Thursday, March 8, 2007
Reaction to Rwanda
As you all know, Hotel Rwanda is a very intense movie. After watching it, I was engulfed in thought. Mainly, I thought about how much I am unable to really relate to the people of Rwanda and of other places that have gone through such mass genocide. I feel like most people here in America lead pretty “cushy” lives and find it very hard to picture anything such as Rwanda happening to them. This is how I feel. I cannot even try to imagine how it would be to be afraid in my own house, to see my neighbors being kidnapped or killed, or dealing with death and destruction all around me all the time. The movie just left me in awe of how horrible things in the world can be. I usually go through my daily life without thinking about the rest of the world and taking most things for granted. This is probably how most people are as well. I guess it just boggles my mind to think that something like Rwanda can happen.
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This goes along with not being able to imagine being in that situation…
As I was watching Hotel Rwanda, I was thinking about how people deal with things like genocide. I was amazed by the courage that some people show in such horrible circumstances. It’s so depressing that things like genocide can happen, but it’s inspiring that in such times, there are people who are willing to risk their lives for other people. I’m not just talking about Paul. I’m also thinking about volunteers, like the woman with the Red Cross. I can’t imagine continually risking my life to help other people, let alone doing it in a place that I really didn’t have to be. I think it’s amazing that some people have that kind of compassion.
I don’t think we can imagine what it would be like to witness something like the Rwandan genocide, whether it was in our country or a country we happened to be visiting. This makes me think about the white hotel visitors who the UN helped out of Rwanda. I wonder what those people were thinking when they were on the bus to leave. Many of them look sad, but at the same time, they were relieved to be able to get out of there. I’m sure I would be the same. How could you not be glad that you and your family weren’t the ones in danger of getting killed? You might think, “Something terrible is going to happen here. I hope these people are okay and get help.” But most people don’t see themselves as the ones who should actually be doing the helping. “Someone should help” is different from saying that “I should help.” We see problems in other countries as something a such a huge problem that our government should be the ones to help, not us as individuals. And, to some extent, that’s probably true. You couldn’t just hop on a plane, fly to Africa, and stop a genocide. The only good things you would be able to do would be small in the grand scheme of things. But even those little things could have a big impact on other individuals. That’s what I like about stories like Hotel Rwanda—it reminds me that even though horrible things might happen, people are still willing to help each other.
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