BEEP BEEP BEEP! Eyes half open, I flimsily reach over to turn off my alarm as it flashes 5:30am. 5:30 wakeup calls are not the norm for me, especially not on a Saturday. But now is the beginning of a new routine.
I can hear the chanting that has already begun outside, as I slide out of my bed and into my gym clothes and shoes. The chanting gets louder as I walk to the beloved mango tree, the spot in which Anne Heyman officially signed for the Agahozo Shalom land where the Village is located. I wipe away my exhaustion and join the chanting children as they finish gathering and stretching out their muscles.
Muchaka Muchaka is the name of this longstanding tradition in which the entire ASYV students and staff comes together for a unity run. We are One, and this run is our weekly reminder of that.
We head on our way – fast runners holding hands with slower ones, words of encouragement passed between individuals, and of course, chanting the entire two miles.
As we finish the run, the early morning haze circles the group and I am reminded of the scene from ‘Remember the Titans’ when Denzel Washington brings his football team to the Gettysburg Cemetery – and I consider the similarities between the two scenes and the symbolism behind them.
The run is officially over as we head to breakfast with an accomplished feeling in our bodies and communal pride in our hearts.
