Return to Rwanda

If you are familiar with the tragic story of the Rwandan genocide – perhaps you have watched Hotel Rwanda – then I think you’ll find this story of interest. A woman – now in her early thirties – returns to Rwanda from the Congolese refugee camp in which she has lived for the past decade and a half for the first time. She doesn’t know what she will find when she gets there: family, friends, a place to stay? It’s an outstanding bit of journalism and a gripping story.

As a side note, here in Ghana one of the local stations carries the Al Jazeera English news network for a few hours each day. I’m familiar with the network – their video can be streamed online and years ago I made it a regular stop of mine on the Internet – but watching it on television has given me a new appreciation for its level of professionalism and the depth of its coverage of global events. The other international news option for me in Ghana is CNN-World. The contrast between the two networks makes CNN appear about as legitimate as a “morning zoo” radio show. It’s unfortunate that Al Jazeera has been stigmatized in the US, because it could provide Americans with excellent (and, frankly, much needed) insight into the rest of the world.