Richard, me, Cindy and Brandon (left to right)
During the day when we were standing around waiting for the forms to be processed for us to go to the gorilla area (Virunga), I got the chance to talk to Richard (Immaculee’s friend and videographer for this project). Very big man. Dreadlocks. Powerful. Not in a physical way so much as in presence. Kind of quiet. Wonderful with the children at the orphanage. I asked him about his work (he told me, in no uncertain terms that you don’t ask people about their families or their past). He went to mass with us the other night. It was the first time going inside a church since the genocide.
“Oh?” I asked. His parents were killed in the church where they went for protection. Since then he said, “I have no use for the church.” He went on that it seemed to be good enough for Immaculee and brought her comfort. So why not?
He is sort of working on a documentary about the genocide. He explained that the documentary could take a long time because many people still can’t make themselves talk about it.
1 comment:
These people were robbed of so much. Not only did they lose their families, but their ability to remember or talk about them. Not only did they loose their congregation members, but their faith, hope, security, future. I cannot imagine such loss. I am in awe of their ability to survive.
Ruthie
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