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First Light: My Ongoing Battle With PTSD By Roméo Dallaire

675 Words3 Pages

The Rwandan Genocide occured on April, 1994. It began when the Rwandan president, Juvénal Habyarimana was murdered when his plane was shot down. This assassination is what started the brutal genocide in the Hutu population. Many Hutus thought that the Tutsis were responsible for the president death. It began with slaughtering moderate government officials and to those who did not show respect to people involved with the government. During the violence, Roméo Dallaire was confident and faced a challenging and nearly impossible situation. His force decreased from 2,500 soldiers to around a few hundreds. On the first day of the genocide, many nations removed their troops and backed away. The United Nations kept on refusing to send for back up. …show more content…

PTSD occurs when someone has experienced a terrifying event. Due to Dallaire’s suffering he was released from the military in 2000. He has spent years of guidance and support to those struggling with PTSD. He has written a book called ‘Waiting for First Light: My Ongoing Battle with PTSD’, in his book he has written about his experiences throughout the genocide, his post-traumatic stress and how it impacted his life. Dallaire was very brave and spoke about his own experience with mental health issues. As he spoke more about his own experiences he inspired many people to not bring shame to those who have mental health issues as well. He spoke with empathy and understanding on how there are challenges when it comes to treating mental illnesses which could affect everyone. While mental health can not be seen on the outside, he talks about how there should be more things done about mental health so that those who are quiet and in pain can not just get through life, but advance and succeed as well . “PTSD has a terminal side to it that calls for more urgency,”which is a quote from Dallaire himself. What he means is people don’t see mental health as important then they should, and that PTSD does have an end to it, so everyone should take it more …show more content…

It is an international partnership that is strongly committed to ending the recruitment and use of child soldiers around the whole world. Dallaire first noticed and experienced the problem of child soldier during his mission at the Rwandan genocide in 1994, during the genocide Dallaire felt as if he and his troops were not prepared to face them. Children around the world are being dragged into war, making a threat of child soldiers. The Child Soldiers Initiative are achieving to work with many global leaders, police, humanitarians and many other important aspects to create a long lasting effect for stopping the recruitment of child soldiers. “The abuse of youth as instruments of war is a reality that can't be resolved on the day you face them in the field,” is a quote from Romeo Dallaire, the meaning behind this quote is, as people use children as weapons on the battlefield, you would not be able to change anything or resolve what you have done, decisions are done and made up and the actions you have made and you would be to blame

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