Embracing Survival

By Dyadine Umunyana 

Embracing Survival, a memoir by Dydine Umunyana, tells the story of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide against Tutsis at the hands of the Hutu perpetrators through the eyes of the four-year-old-child, that she was when the horror massacre occurred. Separated from her family, she barely survived the conflict. While the physical killing finally stopped, the mental and emotional torture continued, affecting her, her family and friends until acceptance led to the way forward.

She writes that, “I have learned that we cannot do for others what we cannot do for ourselves. By nourishing the light within ourselves, we find strength we never knew was there....I came to realize that one’s own life experiences are not theirs to keep but ours to share and learn from.”