Heroes.

On the drive home today I started to think about heroes. Who were my personal heroes? The first thing that popped into my head was meeting people in Uganda and Rwanda who had suffered so much yet still found so much joy and happiness in life and still had more hope and love in their hearts than most people I had come across. I met a few very special people who had lost everything in the genocide. They witnessed the massacre of almost all their friends and family, yet they were so open and full of life. It blew me away. Sometimes, we assume that the happy people we come across are individuals who have had it easy and are naive. However, I have found that the happiest people are really those with utmost strength courage. To become angry at the world and to lose hope is the easy way out. To find the silver lining, to keep pushing and finding beauty when things seem bleak and grey takes true courage and wisdom . Those people I met during my semster abroad studying post-conflict transformation, who displayed joy, hope and love despite their incredible tests and trials will forever be a source of inspiration to me. They are my heroes.

 (Group of us students w/ an amazing and incredibly inspiring man)

 (At a refugee camp in southern Uganda)

(W/ an incredible group of Tutsi & Hutu women working together and displaying hope and unity despite the obstacles. Half the women had husbands who were imprisoned for crimes they committed during the genocide and the other half were widowed after their husbands lost their lives in the genocide.)

(Beautiful beautiful Rwanda)