Written piece
Together We Are, Distant We Are Not
Daniel Hagenimana
Rwanda
About this piece
"Together We Are, Distant We Are Not" is about a Rwandan voice reclaiming its sound after silence. It reaches toward something universal: the need to be heard across distance. The Commonwealth makes that possible. This is Rwanda's thread — declaring its place.
Together We Are, Distant We Are Not
Born in the Land of a Thousand Hills—
Where mouths fell quiet,
Voices dimmed,
And heartbeats learned restraint—
I voice out.
I remember when we whispered instead of spoke,
When we hid instead of stood,
When courage bent beneath silence,
And unity gave way to fracture.
Then space was opened—
A widening beyond the hush,
Where confined voices found breath,
Where distance loosened its grip,
And turned into possibility.
Now—
A resurrected voice rises from these hills,
Gathering others,
Until it becomes a chorus—
Fearless, unbroken, reaching beyond borders.
An awakening carried by the Commonwealth of Nations:
One thread whose absence would leave the tapestry undone.
Bound together we are—
Distant we are not.