Thursday, January 27, 2011

Zero Force

Today's pic is a bit more journal, a bit less artistic.

First off, I'm in love with Romeo Dallaire. Years ago I read his first book, Shake Hands with the Devil, about the Rwandan genocide of 1994, and from there my love grew. He's a man worthy of respect. One of the few Canadians I actually view as a personal hero.

I've heard his speak a few times as well. Shortly after reading Shake Hands with the Devil, I learned he was coming to Red Deer (where I was living at the time) to do a talk. I HAD to be there. I was doing a large research paper on the Rwandan genocide for my International Relations course at the time, and it all just seemed to fit. And yet- he didn't speak about Rwanda. Well, he did, but only as a small example. Mostly he spoke about child soldiers. And he did so in such a way that it literally blew my mind. He approached the issue in a way I'd never heard of before. A few years later, I heard him speak again, and while the speech was different, the heart of it was the same. Child soldiers is one of the biggest problems facing our world.

I've recently read the book They Fight like Soldiers, They Die like Children by Romeo Dallaire. At the end of the book, he calls the readers to action to help stop the use of children as tools of war. He wrote about the Child Soldiers Initiative which he founded, and from there, my research into this movement grew.

So, being me, I joined. And I urge all of you to check it out and join too. They send you nifty fake dog tags! I got mine in the mail a few days ago, and had to post them up.

3 comments:

  1. I've had Shake Hands with the Devil sitting on my bookshelf for about a year now. I really, really want to read it and I'm also really nervous to read it. I know I will one day though, I just have to be prepared for what I know is going to be a horrible read. (Horrible as in the experience, not horrible as in the writing.)

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  2. Jess- Shake Hands with the Devil is actually very well written considering the subject matter. The first half of the book gives you Romeo Dallaire's background and history, the second half gets into what happened in Rwanda. He tries very hard not to sensationalize the gore or the horror that happened there, so while it IS a difficult read, it's not the most difficult one on genocide or Rwanda that I've ever read. Definitely worth the effort though!

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  3. I really need to read this one. When I took Physical Anthropology in University, my professor was a well known Forensic Anthropologist. He actually went to Rwanda after the genocide to identify remains. He showed us many pictures and shared stories of his time there. It was pretty powerful!

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