Somber Weekend

I’ve been here over two months and had not yet been to the Red Cross museum.  So I went this weekend. 

The museum started with the origins of the Movement and then proceeded to demonstrate the role the Movement has taken on during World Wars in natural disasters and the continued fight to improve the lives of the most vulnerable.  I was awed by the actions of so many individuals who have cared so deeply for the fellowmen and done remarkable things.  For example, during WWII the Red Cross kept trying to get into the concentration camps to ensure that detainees were being treated humanely.  Finally, 10 delegates were permitted to enter the camps on the condition that they remain there until the end of the war.  I admire the ten men that agreed to that mission.

What I found most difficult to see was the effects of war on children.  There was video footage of little children with distraught looks on their faces caring for younger siblings.  And there was a room with pictures covering the walls from floor to ceiling of over 1,600 children who’d been found unaccompanied by an adult after the Rwanda genocide.  Some of the children weren’t even a year old.  The Red Cross had taken pictures of the children in order to reconnect them with family (and they were successful with most of the children.) 

As I left the museum, I wondered why humans still aren’t smart enough to resolve their differences through discussion rather than war.  Killing one another is so barbaric.

It would be impressive if more of us were intent on living lives of peace and self improvement like Ghandi (whose statue is across from the museum).

Sunday I went for a walk and strolled through the cemetery.  I was struck by how much it must cost to die here because everybody has such huge headstones.  But it made me sad to witness the grief of others through the care and concern they put into the resting place of a lost loved one.