“I thought that
it was silly and the last thing these women would probably need.” said Summerbell, who grew up in Tanzania, where she witnessed what she describes as Westerners’ attempts to institute ineffective foreign practices in African culture.
But when Summerbell, and then her students, decided to give the project a try – despite the students’ physical and emotional trauma and the fact that women’s participation in
physical activities of this nature is taboo in Rwanda – they found the results were both immediate and profound.
…
“After the third lesson, a shy woman came up to me, took my hands and said that she had slept for the first time in the 14 years since the genocide,” Summerbell said. “She wasn’t alone. Women will tell you that before yoga, they were crippled with aches and pains; they felt old. Now they crave yoga because when they feel physically stronger, they feel more confident and optimistic.”
