PEACE

peace is a feeling which I really thrive off of. I need it when I am feeling down and when i feel unsettled. I cannot see how many Africans throughout history could have felt same sense of peace with all the madness which surrounded them. "The African knows no peace." -Lord Frederick Lugard, a British imperial officer, subjugator and ruler from Uganda to Nigeria, wrote at the turn of the twentieth century. "One day you may see peace and plenty, well-tilled fields, and children playing in the sun; on the next you may find the corpses of the men, the bodies of the children half burnt in the flames which consumed the village, while the women are captives of the victorious raiders..." (pg. 96 In the Land of Magic Soldiers). I can never finish these books nor can I fully comprehend them because there are so many horrible things that happened and are even still happening during civil wars or genocides and it makes me want to throw up and i cannot continue to read. How can a country be filled with so much division and hatred that it leads its people to do horrible things to one another. I will never understand that. ever. Thank goodness I will be going to Ghana (hopefully) where there is stability and less history of violence and corruption. It is so hard to imagine living in such constant fear...makes me grateful for the life I have been fortunate enough to lead so far. My trials are nothing compared to those many others face and I am so grateful for the peace I have been able to find in my life.