Survivor of Burundi Genocide Delivers Message of Joy for Life
“I am a runner. Running has symbolically and physically saved my life, over and over,” Burundian genocide survivor Gilbert Tuhobonye told the entire student body of St. Michael’s on November 2. A long distance runner who narrowly escaped death in 1993, by fleeing on foot from his high school building set afire during the Burundian civil war, Mr. Tuhobonye imparted a message of forgiveness and moving forward after the experience of tragedy. He told students that despite the excruciating loss of parts of his body to burns, he found solace in the example and wisdom of his grandmother’s devotion to Jesus, and he urged students above all to feel joy in their everyday lives in recognition of simple gifts, such as clean and readily accessible water.
“Running is like life; it takes you through turns up and down,” he told students during Flex Block in the theater. “I have witnessed great tragedy, heartbreak, and disappointment, but I have found joy. Every morning when you awake, do you feel that joy?” He led the students joyfully in song during the address, chanting the word “tikitu,” which he said loosely means “run with joy.”
Nevertheless, Mr. Tuhobonye described the ordeal of hearing his high school friends screaming and watching them die in the building set on fire by Hutu tribal rebels in the 1993 massacre of Tutsis, all the while feeling an intense loss of hope; most were actually killed by machete, but Mr. Tuhobonye managed to remain alive. When the roof collapsed, he miraculously escaped from the building, which was located in Songa in the Commune of Burundi, where he grew up. “That night, I knew that God was with me. A voice in my head told me I would survive so that I could share my story.”
Nevertheless, Mr. Tuhobonye described the ordeal of hearing his high school friends screaming and watching them die in the building set on fire by Hutu tribal rebels in the 1993 massacre of Tutsis, all the while feeling an intense loss of hope; most were actually killed by machete, but Mr. Tuhobonye managed to remain alive. When the roof collapsed, he miraculously escaped from the building, which was located in Songa in the Commune of Burundi, where he grew up. “That night, I knew that God was with me. A voice in my head told me I would survive so that I could share my story.”
Mr. Tuhobonye invited students to participate in the 5K mile Run For The Water race on Sunday, November 6, beginning at 7:00am. (For details and to register, visit www.runforthewater.com.) The race is being sponsored by the Gazelle Foundation, which he founded in 2006 as a non-profit organization that aims to improve life in Burundi, without regard to tribal affiliations. Proceeds from the race will go toward providing clean and accessible water. He described to students the difficulty of growing up in Burundi, noting that he had to travel two miles each day simply for water.
Mr. Tuhobonye attended Abilene Christian University and trained for the 1996 Olympics, in which he was privileged to carry the torch. Director of College Counseling Shannon Hudson is a longtime friend and running trainee of Mr. Tuhobonye who arranged for the address.
Mr. Tuhobonye is the author of This Voice in My Heart: A Genocide Survivor's Story of Escape, Faith, and Forgiveness about his ordeal; several students at the talk indicated that they had read the book.
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