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NEWS > U.S.A. > TEEN SURVIVOR OF GENOCIDE DREADS GRADUATION
TEEN SURVIVOR OF GENOCIDE DREADS GRADUATION
June 10 2009
Seattle, WA – Graduation from High School is often seen as one of the most important events in a young person’s life. For many it is the first real step into the adult world with the future ahead of them and youth left behind. It can also be a stressful time with the sudden pressure to start to live life on one’s own, an 
experience which can be engaging for some and crippling for others. Regardless of success or failure afterwards, there are few events in life that combine such nervousness and anticipation than does graduation.
It is that experience that 18-year old Candide Uwizeyimana is currently experiencing as she prepares for her graduation. Uwizeyimana is not a typical Seattle high school graduate though, she is a survivor of the Rwandan genocide. Her move to suburban Seattle two years ago was certainly a shock for the teenager but, after
learning to speak English and adjusting to the culture shock, she adapted and now stands a world away ready to graduate. Her nerves though are like any graduate and like anyone in her position, the teenager longs for the days of her youth with the risk of death lurking at every corner.
‘'If you just survived this then nothing else will get you on your route. At night he told me that I might suffer and I would suffer, but in the end I would be stronger and everything would be OK,” said Candide of a near drowning she endured as child. “Now though I have to worry about whether or not I can afford a new dress. I have to worry about whether or not I will go to college next year or just keep working at Safeway. I’m sure the genocide was awful, but that was my childhood and everyone wants to be a child again once in awhile.”
Uwizeyimana was sponsored to the United States by her adoptive family in Cameroon. Her biological family disappeared while en route from her home in Rwanda to a refugee camp in South Congo. 
“When our family dog started bringing home human body parts, my parents decided it was time to leave the village where we had always lived. We made it to Congo where we were given supplies by aid workers and we were safe,” continued Uwizeyimana. “I could hear these innocent people crying and screaming until they died. I don't think I can describe how terrifying it was. I will never ever forget the sound of someone who is dying.”
Still, Uwizeyimana longs for those youthful days, as stressful as they were, realizing that if she wasn’t taken care of she would simply die. That hopelessness has been something much more difficult to accept after living for two years in the United States.
“Everyone looks back on the past with a fondness that it generally doesn’t deserve. That kind of rose coloured glass attitude is common to everyone no matter your personal situation or history. Even in bad times there’s always something to look back upon fondly and quite often those feelings arise just as your current life seems most stressful. For most it’s a kind of escape,” said Scrape TV Psychology analyst Dr. Sarah Welp. “One might not think that a person could look back fondly on genocide but it is not the events that matter, it is the youth. Days always seem longer in the past, hope ever present. That just doesn’t happen in the adult world.”
At least 500,000 people were killed in the Rwandan Genocide but estimate range up to 1,000,000. Seattle has never endured similar events.
“I’m sure that guilt is tied into those feelings as well. Guilt over surviving and guilt over questioning the life she has now, but that is perfectly natural especially in this economy,” continued Welp. “I was nervous during my graduation too and do remember longing for my youth. My history was different of course but the core feelings are the same and graduation can be like a hell on Earth.”
It is believed that Uwizeyimana’s biological family perished during the genocide and so will not be present at the graduation.
Mike Michaels, American Correspondent
NEWS > U.S.A. > TEEN SURVIVOR OF GENOCIDE DREADS GRADUATION
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