Thursday, April 05, 2007

A horrific reminder

We arrived at Chantal and Mbanda's home which is finally finished. It's beautiful. I met a wall of people. Adults AND lots of kids. 6 kids ages 3 to 11. What a group of beautiful blessed people. They are all committed people of faith who do various things in the states related to helping kids. Most run summer sports camps. They are exploring the possiblity of creating one here. It's quite a vision and undertaking if God directs them to do it. How amazing is it to see all the people who are coming to serve this country that is in such need. We made our way to the genocide museum (without the kids) that I read about but didn't get to see in my last trip. It is a church where 5000 people were killed. The Hutus sent grenades through the walls and then killed the people with machetes. Until justa few months ago they literally had left the scene as it was as a constant memory. Yes that means bones etc scattered amidst the area...whereever they fell. They have now organized it in to sections. Skulls on stands in the church, clothes in a metal shed and shoes in another. There is dried blood on the walls. There is a another building with all sorts of stuff that people in flight had carried...some suitcases, cooking tools, umbrella etc. The woman that oversees the museum was a child who hid out during the genocide and survived. Imagine what it takes to stand amidst the space as a daily reminder...this must NEVER happen again. But of course it is...right now in darfur. Please...if you haven't done so, please do go to savedarfur.org to learn how you can make a difference.

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