Some people tried to hurt us to protect themselves, their family and communities...This was one of the consequences of civil war. People stopped trusting each other, and every stranger became an enemy. Even people who knew you became extremely careful about how they related or spoke to you.

My teeth became sour as I listened to his story. It was then that I understood why he was quiet all the time.

I am always quiet so that I know what to say when I must speak.

...children have the resilience to outlive their sufferings, if given a chance.

I get a chance to observe the moon now, I still see those same images I saw when I was six, and it pleases me to know that that part of my childhood is still embedded in me.

I was still hesitant to let myself let go, because I still believed in the fragility of happiness.

We must live in the radiance of tomorrow, as our ancestors have suggested in their tales. For what is yet to come tomorrow has possibilities, and we must think of it, the simplest glimpse of that possibility of goodness. That will be our strength. That has always been our strength.