Imagine~ All the People Living Life in Peace

Monday, July 9, 2007

I ran to Africa with a great amount of excitement and anticipation that I would find personal strength and solidarity. I have augmented these inner qualities, but I have also found myself valuing shared experiences with close friends and family. It is the common title to my life: strong individualism accented through shared experiences. I believe that I have aged a great many years over the past month; cultivating a deep personal wisdom. I am right where I need to be and I look forward to reconnecting with everyone!

3 comments:

Co DuToit said...: Greetings from Hillcrest UCC in Montrose Colorado!

Hi Katy,

We received your beautiful greeting card today-thanks!

I'm glad that you have the opportunity to have an "African" experience and all the challenges that come with it. Some of it will definitely not be pleasant.

We cannot wait for you to to share your journey with us, and always remember that you are in our prayers and thoughts every day.

We pray for your safe return and that you will also enjoy this unique life experience.

Love and Peace,
Co DuToit and your family at Hillcrest.; July 10, 2007 at 10:36 AM
Pam Schofield said...: Dearest Katy,
I've held back giving my words because I find they are hard to find. Let me simply say how much it means that you've had the courage to take this journey, and how grateful I am that we are being touched by your experience. Though I often worry about technology and what it's doing to my kids, I am so glad to be connected in this way with you. Know you are in my heart...

Pam; July 10, 2007 at 9:31 PM
Anonymous said...: Hey Katie, So you're getting a taste of what I grew up with? Of course we weren't into genocide at the time, we just hate the ZULUs, but we can't do anything about it because of that "stronger, bigger and tougher than we are" thing.

Anyway, this will be a wonderful experience for you and you will never forget it. Africa gets in your blood and you will always want to go back. I miss home every day, even though I have lived in the US longer than I lived in Africa, I feel no connection at all to the US.

Stay safe and come visit....

Love

John; August 6, 2007 at 3:26 PM

Post a Comment

Into Africa!

In under four weeks I will be stepping onto African soil! For five weeks I will be working with a non-governmental organization, Global Youth Connect (GYC), as part of a fourteen member delegation in Rwanda Africa. The delegation will explore the root causes of state-sponsored genocide and its repercussions in a post-conflict context. This exploration occurs through human rights workshops called “learning communities” which brings U.S. participants together with Rwandan peers to build a common framework of understanding. Together we hope to inspire peaceful changes by analyzing shared human rights concerns and by building new skills to better promote and protect universal human rights.

Genocide

On December 11, 1946, the General Assembly of the United Nations declared genocide a crime under international law. On December 9, 1948, the General Assembly went further, adopting Resolution 260A(III), the Convention on the Preservation and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which obliged “Contracting Parties” to “undertake to prevent and to punish … acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethical, racial, or religious group.” "Just as a state's police swear to prevent and punish murder, so the signers of the Genocide Convention swore to police a brave new world order"(Philip Gourevitch). April marks a time of remembrances. The 15th of April has been designated as the Holocaust Memorial Day. After the atrocity of the Holocaust, the global community made a pledge: never again. The Declaration of Human Rights was formed under the conviction that never again would be world teeter into the chaos of genocide. The Declaration recognized the “equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world” (OHCHR 1996-2005). Yet, in April of 1994 chaos surfaced again. Thirteen years ago, in April of 1994, a program of massacres decimated the Republic of Rwanda. Extremist leaders of Rwanda’s Hutu majority launched a campaign of extermination against the country’s Tutsi minority, killing of every tenth person of the population. The rains of April washed over the deceased, weeping for the human propensity towards genocide. The consequences of the Rwandan genocide continue to be felt through a myriad of issues.

Imagine~ All the People Living Life in Peace

Monday, July 9, 2007

3 comments:

Top~O Africa!

Warm Welcome

Congolese Refugee Camp in Rwanda

Genocide~Never Again

Rwandan Country Side

Destination: Rwanda, Africa!

Blog Archive

Into Africa!

Genocide