This Voice in My Heart: A Runner's Memoir of Genocide, Faith, and Forgiveness

"So many of my teammates and my schoolmates were now dead or had turned against me.", March 27, 2015

This review is from: The Running Man (Hardcover)
A compelling autobiography of the Burundian runner, where the narrative follows two strands: the main chapters follow his childhood, family, religion and education - but preceding each are a few pages taking us further into an account of That Day in 1993, when the Hutus rose up with machetes and turned on the Tutsis (to which tribe the author belongs).
Aged around 18 and away at boarding school, the author wakes on the day thinking of school exams and his hopes for an athletics scholarship to USA. But it soon becomes evident things are not as they should be, and unspeakable horrors lie show more ahead...
Extremely well written and tense-making, but inspirational too. I was well aware of Rwanda's genocide but not of Burundi's tragic history. show less

It was disturbing to read about the atrocities this boy had to endure. It was unsettling that it was at the hands of the very people who were supposed to protect him. The equivalent would be if you were being terrorized and threatened by people who had broken into your home, only to find that when the police showed up, they joined in with the housebreakers! I cannot imagine such a level of hate. I can't imagine any conditions under which I could enjoy watching people--even people I hated--die in such an agonizing way. Such inhumanity is incomprehensible. It was, ultimately, an uplifting testament to the endurance of the human spirit, and to a remarkable person.

"The Running Man" is Gilbert Tuhabonye's powerful and moving story of how he survived the genocide of Burundi and returned to his athletic career. Tuhabonye always loved running and excelled in the sport until he was very severely injured in a Hutu attack on his schoolmates. The sole survivor of this dreadful atrocity, sustained by his Christian faith, he gradually rebuilt his life. Through sheer determination he returned to the running track. In time he obtained a scholarship to the USA where he now runs an athletics coaching programme. Happily married with two daughters, the book reflects the lows and highs of a man who can now not return to his native country, but offers a story of which the prominent note is that of hope and show more blessing. A challenging, powerful read. show less

Burundi.

A well-told account of Gilbert Tuhabonye's childhood and adolescence in Burundi. He is a competitive runner and an ethnic Tutsi who was the only survivor of a brutal Hutu massacre at his school. The majority of the memoir recounts his family and village life. I would have liked to hear more about his religious life, how he made sense of his experiences, and the cross-cultural aspects of his transition to the United States. There was some dropped content, especially about relationships, and the last section of the book was rushed and flat. Otherwise, a solid and evocative narrative.