Die Walking

An unforgettable first-person account of surviving the Rwandan genocide and its aftermath

In 1994, Obadiah was the thirteen-year-old son of a Hutu pastor in Rwanda, dreaming of becoming a pilot, when he heard something was wrong in the capital. He didn’t understand the politics, but an uncle appeared, a family meeting was held, and then they were fleeing genocide with soldiers in pursuit. Everywhere was death, hunger, that smell. Stalked by terror, Obadiah kept moving through unrelenting danger and the darkest despair. He was sustained by faith and the philosophy of ubuntu — finding one’s self through connection with others. But not even escape led to safety, as Obadiah had to ultimately face the horrors of the American refugee detention system. In the spirit of Night by Elie Wiesel, Die Walking is one boy’s horrific story of shared humanity in a chaotic world.