Chapter Four: Plea for the Truth

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” ~Matthew 7:7-8

Land of a Thousand Hills Chapter Four:  Plea for the Truth

Mama Rhodesia and Papa Jo,

         These last few years living without you have been nothing less than agonizing. When they came and took you away, my heart cried. I do not understand what they are saying about you or how it can be true.

         My parents are not monsters, I tell them. They loved me and they loved Jehovah. They welcomed in the Tutsis to protect the people, not to slaughter them. But still, the kids at my orphanage all make fun of me and they blame me for the deaths of their loved ones. I tried to explain that I too have lost my mother and father, then they just start calling you the Butchers of Kigali and Angels of Destruction and I can’t help but cry.

         The orphanage hasn’t really been a home for me and I miss you dearly. I miss lying in the grass with Papa Jo, looking up at the sky and forming biblical figures in the clouds. I miss knitting with Mama Rhodesia and seeing the looks on people’s faces as we presented them with the finished product. In short, I miss being a family and I wish we were reunited once again.

         As bad as the orphanage has been, I have finally made a friend. Her name is Susan and we sometimes lay awake at night talking about our families and what we plan to do once we are old enough to leave the orphanage. She tells me that she will go onto to college to be a grammar school teacher. She loves folktales and is always retelling them to me, so I think she will be a great teacher. I tell her that I don’t care what I do after I get out of this place so long as I am reunited with my parents.

         She tells me stories saying that you killed her family and even chopped off her arm. Her stories are so detailed and graphic that I have terrible nightmares of what she says happened. But how can what I know about you being kind, loving, and honest parents be true and her own story also be true? The duality of my two truths is polarizing and it is ripping my heart in two. She tells me her story and I see her amputated arm and it makes me cry. Then I remember how much fun our short time together was and that too makes me cry.

         Please, Mama Rhodesia and Papa Jo, say we will be reunited once again. That one day you will be cleared of all charges against you and we will be a family again. Please tell me that my friend Susan is mistaken. Tell me that you tried to protect her and some random mistake must have happened. Please just tell me the truth. I love you always and forever.

         Wanda