Quotes from Clemantine Wamariya

In 2006, after 12 years being separated away from my family and then seven years knowing that they were dead and them thinking that we were dead, we reunited... in the most dramatic, American way possible. Live, on television.

All that I have achieved has been possible not only because of my own strength and perseverance, gained through hardship, but also through other people's support and belief in me.

Safety should be a birthright.

Forgiveness allowed me to wash my burdened past away.

People say you can't change the world. But you can change people.

Labels and classifications of any type are not law, nor are they written in stone. It's up to us to be aware of this and confront it and break through it by doing things that shock and surprise people because they thought we could never achieve at that level.

I'm still coping with my trauma, but coping by trying to find different ways to heal it rather than hide it.

We cannot afford to lose any more people as a result of hatred.

Everything I own in my closet has a story. Stuff is not just stuff - things were given to me with love.

I was six years old when the conflict started in Rwanda.

When you're in survival mode, you numb yourself.

Sharing presumes and creates equality.

It's taken a lot of years for me to learn how to share my story.

I want to tap into everyone's senses, to touch on our human sensibility.

No matter what is happening in your life, you always offer tea.

Growing up, many of us are taught to place limits on what we can accomplish while on earth. We tend to think of things in binary form: either as possible or, more frequently, impossible.

Set goals but be flexible.

I am thankful to those who've listened to my story over and over as well as those who've helped me share it. For me, the act of storytelling is an act of healing.

If you want to learn about the history of a people, eat their food and drink their beverages.

Words will never be enough to quantify and qualify the many magnitudes of human-caused destruction.

I want people to know that they are the masters, the queens, kings, and gods of their own story.

Never allow other people to classify you based on your past and current circumstances, where you were born, your experiences, your gender, or your race.

My Chicago is beautiful and diverse. It was able to give me all parts of the world all in one.

I enjoyed playing everywhere, especially my mother's garden and my neighbor's. I loved my kindergarten. We sang songs; we played everywhere and ate lunch. I had a childhood that I would wish for anyone.