Text by Patty Simon | Images by Dick Simon
Rwanda
Four minutes to the Congo. Armed, camouflaged guards at every block. A young pilot from US working for Doctors Without Borders was on our plane. He is in Democratic Republic of Congo where he said 10,000 foreign troops are stationed. JP lived there going to school for many years and said the country is in chaos and corruption.
We arrive to a dream of a place. Beautiful, very well run and perfect for Christmas!
Text by Patty Simon | Images by Dick Simon
Rwanda
“How can I ever Forgive? Really, it is absurd and anyone who says they can forgive is not being truthful to himself!” said by our guide and now friend, JP, after spending many days with him visiting the place he was shot, hid for almost 3 months, where his father was murdered, where they found his bones, the house the rest of his family died in, the church in town where 11,000 were killed with the blessing of the priest and the group grave where we paid our respects.
I just finished reading “Running the Rift” by Naomi Benaron – a novel that depicts this period of history. We had dinner with the director of the Kigali Genocide Memorial and Center and I was able to fact check what I was reading and found it was true down to every detail. I am now reading “We wish to inform you that Tomorrow we will be Killed with our Families” by Philip Gourevitch.
As I drive through the countryside or go to a market, I wonder “who did what?” I imagine myself driving at night and being pulled over by my neighbors and friends – the very people I knew all my life and suddenly feeling the machete. Death! Instant… Wiping out my ‘belonging’ to this very country I thought I was a part of. I became a “cockroach” – a hated creature to be slaughtered.
I view myself as someone who can relate to suffering and offer understanding and support. In this country I have met my match! I have asked a thousand whys??? I keep reading about the history, the reasons written, and just like the Holocaust, I cannot relate to the horrific, senseless, violent, overwhelming action of genocide… a systematic plan to kill a “group” of men, women, and children. I told JP it is just too BIG- unthinkable. A human being is not made to process that much death, that much trauma, that much loss, so quickly.
And, so, as optimistic as a I am, as much as I believe in my own Project – “You are Loved – Pass It On”, how can I look JP in his eyes and not agree with him. This kind of murder with intent and ignorance seems unforgivable.
Life does go on! JP says, “I cannot put this aside, I must carry the loss and sorrow always with me… If I see my father’s murderer in the street and he greets me, I simply tell him to go away. I am not your friend or forgiver. Stay away from me as I might hurt you. I do not want to be a killer like you. I have my future and my wife and children.”
All of this talk of the genocide is the unspoken underbelly of the country. President Kagame has outlawed the distinguishing of Hutu and Tutsi and people do not speak of 1994. That is why it was so wonderful to have the opportunity to learn from JP. Rwandans are moving on with “living” – building, educating, and developing. Kigali is clean and modern and bustling!
Text and Image by Dick Simon
2am Flying over Algeria, ten hours into our Ethiopian Airlines flight to Addis Ababa, connecting to Kigali, arriving about ten hours from now
In 2013 Patty and I will celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary and both turn 60, both of which seem inconceivable as I KNOW we met just a few years ago when we were in our 20s! In celebration and gratitude, we have planned an amazing year of experiences and connections, as well as deep purpose. In addition to travels (the upcoming 3 months include Rwanda, South Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Iran) we are both pursuing our passions for making a difference and creative expression. We will be looking at and documenting post-conflict societies in Rwanda ‘recovered’ from its’ horrific genocide, South Africa on the other side of Apartheid and Sri Lanka after its war with the Tamil Tigers. We will also be exploring spiritual practices around the world, looking at commonalities rather than emphasizing differences, as is so often the case. And we will be traveling to countries which have been isolated and marginalized by the international community to better understand, through eyeball-to-eyeball connections their narratives, and explore ways to engage. Patty is working on multiple art installations, journals and her You are Loved – Pass it On project with cards to spread love throughout the world in English and Hindi. I will be working through photography, videography and writing to share these stories and learnings. We are planning to keep this blog current, to tweet (@dicksimon) and post on Facebook (Like Dick Simon – Organization for those notes), and we welcome comments, ideas, suggestions, thoughts and reactions.
So far the flight has worked out well – I actually love long flights for the solitude and opportunity to catch up on a range of ‘to dos’ which always seem to accumulate as I prepare for a trip. That is, I love them until the total exhaustion comes into play! I’m feeling good that my thorough (obsessive?) preparation and packing is paying off. When my MacBook Pro computer battery runs out, I switch to Patty’s MacBook Air, which I brought in case mine breaks and also serves as a great backup on long flights! (Patty was adamant that her iPad mini was all she wanted to bring-so all the rest is mine to carry and use!) I sleep (laying on the floor-why couldn’t I upgrade!) for 3 ½ hours assisted by Ambien and melatonin and wake up ready to keep going.
The Ethiopian Airlines flight attendants are the most positive people I have ever come across in my flying. There seems to be a genuine almost ‘naive’ in the most positive sense, gratitude one rarely experience flying. They seem to really CARE and want to help – not in the perfectly trained AND executed manner of Thai, Emirates and other top carriers, but in a sincere way that they are really happy to be able to serve. I may be getting delusional and jet lagged, but it feels very real and is extraordinary!
The packing was a bit over the top for two people who have lived very happily out of a backpack for a year – now it includes multiple cameras, lenses, voice recorders, iPads, iPhones, iPods, (Apple is a major beneficiary!), Kindle, backup hard drives, chargers, cables (you get the picture), over 1,000 pills (from Omega 3 and vitamin supplements to Malaria meds!), backup healthy food supplies and clothes for multiple climates and purposes – 85 pounds is ridiculous and we may be doing some shedding pretty soon!
We are thrilled to be traveling in Rwanda and South Africa with Alex and Ben for 3 weeks, and in addition to the purposes about above, Alex will be adding many social enterprise visits and wisdom to the trip and Ben his infectious enthusiasm and entrepreneurial fascination and perspectives. We plan to have a fantastic time together visiting myriad villages, markets and sites, experiencing wildlife (mountain gorillas, chimpanzees and Kruger Park) and amazing scenery, and meeting great people, including YPOers wherever we go.
In starting this journey, I want to express gratitude to our friends and family for their love and unwavering support for our amazing but crazy lives; to so many people who have provided invaluable advice, introductions and inspiration; and to the people who work with me and make so much of this possible. And of course to Patty, my life partner and best friend who I am so grateful to be sharing this and all of our experiences together! I cannot imagine a greater life to live, and am filled with gratitude. THANK YOU!
Text by Patty Simon | Images by Dick Simon
Boston to Rwanda
First, I want to explain what you probably will be reading. This will not be a travelogue. What I like to write are essays about concepts, put-togethers, serendipitous moments which help me explain to myself why I’m the lucky one – why I get to travel all over the world. Why me?
It started a few days before the trip began. The tragic massacre of 27 innocent children and educators in Newtown, Connecticut at Shady Hill Elementary School took place. The news of all those senseless murders broke my heart. I couldn’t shake it. The suffering of the victims and families was almost too much to bear. How does one’s heart ever recover? I believe this incident was the beginning of trying to understand senseless murder. Newtown would connect me to Rwanda – home of it’s own horrific, useless genocide where over one million died within a three month period.
Laying in bed feeling lousy with a stomach bug put me in a sullen mood and gave me space to think about the suffering in Newtown. It was as if this place led me to where I was going – to a land where I would witness a country trying to move forward from inexplicable hate and violence and loss just like Newtown will eventually do. We are going to be met in Kigali by JP who was featured in the documentary “Earth Made of Glass”, after losing 7 siblings and parents in the genocide. He was almost killed and then hid in a septic tank for two and a half months. His journey in the film is searching for the painful truth of what happened to his father.
So, I got on the plane and sat quietly weeping for Newtown and Rwanda. You see, I seem to understand suffering of others and try to help those who are dealing with pain and loss. Unfortunately, in this life, one cannot have joy or love without the opposite.
Which leads me to another story about suffering.
Dick and I had the good fortune to witness the Dalai Lama at MIT in Boston.
Dick was suffering from a kidney stone so it was quite the undertaking getting him to the venue. By the time I had parked the car, all the seats were taken and there was a moment of panic when I thought there was no place for me. We finally get settled. As I stared at the lavishly decorated stage where the Dalai Lama would be in just a few moments, I was suddenly overtaken by a deep sadness. Tears rolled down my face. Dick asked me what was wrong. I had no explanation. As I set there in a puddle of emotion, I felt as if all the suffering I carried and all the suffering I witnessed in the world finally found a home. I sat there allowing it a space. I felt, just like on the plane to Rwanda, that this was my purpose. As proof, when the Dalai Lama spoke to all of us in English, I could not understand a word he said. It was like the Tower of Babel. It was as if my purpose with him had already happened.
Exposures 