South Africa
The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay changed my life. It allows a glimpse into the beauty, intensity, and passion of African culture. It illuminates from a very personal perspective the intricacies and politics that surrounded apartheid. But more than anything, it tells the story of one hero’s journey from boyhood to manhood and how his faith in himself enabled him to abandon social structures, resist racism, and instead concentrate on the beauty and inherent worth of the individual soul.
As a music teacher and musician, I am drawn to African culture, as all music in America has some root in African form and polyrhythm, especially jazz. More than anything, as a spiritual person I find my heart filled to bursting when I recall the power of song in the lives of South Africans, how they used song to communicate messages to one another and to celebrate, to rise above whatever literal and figurative chains existed around their lives. I want to go South Africa to see if they will let me sing with them. I would love nothing more than to experience that power and energy firsthand.
Rwanda
Please, please read Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculée Ilibagiza, a Tutsi woman who lived in Rwanda during the genocide of 1994. For 91 days, she hid in a bathroom with seven other women, while all around the country her people were being slaughtered, swiftly and mercilessly. When the killing finally stopped, almost a million Tutsis had died, including her mother, father, two brothers, eight month old cousin, and many other friends and family members.
It is not an easy read. You will cry, a lot, and at times feel nothing but horror and despair.
But ultimately, as Dr. Dyer says in his forward, it is “truly a love story in the purest sense of the word.” It is a story of the deepest, most miraculous kind of faith and forgiveness.
This book makes me want to go to Rwanda for many reasons. I want to see the beauty of the country as Immaculée describes it, as well as the beauty of the courage and spirit that has prevailed. I want to help. I want to see if my body, my voice, my money, and my love and commitment can be of any value to the people who might need these things, especially the young children who were left orphaned. I also want to be able to bring stories back to the US to generate further knowledge and support. I am grateful for this book and Immaculée for giving voice to the horror a small country endured as well as a voice to the power of survival and healing.
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