Readers Response: How Dare the Sun Rise

The true story, How Dare the Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child tells the story of Sandra Uwiringiyimana and her survival of the 2004 massacre at a refugee camp in Gatumba. When Sandra’s family was fleeing for their life, I was six years old with no exposure of violence or unnatural death. Even now, as a 21 year old, I still have not first handily experienced violence. Some reader’s do not need to bring much imagination into Sandra’s story due to their own exposure to violence and persecution. I however, have to rely on my imagination and empathy when reading Sandra’s story, as I seek to understand the events Sandra and her people went through. However, while the novel draws out sympathy and remorse for the violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the book also offers a reality check to United State’s citizens and the misperception of the “American Dream.” This reality check can also be applied to other westernized citizens, like myself, who has made assumptions towards the quality of life in African countries. I am a white, middle class, Canadian who has never felt alienated by the color of my skin or the culture I identify with. Due to my context, one of the assumptions I made, in which Sandra’s story challenged me on, was less does not mean less of a quality of life nor does less mean less happiness. I saw this truth unfold as the narrator recounts the close-knit community she grew up in where people were always gathering together. She reflects on the beautiful landscape of Congo, describing the mountains, lakes and mango trees (2017, pg. 23). Sandra’s story reveals to me that my lifelong belief that “I am so blessed to be born in North America” has been shaped by misconceptions of other places besides North America such as the Democratic Republic of Congo. Yes, I am blessed that I grew up in an environment where I did not have to flee for my life. However, my environment that is built around concrete and electronics, has robbed me of the beauty of nature and close community that naturally takes shape by living more simply.

            Furthermore, How Dare the Sun Rise brings awareness not only to the oppression in Congo but also in the United States. I have been educated on slavery in America and the Civil War but I always approached those unfortunate events as in the past. Certainly, we know better now. However, the narrator’s encounter with the store clerk in Banana Republic where the clerk followed her around until she was told “there is nothing for you here,” says otherwise (pg.153).  Sandra’s story enlightens readers, like myself, that there continues to be a war that persists in the United States. Not like the war in the Democratic Republican of Congo but one that is just as important and detrimental. Therefore, How Dare the Sun Rise, takes readers, like me, from westernized societies, out of our context and exposes us to significant events and different world views and then brings us back to our own context, revealing to us the numerous world views that surround us and our own culture.  

Source: Uwiringiyimana, S., & Pesta, A. (2017). How dare the sun rise: memoirs of a war child. New York, NY: Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers.