How Dare the Sun Rise by Sandra Uwiringiyimana
How Dare the Sun Rise by Sandra Uwiringiyimana
How Dare the Sun Rise is the inspiring, heartbreaking, and true story of Sandra Uwiringiyimana’s escape from Rwandan genocide when she was just ten years old in 2004. The book opens with a terrifying scene from a United Nations refugee camp in Burundi where Sandra and some of her family were living in tents. Armed gunmen entered the camp and started killing refugees: shooting, stabbing, and burning them. Sandra barely escaped, and was certain that she’d seen her mother and sister murdered in front of her. 166 people died in that attack. The story then backtracks to Sandra’s childhood in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where she was born, and follows through the political turmoil that led her family to the camp. Not long after the attack, Sandra and her surviving family immigrated to America. We see Sandra’s surprise at the poverty and danger in Rochester, New York, where at times she wondered if she had been safer and happier back in Africa. Sandra took photos of fellow refugees in America, and used that as a chance to tell her story. Not long after, she was invited to speak at a woman’s conference in New York alongside celebrities like Angelina Jolie and former secretary of state Madeline Albright. She meets Oprah and the Obamas, and is mentioned in major newspaper's fashion sections. But despite her brushes with celebrity and the broader reach of her story, she still suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and debilitating flashbacks from the massacre.
How Dare the Sun Rise is the inspiring, heartbreaking, and true story of Sandra Uwiringiyimana’s escape from Rwandan genocide when she was just ten years old in 2004. The book opens with a terrifying scene from a United Nations refugee camp in Burundi where Sandra and some of her family were living in tents. Armed gunmen entered the camp and started killing refugees: shooting, stabbing, and burning them. Sandra barely escaped, and was certain that she’d seen her mother and sister murdered in front of her. 166 people died in that attack. The story then backtracks to Sandra’s childhood in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where she was born, and follows through the political turmoil that led her family to the camp. Not long after the attack, Sandra and her surviving family immigrated to America. We see Sandra’s surprise at the poverty and danger in Rochester, New York, where at times she wondered if she had been safer and happier back in Africa. Sandra took photos of fellow refugees in America, and used that as a chance to tell her story. Not long after, she was invited to speak at a woman’s conference in New York alongside celebrities like Angelina Jolie and former secretary of state Madeline Albright. She meets Oprah and the Obamas, and is mentioned in major newspaper's fashion sections. But despite her brushes with celebrity and the broader reach of her story, she still suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and debilitating flashbacks from the massacre.
Sandra’s story is gripping for a number of reasons. She draws you into the terror of the attacks in the refugee camp with her firsthand account, and later her demands for justice for the people responsible -- one of whom, rather than being prosecuted, ran for president in his African country. Sandra’s story is also testament to the broken dreams of refugees, as we see both in her firsthand accounts of being bullied and ostracized at school and the tales of well-intentioned people in America offering her family clothing and food that illustrate the vast disconnect of cultural understanding.
This is an important book to read for many reasons, perhaps most importantly because we’re in a time when American leaders are seeking to build walls and keep refugees out. This is a story of what can be gained by upholding the vision of an inclusive America. These are topics that aren’t typically covered in young adult literature, and as such I recommend you put this on the top of your stack of books to read next.
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