This past Tuesday I attended the University Forum featuring Paul Rusesabagina. I was wholly impressed at our university for soliciting this individual as a potential speaker and thrilled that Mr. Rusesabagina would agree to address our BYU community.
His story has been told in the film Hotel Rwanda which I have yet to see. I enjoyed the opportunity to be in the presence of a truly remarkable man and to hear of his life filled with tragedy, bravery and ultimately hope. Mr. Rusesabagina said Rwanda is in a dismal state not because the people hate one another, the civil unrest is a result of poor leadership. It will be interesting to see how the movie adds to or detracts from the first hand account.
The 1994 genocide in Rwanda and others in places like Darfur blow my mind. This is not some World War II travesty at the hand of an insane dictator like Hitler, this is happening after the fact, and still today. People say the world is turning a blind eye to the atrocities that go on in Sierra Leone and other war torn African countries. I don't know if this is true. What I do feel that I know is the UN and other international agencies can only do so much. Previous colonization exacted permanent damage in some cases, forever closing off western/white intervention as a solution.
At the conclusion of Paul Rusesabagina's remarks he encouraged us as the leaders of tomorrow to stand up and call for change in the world. A daunting task when one takes into consideration all that is wrong with the world we live in but I think educating ourselves is a good first step.
Here are some links that I am aware of:
The Commission For Africa
The 2005 G8 Summit
G8 Progress Report
On the old record player: Ceremony, New Order
7 comments:
Wah! I wanted to go so bad! I had work, so Craig went for me. I've only seen parts of Hotel Rwanda, and he's never seen it. We should have a partay.
What an amazing man! It's so lucky that you got to hear in speak and see him in person (or I guess from the TV if you didn't go to the Marriott Center). Although I don't always love who BYU picks to come speak at our forums I think that they have done a really great job this time.
It is really intimidating to think about being a leader in the world but I guess we can do that starting in our own home.
Not entirely relevant but I was just reading about domestic abuse, especially in some Muslim homes and it made me really want to get involved. I guess there's always something we can find and be passionate about that can help make others lives better. We just have to get up and do it!
whoa..that was quite a comment!
Can I tell you how much I love the picture of Zach (Zak) and the milk jugs on the side!!! What a doll.
I love, love, love you're new banner. The clocktower is just so lovely!
Plus this picture of Buster just kills. We should watch some of that soon! That picture definitely made me in the mood to see some more of the Bluth fam.
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