Tuesday 8 April 2014

Kwibuka - Remembered



Yesterday across Rwanda, thousands gathered in stadiums, shurches and Community centres to take part in  Kwibuka -  the flame of Rememberance.
20 years ago marked the start of 100 of the darkest days in human history. 1 million people were killed in the Rwandan Genocide. We should not forget.
Yet  there are thousands of  lives on the line right now b- lives that are being extinguished because of bigotry, prejudice, hatred and cruelty. lives  that are being  lost with the full awareness - and complicity - of government officials.
In this moment in  time  in Burma, thousands of Rohingya Muslims are being persecuted, languishing in camps where many thousands are being forced to live. Then there are the thousands of Palestinians, stranded in Yarmouk Refugee camp in Syria.
We should not  forget the damage done to our own morality by choosing to ignore genocide, wherever  it is taking place.
Here are some words from Bobby Kennedy, as addressed  to a group of young people from Soweta, South Africa.

" It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal or acts to improve the lot of others or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." 



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