patribus

So, I haven't really been blogging, because it kind of contradicts my wannabe hipster attitude (I accidentally typed in hopster, and that should totally be a word). But, I haven't really been keeping up with my music, so I figure I can just let myself go completely.

Anyway, this summer I'm getting ready to go to Uganda and Rwanda. I got my yellow fever shot last week and was consequently cranky for the next few days. I didn't know that vaccines had side effects. I've also been doing some recommended reading, Shake Hands With The Devil by Romeo Dallaire and God Sleeps in Rwanda by Joseph Sebarenzi.

Shake Hands With The Devil is a great book for people interested in the Rwandan genocide (I'm guessing not so much for people who aren't). It's written by the commander of the UN Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR). Dallaire, or at least, my impression of him, is that he was one of the most honorable people to help abate the genocide. One part that stuck out to me was Dallaire's childhood and how he grew up wanting to be a soldier. His mother told him stories about how his father and other Allied soldiers protected villages and helped in the aftermath of WWII. Dallaire said that horrific nature of WWII led many in his generation to become pacifists, but he wanted to become a soldier because the lesson he learned from the war was that military action was required to stop evil.

God Sleeps in Rwanda is in the top ten books I love. Written by the former head of the Rwandan parliament (in the late 1990s), this book goes through Sebarenzi's life as a child in Rwanda to fleeing to the United States. What amazes me is his description of the current government in Rwanda, strong faith and his insistence on reconciliation. Honestly, his evaluation of the government scares and worries me for the future of Rwanda, but his spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation is astounding. I've heard the word reconciliation used a lot in the context of Baltimore, since New Song Community Church, where I go during the school year, is committed to holistic Christian community development. It just strikes me that something that is needed for healing in Baltimore is the same that's needed for healing in Rwanda, because that brings things much closer to home. What's needed in Baltimore is needed in Rwanda and is needed everywhere because whether it has to do with race, ethnicity, class or whatever, the problems we face are a result of our shared sinful nature, which affects everyone in the world, regardless of geography. And I guess that's why Sebarenzi's faith is so inspiring too, because it is only God who can save us.

Also, I was reading the epilogue and Sebarenzi mentioned how, when he got to the US, he enrolled in the School for International Training and teaches a class there now. SIT happens to be the program I'm going with to Uganda and Rwanda, so... That means nothing, I guess, but it was total affirmation for me.