2023 Rwanda Delegation: Andrew Ross
Senior, Theater Arts
June 6, 2018
Another Way
We hit the ground running:
The red earth of
Remarkable Rwanda
Morning movements among
The restless travelers
Explosive fruit, earthy coffee
Satiating palates and soothing anxiety
Eric and Noel,
Our gracious hosts
Counting our presence
Gatanu…Five
I am here among new friends
Nyamirambo Women’s Center
Empowering the disempowered
Silvia guiding us through her streets
Shops and markets
Smells, sounds, unfiltered
Reminiscent of a time long past
In my corporate synthetic
strip-mall world
Mama’s nourishment
Refreshing inexperienced lungs
Wisdom in every bite,
(Japanese would call “Kata”)
Tradition in movements and patterns
The Memorial
Scanning each word and photo in
Greater disbelief
My radicalism reignited
Angry, frightened,
Sick to my stomach
Grasping at my ideologies
An optimism defeated,
Deflated by the cushion
Of a seat nearby
Home photographs
Hang from strings
Thousands erased,
Never replaced
I see my friends in their eyes
I see my family in their smiles
I see myself in their being
Mourning
Hands held outside
With Eric and Pacifique
Breath escapes us
Wrestling bewilderment
We summon courage to move forward
Hot tears inevitably painting
The mass graves of those betrayed
Birds frolic and sing
Reminding us of another way
Standing still mourning
The world has resumed
In fact it never stopped
Rwanda is reborn
No Tutsi, No Hutu…
Simply Rwandan
Anger subsiding
I feel welcomed in a strange land
A place healing and offering our dark world
A light we can see if we choose to
Ready to play my part
Ready to frolic and sing.
June 6, 2018
Introductions
My introduction to Rwanda occurred at the age of 15 years old, when my interest in the world outside my little life was injected with history, literature, film, and music. During this time I was able to take a class at my high school called “War of the 20th Century” and for an extended period of time we analyzed the reoccurrence of genocide throughout history. Rwanda was apart of the conversation. My mind flooded with inconceivable statistics and facts: one million killed by handheld weapons mainly machete in one hundred days, the deplorable lack of response by the UN to intervene, Bill Clinton admitting US intervention could have saved 300,000 lives etc. All I could feel was shame, fear, and disappointment about a world that permits such horror.
Today, I write from Rwanda with increasingly restored faith in humanity. Although I have heard countless stories from Professor Drew about Rwanda's reconciliation process I needed more proof. Within hours of planting my feet on Rwanda's soil something was apparent. What that is I know I will see with my own eyes and feel in my heart in the days ahead.
Traveling with a crew, my companions are a diverse group of individuals with varied backgrounds, experiences, professions, and tastes but all of us are here with a common objective: to tell a story. The most wonderful part of storytelling is that it is alive and vulnerable to elements surrounding it. When we share our story we change others stories who in turn become apart of ours, and the cycle continues. To quote musician Bill Fay, “It is a cosmic concerto, and it stirs my soul.”
I am so grateful for this moment and the many to come as I venture through Remarkable Rwanda.
