Excuses & Books I've Read Part 3

Okay, so I know I haven't blogged much, but this time I have an excuse! I started French class last week. I have 3 hours of class every morning Monday through Thursday. It's kind of tiring, but I love it! Also, I just spent 2 days with my best friend... it was her birthday. So see, I do have an excuse!

Today I figured I would tell about the third book I read (don't worry, after this one there's only one more). This book is called "Life Laid Bare - The Survivors in Rwanda Speak" by Jean Hatzfeld. It's a book of conversations between the author and the survivors of two villages called Nyamata and N'tarama. These villages are in a region with hills and marshes. During the time of the genocide, the Tutsis hid in the marshes during the day, under plants and mud.

The author spoke to 14 different survivors. They were teachers, kids, mothers, teenagers, etc before the genocide. Now, it seems like most of them just wander in the streets or take care of orphans. These people are completely different from one another except for the fact that they all suffered through the same thing together.

The saddest people to me are the kids and teenagers. The author interviews 2 little boys and about 3 or 4 teenage girls. The little boys aren't even kids anymore. One of them has no family at all. He lives with another family that took in a few orphans. All he does is go to school and walk back home. He can't go any where else because everywhere he goes has memories of his parents and his siblings... all of them were killed.

The second little boy isn't a kid either. He only has one older brother left. During the day, while his brother works on their farm, he has to take care of their cattle. He can't go to school, because he is working so hard just so they can eat.

But the teenage girls are the saddest to me. All of them have "adopted" kids that aren't their own - other orphans of the genocide. They take care not only of these kids, but also their siblings and cousins. Their parents and older relatives are all dead. Most of them were raped during the genocide and have babies because of that. They don't think about having husbands because the only men who would like them and take on the responsibility of so many children are dead.

This was my favorite book because these people, who have lost so much, have so much responsibility that shouldn't be theirs. But none of them complain. Not even once. Also, these mostly uneducated people give such good explanations of the genocide. They explain such a difficult thing in such an easy way to understand. I think everyone who had any interest at all in Rwanda should read this book.