Sometimes in April

It's April again. Autumn induces creativity, motivating and energizing the senses, slowly building an anticipation for the hardships and challenges of winter. For some, though, it brings back painful memories of incomprehensible violence. April, 1994 marked the 100 days of slaughter of nearly a million people in what is now called the genocide in Rwanda.

Don Cheadle played the role of Paul Rusesabagina in Hotel Rwanda and together with John Prendergast, wrote an insightful book, 'Not On Our Watch'. I couldn't believe what was written in the book. It hit home later, when I watched a lesser known film, "Sometimes in April," based on a true story of a Hutu army general with a Tutsi wife caught in the middle of the politically charged battle between the Hutus and the Rwandan People's Front (RPF).

Fifteen years later, the story continues under a similar guise in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and several other war-torn countries. The banner on the right column of this blog links to a web site that proposes to garner political support to save children who are abducted and then forced to fight in Uganda.

The wheel is turning again. The Justice Generation is preparing to launch an offensive with a message that is more than words. It's time to speak. To act. To write. To live a life that's bigger than the fulfillment of our dreams. To seek in some way to change the life of someone else.

In the end we will remember
Not the words of our enemies
But the silence of our friends

Martin Luther King Jr.

An article that summarizes the history of violence in Rwanda and the genocide of 1994:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1288230.stm