In Partnership with VT Advisory Board
Banner Art detail: Sadiq Somjee, "Descent to the Valley"
Peace is Beauty at Dawn
Peace is drawn from Dawn when the land is quiet, and there is beauty in clean air, hope of a new day and the colourful sky. Prayers are offered facing the rising sun.
Dawn’s beauty is sacred for it’s the most beautiful time of the day even when beyond lies the ugliness of violence embodied by settlements of uprooted refugees.
In Swahili, 7 AM is called the 1st hour of the day and 6 pm is the 12th hour. The movement of the sun is rhythmic and predictable in equatorial East Africa. This celestial harmony sets the rhythm for all life. After the morning coolness and long shadows, the sun gradually brings warmth. At noon the sun is overhead and shadows hide under you, the day gets very hot until it begins to cool in the 9th hour of the day. Then they start to lengthen again until dusk and disappear with the sun. In the graphic novel, they show the time and direction of Alama’s walk.