June 18, 2007 After quite a build-up of anticipation, I finally visited Sonrise School - both primary and secondary - along with a large party, including the von Trapps, the Ritcheys, Jack Hannah and his family, Kelly (a temporary guest from Tanzania), and of course Tom. While the rest were taking a brief tour of the grounds, I played with the primary kids. The kids were so friendly - and as strange as this sounds - normal. Despite the horrors they have endured in their childhoods, they are playful, mischievous, inquisitive, bashful, and incredibly hard-working.
At Primary, I met a 13-year-old girl named Alive. She invited me to play a circle game of volleyball with her and her classmates. Of course I joined in the game and played with them for about half an hour. Each cheered on the other and giggled at mistakes made. It was just like a flashback to my days on the playground at recess. Secondary was much the same - with the artistic and musical kids hanging out together, rocking out, and the athletic kids - both giants and short, agile fellows - out on the courts. You would never know that these are orphans of genocide - orphans from both groups.
Of course, we all have our own demons that haunt us. It seems an integral part of the human condition to carry a burden but to desperately try not to let that burden visibly alter our external appearance and behavior. What we have experienced may be dramatically different, and one may say, "Oh, I cannot imagine enduring what you have." Perhaps the heart and the mind can only absorb so much horror and pain until they simply stop processing it. How else can we continue surviving? How else can these kids, the Rwandese by large, manage to not only live but live with peace?
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