• 10:05:00 AM, Thursday, October 12, 2006
It was tonight over dinner that I remembered about an episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show I watched just a few days ago. Was telling Mum and Dad about it. Pretty interesting really. Though a rather heart-wrenching episode it was. I actually cried. Haha:p Emo me.
The whole episode was dedicated to Oprah's Book Club recently chose book 'Night' By Elie Wiesel. The book is actually a Holocaust memoir. And Professor Elie Wiesel is actually one of the few Holocaust survivors. Yes this guy actually spent his childhood or teenage years in Auschwitz Camp. Tough huh?
So with this Nobel Prize winning memoir came an essay competition held in America. Thousands of High School students participated. Only a few out of these were actually picked by the panel of judges. The essay writing competition circled around the book by Elie Wiesel. The High School students did their own research and wrote insightful essays on it.
What was so interesting about the whole thing, and what really had an impact on me, was Professor Elie Wiesel mentioned in his book. That the Auschwitz Camp was closed down, the Holocaust ended, with the people saying "Never Again". Yet, after the devastating Holocaust, there was an "Again". And it's not just once. It's many times, with history repeating itself over and over again. Yet no interfering has been able to stop such genocides from happening.
Examples are the quite recent Rwandan Genocide where the Tutsies were brutally murdered over I think a period of about a 100 days, as well as the ongoing 'ethnic cleansing' still going on in Sudan.
So then this Professor, together with other Holocaust survivors have actually dedicated their lives to hopefully enlighten enough people on such situations occurring. Many people aren't even aware that it's still happening in today's world. And the ignorance has its cost. The lives of thousands in Sudan are in danger every single torturous day. Yet not enough help is given to them and not enough protection is given to them. Slowly, over time, their people are just wiped out.
And amongst the many chosen essay winners, were actually 2 genocide survivors themselves. Of the Rwandan Genocide. They were only about 5 or 6 years old at that time. One of them, her family was killed. For the other, she and her older sister just kept hiding and running during that brutal period. She mentioned, "I was so young then. I did not know why people were killed. And right in front of my faces. We didn’t understand. We just kept running and hiding and running and hiding."
And they showed pictures of the killing scene. Where there were bodies lying everywhere. And when you come to think of it, it's really so violent and brutal. Why is this even happening? This is extreme discrimination where an entire population is being wiped out. And why is that so? Just because there’s some stupid dispute? Or out of jealousy?
Maybe I'm just too naive. But I really hate what's happening right now. In the world.
As a result of this, many were killed. Brutally. Not even innocent children were allowed to live. Such cruelty…man..
And the girl whom I mentioned earlier? She and her sister did manage to escape. They spent years in refugee camps. Never gave up finding for their parents. They just kept on walking through refugee camps, trying to find their parents. Or just someone who looks like them. No, they did not, unfortunately. From then, they thought their parents had died. They were among the lucky bunch who went to America. Studied there. And all those times, they still continued to search for their parents. Even if there's just that little glimpse of possibility that they could have survived as well.
After 12 years of separation, they actually found out that their parents indeed are still alive in Rwanda.
Oprah Winfrey actually had this letter in hand. She invited the 2 sisters up on stage. And passed the letter to them, saying it's from their parents. And she went on saying, "You don't have to open it now." The sisters looked so frantic. Oprah went on saying "You really don’t have to read the letter now…Because…we have flew your whole family over to America!!!" There were so many screams and loud applause as their family came on stage and a reunited family hugs and cries in joy.
Can you imagine? After 12 years!!
It makes me think twice about the comfort we have. Such luxury we take for granted. The life we so easily give up. Here we are worrying about homework, exams and what fad we should go after next, and out in the world there are so many children younger than us and suffering. The worst yet to come. They live their lives in fear. They barely had a few years of life, and they’re worrying when it would be their turn to actually die. And when they would need to run and hide once more. Living in fear every single day, what they have gone through or are going through, is just far beyond what we kids are doing through.
There isn"t even a place for comparison!
think about life...
♥ loved at : 10:05:00 AM
