SYLVESTRE NSENGIMANA recently released a poetry collection which portrays the journey to self-healing and becoming a human being with humanity. Titled “The Journey”, the book consists of 39 poems that are divided into five parts that the author decided to call rooms: Room of existence, Room of Drama, Room of Love, Room of Life and Legacy and Room of Gospel. The reader decides on which room they wish to visit. According to Nsengimana, there is a spiritual part of one’s life (the soul) which needs to be protected and the process is what he calls healing. Tackling what inspired him to put together the book, he said it is what he saw and felt and the need to calm his soul down and keep his memories alive. “As a human being, I walked the journey of life. I had thorns and roses. I had tons of inner conversations; imaginations, memories, inspirations and disappointments. Above all, I learned from that experience,” he said. “To release the book, I hope to share what I learnt from my journey to the world. I hope to inspire someone out there to find their way out and to be strong by getting connected to their own souls.” Nsengimana also declared that he has an emotional attachment to the collection which holds both his English and Kinyarwanda poems because to him ‘The Journey’ is a medicine. “Most of the poems in this book are based on personal life experiences,” he said. “They are either about me or close people in our community. My soul was relieved after completing the book. There is power in sharing my story.” The author also noted that the book came after realisation of the impact and end results all the poems had on him and his close persons and discovered they formed his journey towards self-healing, finding his voice and more importantly, his soul. ‘The Journey’ addresses other different themes such as humanity, love, meditation, education, family, relationships, culture, injustice and technology and the author thinks society needs to pay extra attention to small details since he believes they are what makes life worth living. “It only takes one small wrongdoing for a heart to break and it takes forever to heal. Maybe if we stop to ignore the reality of our true identities and start the journey of understanding, we will welcome one another and create a better world. We need just to shut down the outer noise and start to hear our inner voices,” he said. He wants the book to contribute positively in today and tomorrow’s world, especially in his community and is looking forward to launching it. Nsengimana is also a performing artist and the Founder and Managing Director of Umut Arts, a performing art company based in Rwanda. One can get a copy of ‘The Journey’ via email sylvestrensengimana@gmail.com or by visiting Umut Arts office in Kigali. He can also be found on Instagram as @silvarwanda.
