Clemantine Wamariya Quotes
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My experiences have shown me that when an opportunity bigger than you comes along and you feel unprepared and doubtful, it is important to permit those emotions and let that energy drive you and inspire you to move forward.
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If you want to learn about the history of a people, eat their food and drink their beverages.
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Being able to connect with other humans is something I've done since I was little.
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My formal speaking career began before a group of 10 third-graders. We drew pictures of my home in Rwanda. I told them about my mother's huge garden and our mango tree. The lessons I taught were simple. Play nicely. Take care of plants. Take care of people.
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The idea of somebody suffering is really painful to every human. In our collective language, we all too often see those who are suffering as a victim to be pitied, to be feared, and even sometimes to be despised. I want to redirect that narrative.
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I'm open to everything. Take me anywhere, show me everything.
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Safety should be a birthright.
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All that I have achieved has been possible not only because of my own strength and perseverance, gained through hardship, but also through other people's support and belief in me.
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No matter what is happening in your life, you always offer tea.
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After my final semester at Yale in December of 2013, I made a scary choice. Instead of looking for work - feeling over-read and underweight - that for a few months I would go wherever the wind carried me. I would become a student of the world, and I would eat.
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I'm not a victim - I'm a survivor of hunger, of hate, of different injustices that humans are facing today.
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In 2006, after 12 years being separated away from my family and then seven years knowing that they were dead and them thinking that we were dead, we reunited... in the most dramatic, American way possible. Live, on television.
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The benefits of Umuganda are not merely economic. The day is intended to build community involvement and strengthen cohesion between persons of different background and levels. One such a benefit is that people can access authorities to articulate their needs and voice opinions on various issues.
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'Night' may be one of the most important books that people can read today. It is a story of how hate can slowly take over a society. It shows what happens when people are dehumanized.
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Labels and classifications of any type are not law, nor are they written in stone. It's up to us to be aware of this and confront it and break through it by doing things that shock and surprise people because they thought we could never achieve at that level.
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As a child growing up in refugee camps, life taught me that many things were impossible. My older sister, Claire, taught me otherwise when her strength and resilience made the impossible possible in the way she worked, behaved, and took control of our lives.
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My Chicago is beautiful and diverse. It was able to give me all parts of the world all in one.
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One of my fondest memories growing up in Rwanda was seeing everyone participating in community-building activities. This happened every Saturday at the end of month. People work together in cleaning streets, planting trees, and take care of each other by facilitating productive conversations and actions that are beneficial for the society.
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It has taken me so many years to finally be in my bed and fall asleep for six hours.
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From age six to 12, I lived in seven different countries, moving from one refugee camp to another, hoping we would be wanted.
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Every single person on the planet has equal humanity.
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There are millions of people, refugees, who have experienced the same conflicts and struggles I did. They have the same potential to defy the odds and achieve great things.