Days of Remembrance

BP news recently featured a piece on the annual time of mourning and remembrance in Rwanda. Each year during the 100 days that commemorate the genocide, and especially the first 10 of those 100, life in Rwanda comes to a grinding halt. Memorial services and remembrance services happen across the country, while survivors re-live the memories of those haunting April days. Some of those I interviewed in Rwanda told me that in some ways this time of mourning has become unhelpful to them. They will be about the business of moving on in their lives when suddenly the entire country is thrown back into its grief. I found their commentary interesting. Certainly, after a holocaust like what happened in Rwanda it is right and good to have a place for remembering, but at what point does this become more of a burden than a help to the victim and what should be done then? I’m not sure I know the answers to those questions, but it’s certainly an interesting topic to explore.