Hello dear friends! Today marks the 20th anniversary week of the genocides in Rwanda. My friend Steve Bensen is in Rwanda to teach endoscopy procedures. He has already relieved suffering by doing procedures (Dilations, etc) there that could not be done before. AND he has taught the caring doctors there how to do these procedures as well so they can continue the work! I still find it amazing that we have people like Steve in this world! Bravo!
Steve sent a link to an article in Time Magazine. I am sharing it below as I feel it is a must read, especially if you want to see faces of courage, love, faith and forgiveness! We can learn a lot from the people of Rwanda!
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/04/06/magazine/06-pieter-hugo-rwanda-portraits.html?smid=tw-nytimes&_r=0
I sit here thinking about my time in Rwanda with my dear friend Kelly. It is a trip I shall never forget. I miss the people I met there, and still hope to return someday! Kelly has a friend who was a survivor of the genocides. He traveled to America on his own at 19. Learned to speak English and put himself thru college. He did this with no help and while his family stayed in Rwanda. They could not afford for all of them to come here. He has not seen his family in many years! Courage!
I sit here thinking about my friends at S.A.C.C.A. Mark and Naomi, an English couple, who did volunteer work in Rwanda. They noticed tons of street children there, most of whom were products of the genocides. Mark and Naomi fell in love, went home to England to get married, then the day after their marriage they went back to Rwanda to start up the non profit S.A.C.C.A. Quite a honeymoon eh? When I was there in 2006 I saw the results of their work. Children laughing, playing, eating, and learning! All because two foreigners felt they could help, and they did! Love!
I sit her thinking of my friend Emily Cavanagh. She used to work with the homeless in NYC. There she met a genocide survivor. This woman is now Emily's friend. She barely escaped death, traveled to America on her own, lived homeless in NYC til she could get on her feet, and wrote a book about it all! Emily wrote a tribute song for her friend called "Dark Was The Night" (On I-tunes if you haven't heard it already). Faith!
We all have Courage, Love, Faith and Forgiveness inside of us. We just need to let them come out and show themselves. And they do! They come in various forms. The Rwandan people have shown us, as the article above tells us. Forgiveness!
May you all have a blessed week as we remember this tragedy so it may never happen again. Let's celebrate the people in this world who are doing what they can to change, and to show the values of these four words!
Courage
Love
Faith
Forgiveness
Now Go Out and Hug Everyone Today!!!
Steve sent a link to an article in Time Magazine. I am sharing it below as I feel it is a must read, especially if you want to see faces of courage, love, faith and forgiveness! We can learn a lot from the people of Rwanda!
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/04/06/magazine/06-pieter-hugo-rwanda-portraits.html?smid=tw-nytimes&_r=0
I sit here thinking about my time in Rwanda with my dear friend Kelly. It is a trip I shall never forget. I miss the people I met there, and still hope to return someday! Kelly has a friend who was a survivor of the genocides. He traveled to America on his own at 19. Learned to speak English and put himself thru college. He did this with no help and while his family stayed in Rwanda. They could not afford for all of them to come here. He has not seen his family in many years! Courage!
I sit here thinking about my friends at S.A.C.C.A. Mark and Naomi, an English couple, who did volunteer work in Rwanda. They noticed tons of street children there, most of whom were products of the genocides. Mark and Naomi fell in love, went home to England to get married, then the day after their marriage they went back to Rwanda to start up the non profit S.A.C.C.A. Quite a honeymoon eh? When I was there in 2006 I saw the results of their work. Children laughing, playing, eating, and learning! All because two foreigners felt they could help, and they did! Love!
I sit her thinking of my friend Emily Cavanagh. She used to work with the homeless in NYC. There she met a genocide survivor. This woman is now Emily's friend. She barely escaped death, traveled to America on her own, lived homeless in NYC til she could get on her feet, and wrote a book about it all! Emily wrote a tribute song for her friend called "Dark Was The Night" (On I-tunes if you haven't heard it already). Faith!
We all have Courage, Love, Faith and Forgiveness inside of us. We just need to let them come out and show themselves. And they do! They come in various forms. The Rwandan people have shown us, as the article above tells us. Forgiveness!
May you all have a blessed week as we remember this tragedy so it may never happen again. Let's celebrate the people in this world who are doing what they can to change, and to show the values of these four words!
Courage
Love
Faith
Forgiveness
Now Go Out and Hug Everyone Today!!!
4 comments:
Thank you Rodney. I agree, we must never forget this atrocity on humankind. May we all learn to practice Love, Faith, Courage, & Peace. If we ALL did so, such horrendous & violent actions would not occur, in my humble opinion.
Nice blog...thank you
Thanks, Chip for sharing. I can't believe it's been 20 years!! How quickly time passes. And I'm always amazed, and humbled, at how strong the human spirit is. May that strong, POSITIVE spirit, blanket the whole world……very soon.
Thank you Karen, Jennifer and Barb for your comments! You all emit these energies/words into the universe and I appreciate and love each one of you!!!
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