Since my first marriage I have been mindful of the possibility of my having an addictive aspect to my personality. I have, since that time, had many other indications that have privately moved possibility to probability and I have become even more guarded in the development of new habits with that potential. As the years have passed, fewer and fewer vitally deteriorating pursuits have stimulated my interest and I have became lax – let my guard down – suspended my vigilance. I took up the pursuit of my family’s origins, my genealogy – my roots. After all, it was an interesting, restful, inexpensive way to spend some casual time.

At first, I was fairly prudent. It was a hobby, a spare time activity. A little bit here. A little bit there. I organized the easy stuff; the stuff I knew for sure, and what was easily accessible through inheritance or absent minded collecting. Pictures, letters, newspaper clippings, funeral notices, diplomas, and certificates of marriage—birth and death. These were carefully placed in file folders appropriately labeled. I made index cards to reference the folders similarly labeled. I jotted notes on items I vaguely remembered or wanted to inquire about—possible sources, possible leads—and filed them appropriately. Very tidy. continue

Could you forgive a person who murdered your family? This is the question faced by the subjects of As We Forgive, a documentary about Rosaria and Chantal—two Rwandan women coming face-to-face with the men who slaughtered their families during the 1994 genocide. The subjects of As We Forgive speak for a nation still wracked by the grief of a genocide that killed one in eight Rwandans in 1994. Overwhelmed by an enormous backlog of court cases, the government has returned over 50,000 thousand genocide perpetrators back to the very communities they helped to destroy. Without the hope of full justice, Rwanda has turned to a new solution: Reconciliation.

But can it be done? Can survivors truly forgive the killers who destroyed their families? Can the government expect this from its people? And can the church, which failed at moral leadership during the genocide, fit into the process of reconciliation today? In As We Forgive, director Laura Waters Hinson and narrator Mia Farrow explore these topics through the lives of four neighbors once caught in opposite tides of a genocidal bloodbath, and their extraordinary journey from death to life through forgiveness. watch trailer

Youme Landowne: I first heard of the Haitian children's radio station when I was living in California. I told my friends that I wanted to make a book that would help me share this story in the United States and around the world. They got together to help me raise the money to visit and interview the young activists of Radyo Timoun. There I met the children you have met in these pages--so many children working with each other and with adults to make a better life for everyone. I asked what message they have for the people of my country and they said, "tell them we are here, that we are no less than wealthy children, and that there should be a place for everyone at the table."

Selavi is based on the experiences of homeless children in Haiti. Selavi, Tifre, their friends and family are real people. Together with the help of many other people, they started a home for children, called Lafanmi Selavi, located in Port-au-prince, the Haitian capital. The name of the home can mean both the family is life and Selavi's family. Although the original shelter is no longer in use, another home was built farther away from the city center. The children also started a radio station called Radyo Timoun, which means children's radio. Radyo Timoun advocated for the rights of children with stories, songs and interviews. continue

zimbabwe
phillip harvey

“I, Robert Gabriel Mugabe, do swear that I will truly serve in the office of president, so help me God,”
--Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe

Operation Mavhoterapapi most likely went into effect before the last Zimbabwean vote had been counted. Morgan Tsvangirai had received 100,000 more votes than sitting President and international pariah Robert Mugabe and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Tsvangirai’s opposition party, had won a majority of Parliament seats from Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party. For the first time in the 28 years since he defeated the hated Ian Smith and ended ___ years of British colonial rule, Robert Mugabe could envision a time when he wouldn’t be in power. The “Old Man,” as Zimbabweans often call him in the quiet voice, wouldn’t be the “top dog,” the “big enchilada,” the “numero uno.” For the first time in the span of many adult lives, there loomed a day when Robert Mugabe would not be the President of Zimbabwe.

But, of course, the Old Man wasn’t having that, so Operation Mayhoterapapi, or “Who Did You Vote For” in its English translation, went into full effect. Tsvangirai won 48% of the vote to Mugabe’s 43%, the relative closeness of the election mandated that a Run-off contest be held to determine the ultimate victor. The first step in Operation Mayhoterapapi was to delay this run-off election. Election authorities took one month to give the Run-off its official declaration and, once doing so, scheduled it two months into the future. All said three months transpired between the two elections. Delay confirmed. continue