several other people, and still had faith, what stops us? She was a very religious individual, and I strongly believe that is what kept her going. I have already said this, and so has many other people in their blogs, but we should not take life for granted one bit. Most of our biographies are just living proof that we should be thankful to be in Canada where GENOCIDES are not present. Yes, hatred is still out there but thank God it is not the extreme of the Hutus.
 |
| The bathroom. |
RETELL
Pastor Murinzi carried a flashlight down the dark hall and led Immaculee and 5 other women to his bedroom. "This is where you'll stay," he said swinging open the bathroom door revealing to the women their new home. The bathroom was about four feet long and three feet wide. There was a shower stall at one end and a toilet at the other- the room wasn't even big enough for a sink. How were 6 women supposed to fit in a such a small room? Pastor Murinzi squeezed them all into the tiny space and ordered them to be silent. He made it clear that if any sound were to be heard from this room, they would all die. They were also ordered to not use the shower nor the toilet; the only suitable time for such would be when the other bathroom on the other side of the wall was flushed, due to the same plumbing. No one was to know they were hiding in there, not even his children. It was an absolute crime to hide Tutsis during the genocide. If anyone were to find out of the Pastor's good deed, he himself, would also be killed. During those dreadful months in that tiny space, Immaculee was exhausted, hungry, cramped and very hot. It was impossible for her to sleep, if by any chance she would doze off, immediately she would be awakened by a leg cramp of someone's elbow knocking against her ribs. Once in a while, they would give themselves a few seconds each to stretch and then return to their original positions.
One day, when it was Immaculee's turn to stretch, she had heard a huge commotion erupting from outside. There were dozens, maybe even hundreds of voices yelling and chanting, "Let us hunt them in the forests, lakes and hills; let us find them in the church; let us wipe them from the face of the earth!" Immediately, with not one doubt, they knew the killers were present. Curious, Immaculee stood on her tiptoes and peeked out from the window through a little hole in the curtain. The other ladies urged her to get down because she would be seen. She ignored them, although she soon regretted her decision. Hundreds of killers surrounding the Pastor's house, many of whom were dressed like devils, wearing skirts of tree bark, shirts of dried banana leaves and some even had goat horns strapped onto their heads. What demonic costumes. Their faces were recognizable with murder written in their eyes. They all yelled simultaneously, " Kill them, kill them all; kill them big and kill them small! Kill the old and kill the young... a baby snak is still a snake, kill it too, let none escape! Kill them, kill them, kill them all!" What horror to Immaculee's ears, these people had once been their kind loving neighbours. To see them killing ALL of the Tutsis population due to a NAME they were given in society was heartbreaking. All through this mess, Immaculee never gave up and continued to pray harder than ever. Even when the devil tempted her, God was the only one she could rely on. That same night, while they were asking God to save them, the devil whispered in her ear, " Why are you calling on God? Look at all of them out there... hundreds of them looking for you. They are legion, and you are one. You can't possibly survive- you won't survive. They're inside the house, and they're moving throught the rooms. They're close, almost here... they're going to find you, rape you, cut you, kill you!" She clutched onto her red and white rosary that her father had given her, and prayed intensly, though the voice would not leave. "Dead bodies are everywhere. Mothers have seen their babies chopped in half, their fetuses ripped from their wombs.. and you think you should be spared? Mothers prayed for God to spare their babies and He ignored them- why should He save you when innocent babies are being murdered? You are selfish, and you have no shame. Listen, Immaculee... do you hear them? The killers are outside your door-they're here for you."
The Pastor had come to give the ladies a plate of food to share. Every now and then, whatever was left of dinner, Pastor Murinzi would bring. Although after everything that had happened, they couldn't eat. He told them that they got lucky that day. The killers had searched every part of the house and I mean every part. They searched the yard, dug through the dung heap, crawled into the ceiling and under the furniture. They even stuck their machetes into his suitcases to make sure he wasn't hiding any Tutsis babies. He claimed the killers to be on drugs due to their crazed behaviour and glazed red eyes. But when they reached his bedroom, they saw that it was neat and assured they'd leave it for now, but they'd search it the next time. To make matters worse, the next day the Pastor came running into the room with bad news. He had said that a friend of the leader of the "death squad" thinks that they did a bad job searching the house, that some of the ladies were seen and rumours were flying that they were hiding here. That was the end of them, they thought. The killers had found them, and they were now going to rape them, torture them and kill them all. They continued to pray pray pray until God put an idea into Immaculee's mind. The Pastor owned a wardrobe that miraculously had the exact same dimensions of the bathroom door. Tall and wide enough to hide the door completely. At first the Pastor hesitated, saying that it would just cause more suspicion, but Immaculee assured him that her idea was all God's doing.
And so, it was done.
RELATE
As I continue to blog, this book gets harder and harder to relate to. Clearly, Immaculee never lost faith EVEN during the times the devil tempted her. Keeping faith in a situation like this would be almost impossible for me. I'm sure most of us today would agree. This is why it is good to never abandon on God, especially in a time such as Immaculee's, where you need him most. I was touched when I heard that the killers were sticking their machetes through the Pastor's suitcase, making sure there were no babies. My mom's friend, Anita, the genocide survivor, had been hiding in a suitcase at the beginning of the war. Her once friendly neighbours and friends, now killers were looking for her screaming her name, convinced that she was in the house. Not knowing where to hide, she came across a huge suitcase with clothing. She quickly emptied the bag, got inside and blindly covered herself with the clothes. So one by one, she threw pieces of clothing on top of her, hoping to be fully hidden. She made sure to be as silent as ever, not even flinching. The killers soon arrived in the house, looking everywhere. They searched the washing machines, driers, wardrobes.. everywhere. They did see the suitcase, but thanks to God, they were only dumb enough to just kick the big "metal" bag. I suppose I can relate in that sense.
REFLECT
Anybody can learn from Immaculee. I have learned to never give up hope. If a woman who endured a genocide stuck in a cramped bathroom with several other people, and still had faith, what stops us? She was a very religious individual, and I strongly believe that is what kept her going. I have already said this, and so has many other people in their blogs, but we should not take life for granted one bit. Most of our biographies are just living proof that we should be thankful to be in Canada where GENOCIDES are not present. Yes, hatred is still out there but thank God it is not the extreme of the Hutus.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Goodbye my dearest Damascene.
In my previous post, I had talked about the beginning of the genocide and ended with Immaculee arriving at a great Hutu family friend's house, Pastor Murinzi. (Along with her little brother Vianney and his dear friend, Augustine) In this post, I will talk about chaos that occured, before she went into hiding.
RETELL:
It was now time for Damascene to leave the packed house, not being able to stay with the others because many people had seen him make his way over wich would lead the killers to Immaculee. (And the Pastor did not like their father to begin with, so he would not accept Damascene) Instead, he would make his way to a great Hutu friend, Bonn, who would certainly hide him. Immaculee walked her dearest brother to the gate, not able to say goodbye knowing that that may be the last time she'd ever look at his beautiful face. He put his hand in hers, until he slowly let go, smiled sadly and stepped through that gate into hell.
REFLECT:
This is a picture I scanned from the book of Immaculee with her big brother, Damascene, a few years before the genocide begun.
RETELL:
Immaculee, Vianney and Augustine were now at Pastor Murinzi's house, hoping to find refuge hiding somewhere in his house while the genocide continued. Arriving there, they saw many people they recognized, all there for the same reason. (Although most of them were Hutus, just visiting) The first person she saw was her old elementary school teacher, Buhoro. So relieved to see someone she knew, she ran to him and gave him a warm smile and put her hand out for him to shake. He looked down at her hand, rejecting the shake and clicked his tongue in disgust before turning away. She had always known he was a Hutu man, but until that very moment, she did not know he was an extremist Hutu, meaning he 100% detested Tutsis. Leaving the room in shame, she was so happy to have seen her BEST friend Janet from primary school. Throwing her arms around her, she yelled, "Janet! Oh, I'm so happy to see you. It's been so horrible for me these past few days; the world has gone crazy. People are being murdered all over the village, and we've been treated like dogs... Thank God you're here, it's good to see a friendly face." Wouldn't you be glad to see your best friend in the midst of all this horror? Janet clearly wasn't. She responded, "I don't know what you can be thinking Immaculee, I'm certainly not going to hide you, and neither will my father. We don't hide Tutsis in our home." Disgusted, she grabbed her purse and walked out of the house without daring to look back. Immaculee was completely heartbroken. Everything was just going so wrong. Now, Augustine was demanding he go home, back to Kigali. Immaculee assured him that it was not safe out there whatsoever, and that they could not harm him because he was Hutu. Obviously at this point in your life, you start to lose optimism. You think of all the negative things that could happen to you. In Augustine's case, he ressembled a Tutsis. He had overheard people in the house whispering that he was a member of the RPF (Tutsis rebels determined to stop the genocide) who came to spy on the Hutu citizens. Although he was Hutu himself, he was terrified they would not believe him and give him the chance to prove this by showing them his identity card. Somehow, Immaculee still managed to stay positive and comfort him.
Later on during this awful day, while Immaculee had been resting, she heard her brother Damascene's voice, thinking she had been dreaming. She hurried down the hall to find her brother who soon informed her that he had been separated from his parents after the killers had burned down their house. Their beautiful house that their father had recently finished building for his wife with his own two hands. It was to be their retirement castle, and seeing it destroyed surely broke his heart. He then explained that Dad felt responsible for the presence of all the thousands of Tutsis stationed in front of their house, so he marched down to the burgomaster begging for protection. Little did he know, he was being fooled. Mr. Kabayi had granted him his offer sending two soldiers to walk him back home. On the way, one of the soldiers asked, "What kind of idiot are you? How stupid can you be, thinking that the burgomaster sent us to protect you and all the cockroaches? These cockroaches need to be exterminated!" The soldiers fired their guns, gesturing for the killers to arrive on scene. This is when all the scared Tutsis ran for their lives watching as the house burnt down. It was now time for Damascene to leave the packed house, not being able to stay with the others because many people had seen him make his way over wich would lead the killers to Immaculee. (And the Pastor did not like their father to begin with, so he would not accept Damascene) Instead, he would make his way to a great Hutu friend, Bonn, who would certainly hide him. Immaculee walked her dearest brother to the gate, not able to say goodbye knowing that that may be the last time she'd ever look at his beautiful face. He put his hand in hers, until he slowly let go, smiled sadly and stepped through that gate into hell.
RELATE:
I think I chose the hardest book to relate to? I, in no way possible can relate to this outstanding story. There have been no situations in my life where I was forced to leave my house due to killers out in the street wanting to do horrific things to not only me, but my whole community. I don't think I have ever had as much faith at this courageous woman has. She hardly gave up always able to comfort people in their time of need even when she herself was living in the same problem. I guess I could relate to her in that sense, because I am always willing to help others in THEIR time of need. I just don't think I could keep up with the optimism in such a time, at all times.
REFLECT:
Immaculee's story is truly outstanding. I know what it feels like to want to kill a person, but what really puzzles me is how a human being would actually have the idea and put it in action. Her story has really touched me and I'm sure anybody who reads it would feel the same exact way. Ever since reading this book, I honestly try my best to not take life for granted and thank God for the life I have. And sometimes even just being grateful for being in a country where none of that is common is enough.
This is a picture I scanned from the book of Immaculee with her big brother, Damascene, a few years before the genocide begun.Sunday, March 20, 2011
The Genocide Begins.
This is my second blog post, and I have completed my book. I just couldn't put it down. Although I'm done, I will still lead you through the story from where I left off.
In the previous post, I introduced Immaculee and her family backround. She grew up in paradise with loving family and friends, but little did she know that most of those people would turn on her. I had explained the discrimination that was starting to evolve. Now, I will go more in depth.
RETELLEaster was now approaching and Immaculee received a letter from her father, begging her to come home. (I forgot to mention, after all the hard work and the strong faith in God, Immaculee finally got her scholarship to university.) As much as she wanted to be home, she had an important exam coming up and wanted to prepare for it. Her dad continued to beg, promising to give her all the time necessary to study, and so she finally gave in. She arrived home with one of her brother's friends, Augustine. One evening at dinner, Damascene's constant smile had turned into something somber. After asking him what was going on, he had confessed to seeing the killers, (the Interhamwe; those responsible for the genocide) holding hand grenades and a list of all the Tutsis families they planned on killing and claimed that their own names were on that death list. He pleaded that they must escape that very night, suggesting that they take a boat from Lake Kivu, hoping to reach Zaire.(Now named Congo) Not wanting to believe so, his dad assured him that he just letting his imagination get to him. The next day, Immaculee awoke by the loud burst of her door, and the terrified look on her brother's face. Damascene had heard on the radio, that the President of Rwanda had been shot out of the sky while returning from a peace treaty in Tanzania. A couple of days ago, the leader of the Interhamwe, Theoneste Bagosora, was disgusted with the peace being made in his country. So he gladly promised that once the President was dead, he would return to Rwanda and prepare an apocalypse. Theoneste must be a man of his word because that's exactly what he did. Every family was ordered to not leave the house, due to the fighting that had already started. So Immaculee's family just sat outside listening to the radio, staying updated with all that was going on. All they would hear were words of encouragement to all the Hutus citizens to pick up their machetes and kill all the Tutsis population. The Hutus referred to the Tutsis as coackroaches because they were meant to be exterminated, and snakes because they were meant to be killed. As the hours passed, many scared Tutsis citizens began to show up at Immaculee's home, wanting her father's great advice. The number of people in the crowd soon went up to about 10,000 people. The killers would often show up at their gate, but all the men in the big crowd would charge at them with their spears causing them to leave. But not for long. During the genocide, there were various way to kill an individual, but the woman would get tortured the most due to their vulnerability. One thing that the HIV POSITIVE killers were encouraged to do were pass on their AIDS to the women as they would rape them, and either leave them to die or just finish them off with their machetes. Immaculee's father did not want this cruel thing to happen to his daughter, so he suggested she, her little brother and his friend to run to the Pastor Murinzi's house (a great Hutu family friend) so he would hide them. At first, Immaculee hesitated, saying she did not want to leave her family alone. But her dad assured her that he would come back and get her, himself. Little did she know, those would be the last words she would ever hear her beloved father say.
RELATEI really do not how I can relate to Immaculee. She was a very dedicated student, always looking out for her future. I could somehow relate to her in that way because I do look out for my future. But I am not as hard-working as she is. As all this was happening, she would never lose faith telling her family that everything would be okay, God was with them. I also have the same attitude occaisionally but she constantly never gave up. Personally, I would have a little bit. My mom has a friend named Anita, who is another survivor of the genocide and she went through similar obstacles to her survival. I have heard Anita's story, and it is quite different but every story has it's own ending. I guess that could be another way I could relate to Immaculee.
REFLECTThis book has honestly impressed me. The horrifying hard times that she lived are heart-breaking. The faith that she put in God and the miracles that He has done for her are incredible. I don't want to ruin the story as yet, so that is all I'll say for now. But as I continue to blog, I hope Immaculee's story encourages you to see life in another perspective and just thank God for the life you live now. You may say you hate your life, but there are certainly people out there who have or had it ten times worse. And Immaculee or even Anita are living proof of that fact.
In the previous post, I introduced Immaculee and her family backround. She grew up in paradise with loving family and friends, but little did she know that most of those people would turn on her. I had explained the discrimination that was starting to evolve. Now, I will go more in depth.
RETELLEaster was now approaching and Immaculee received a letter from her father, begging her to come home. (I forgot to mention, after all the hard work and the strong faith in God, Immaculee finally got her scholarship to university.) As much as she wanted to be home, she had an important exam coming up and wanted to prepare for it. Her dad continued to beg, promising to give her all the time necessary to study, and so she finally gave in. She arrived home with one of her brother's friends, Augustine. One evening at dinner, Damascene's constant smile had turned into something somber. After asking him what was going on, he had confessed to seeing the killers, (the Interhamwe; those responsible for the genocide) holding hand grenades and a list of all the Tutsis families they planned on killing and claimed that their own names were on that death list. He pleaded that they must escape that very night, suggesting that they take a boat from Lake Kivu, hoping to reach Zaire.(Now named Congo) Not wanting to believe so, his dad assured him that he just letting his imagination get to him. The next day, Immaculee awoke by the loud burst of her door, and the terrified look on her brother's face. Damascene had heard on the radio, that the President of Rwanda had been shot out of the sky while returning from a peace treaty in Tanzania. A couple of days ago, the leader of the Interhamwe, Theoneste Bagosora, was disgusted with the peace being made in his country. So he gladly promised that once the President was dead, he would return to Rwanda and prepare an apocalypse. Theoneste must be a man of his word because that's exactly what he did. Every family was ordered to not leave the house, due to the fighting that had already started. So Immaculee's family just sat outside listening to the radio, staying updated with all that was going on. All they would hear were words of encouragement to all the Hutus citizens to pick up their machetes and kill all the Tutsis population. The Hutus referred to the Tutsis as coackroaches because they were meant to be exterminated, and snakes because they were meant to be killed. As the hours passed, many scared Tutsis citizens began to show up at Immaculee's home, wanting her father's great advice. The number of people in the crowd soon went up to about 10,000 people. The killers would often show up at their gate, but all the men in the big crowd would charge at them with their spears causing them to leave. But not for long. During the genocide, there were various way to kill an individual, but the woman would get tortured the most due to their vulnerability. One thing that the HIV POSITIVE killers were encouraged to do were pass on their AIDS to the women as they would rape them, and either leave them to die or just finish them off with their machetes. Immaculee's father did not want this cruel thing to happen to his daughter, so he suggested she, her little brother and his friend to run to the Pastor Murinzi's house (a great Hutu family friend) so he would hide them. At first, Immaculee hesitated, saying she did not want to leave her family alone. But her dad assured her that he would come back and get her, himself. Little did she know, those would be the last words she would ever hear her beloved father say.
RELATEI really do not how I can relate to Immaculee. She was a very dedicated student, always looking out for her future. I could somehow relate to her in that way because I do look out for my future. But I am not as hard-working as she is. As all this was happening, she would never lose faith telling her family that everything would be okay, God was with them. I also have the same attitude occaisionally but she constantly never gave up. Personally, I would have a little bit. My mom has a friend named Anita, who is another survivor of the genocide and she went through similar obstacles to her survival. I have heard Anita's story, and it is quite different but every story has it's own ending. I guess that could be another way I could relate to Immaculee.
REFLECTThis book has honestly impressed me. The horrifying hard times that she lived are heart-breaking. The faith that she put in God and the miracles that He has done for her are incredible. I don't want to ruin the story as yet, so that is all I'll say for now. But as I continue to blog, I hope Immaculee's story encourages you to see life in another perspective and just thank God for the life you live now. You may say you hate your life, but there are certainly people out there who have or had it ten times worse. And Immaculee or even Anita are living proof of that fact.
Monday, February 28, 2011
LEFT TO TELL; Discovering God Admist the Rwandan Holocaust
Retell
This story has deeply touched me over the first 80 pages. Immaculee Ilibagiza, was born in Mataba, Rwanda which she originally knew as "paradise". It was not said her date of birth, but I know she was born in 1970. She has three brothers, Aimable Ntukanyagwe the most serious individual of the family. Then there was Damascene John Murhiwa, the lovable, generous, funny boy that constantly put a smile on everybody's face. Lastly, there was the baby of the family, John Marie Vianney Kazaneza. He was also lovable and pesky at times. You are probably wondering why every family member has a different last name. Well in Rwanda and most other African countries, the children are giving a surname that describes what the parents felt the moment they laid eyes on their child at birth. She grew up with very religious Roman Catholic parents, Marie Rose and Leonard. As a child, discrimination was not a matter she knew about. Her parents never discussed their own country's history with their four kids, as long as you were a person with a good character, race did not matter. She was taught to love everybody, and treat your elders with respect. Little did she know, the citizens of Rwanda were categorized in three different tribes, Hutus, Tutsis and the Twas. The majority of the country were Hutus, a minority of them were Tutsis and little as 1% were Twas, meaning pygmies. The Hutus were known to be short, have big noses and darker skin. The Tutsis were known to be taller, have narrower noses and lighter skin. One day, on her first day of 4th grade, her teacher yelled for all Hutus to stand up, preceeding with the Tutsis, and following with the Twas. Mr. Buhoro soon approached the young ten year old and asked her why she hadn't stood up to any of the name callings. She then responded, "I don't know what I am, Teacher." Immaculee soon found herself kicked out of class for not knowing her own tribe. It was only until the next day she found out she was Tutsis. Over the years, the Tutsis were being persecuted and eventually were treated as second class people, meaning they didn't have all the privileges the Hutus had. It was so bad, that despite her 94% average in school, they wouldn't give Immaculee a scholarship to high school and university just because she was Tutsis.
Relate
I could somewhat relate to Immaculee's life because my mom's country, Burundi, had the same problems, just not as extreme. There were constant wars causing most families to flee. But another way that I could relate to this story would be judging. Just like Immaculee's parents, I find it meaningless to judge a person by their race or tribe. It's not like that person chose to be who they are and eventually have their rights to life taken away because of heartless people. We both have in common our faith and trust in God and I believe this book will change the way I see things in life.
Reflect
So far, I have learned the reasons behind the Genocide in full depth, and the cruel events that were happening. I learned about her early life and the fun times she lived, and a majority of the bad. Up to now, I picked up a lot of information on trusting God throughout the hardest times in your life, and I do believe that during the worst moments, that is when you do learn to trust God the most. And so far Immaculee is portraying this in the touching autobiography.
Can't wait to learn more!
This story has deeply touched me over the first 80 pages. Immaculee Ilibagiza, was born in Mataba, Rwanda which she originally knew as "paradise". It was not said her date of birth, but I know she was born in 1970. She has three brothers, Aimable Ntukanyagwe the most serious individual of the family. Then there was Damascene John Murhiwa, the lovable, generous, funny boy that constantly put a smile on everybody's face. Lastly, there was the baby of the family, John Marie Vianney Kazaneza. He was also lovable and pesky at times. You are probably wondering why every family member has a different last name. Well in Rwanda and most other African countries, the children are giving a surname that describes what the parents felt the moment they laid eyes on their child at birth. She grew up with very religious Roman Catholic parents, Marie Rose and Leonard. As a child, discrimination was not a matter she knew about. Her parents never discussed their own country's history with their four kids, as long as you were a person with a good character, race did not matter. She was taught to love everybody, and treat your elders with respect. Little did she know, the citizens of Rwanda were categorized in three different tribes, Hutus, Tutsis and the Twas. The majority of the country were Hutus, a minority of them were Tutsis and little as 1% were Twas, meaning pygmies. The Hutus were known to be short, have big noses and darker skin. The Tutsis were known to be taller, have narrower noses and lighter skin. One day, on her first day of 4th grade, her teacher yelled for all Hutus to stand up, preceeding with the Tutsis, and following with the Twas. Mr. Buhoro soon approached the young ten year old and asked her why she hadn't stood up to any of the name callings. She then responded, "I don't know what I am, Teacher." Immaculee soon found herself kicked out of class for not knowing her own tribe. It was only until the next day she found out she was Tutsis. Over the years, the Tutsis were being persecuted and eventually were treated as second class people, meaning they didn't have all the privileges the Hutus had. It was so bad, that despite her 94% average in school, they wouldn't give Immaculee a scholarship to high school and university just because she was Tutsis.
Relate
I could somewhat relate to Immaculee's life because my mom's country, Burundi, had the same problems, just not as extreme. There were constant wars causing most families to flee. But another way that I could relate to this story would be judging. Just like Immaculee's parents, I find it meaningless to judge a person by their race or tribe. It's not like that person chose to be who they are and eventually have their rights to life taken away because of heartless people. We both have in common our faith and trust in God and I believe this book will change the way I see things in life.
Reflect
Can't wait to learn more!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
The book I chose.
I chose the autobiography, Left to Tell written by Immaculée Illibagiza. In this novel, she tells us about the 91 days she spent with 7 other women in a bathroom during the Rwandaise genocide. The reason for my choice is because I had started reading the first few pages in Kenya this summer and I was very intrigued. I would like to continue reading this touching story and at the same time learn more about the genocide.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)