Books Beyond Despair: The Rwanda Genocide against the Tutsi through the Eyes of Children (Thinking from Elsewhere) by Hélène Dumas

Beyond Despair: The Rwanda Genocide against the Tutsi through the Eyes of Children by Hélène Dumas is a poignant and deeply moving work that presents the genocide from the perspective of children who survived it. The book is based on fragile school notebooks written in 2006 by children aged 8 to 12 during the genocide, collected by the survivors’ association Avega-Agahozo. These notebooks provide firsthand accounts of their experiences before, during, and after the genocide.

Dumas organizes the book into three sections corresponding to these phases: "life before," "life during," and "life after" the genocide. She faithfully transcribes the vivid, raw testimonies of the children, combining their narratives with contextual and thematic analysis that enhances the emotional and historical depth of the testimonies.

The book reveals the harsh realities faced by the children, capturing their loss, fear, resilience, and the process of healing. It also provides an important historical testimony that goes beyond abstract postulates about the genocide by highlighting the individual human experiences lost to violence.