I’ve written breaking news, features and analysis from Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo; I also review books on the region. Here are my greatest hits.
Reconciliation in Rwanda
No Small Mercy, the story of a Rwandan genocide survivor, the man who could have killed her, and the friendship that has grown between them. The Walrus, (Canada) May 2009.
Forgive and Forget? Rwanda’s reconciliation dilemma–and what science says about how forgiveness helps us heal. Search Magazine, March/April 2009.
Trauma, Forgiveness, and Memory: A three-part series to mark the 15th anniversary of the genocide. GlobalPost, April 2009.
Rwandans: a reeducation in how to live together (this has much more to do with gacaca than the title indicates) Christian Science Monitor, April 2009.
Breaking or deadline news
These stories were the first to in-depth analyses of the bizarre and controversial presidential elections in Burundi, reported and written in the lead-up to the vote.
What’s the frequency, Nkurunziza? Foreign Policy Magazine (FP.com) (2010)
With Burundi’s presidential politics in meltdown, a progressive media pact begins to crumble — and one radio station’s questionable broadcasts make some people nervous.
Burundi election lacks critical ingredient: candidates Christian Science Monitor(2010)
Burundi’s pivotal presidential vote becomes a one-man race after the opposition quits. So is Burundi a democracy or not?
These stories were written just after Rwandan troops surprised the world by crossing over into DR Congo in January 2009, the biggest “hard news” to happen in the region for several years.
Rwanda-Congo move isolates UN Christian Science Monitor 24 January 2009
Do Rwanda’s 3,500 troops in Congo make the 17,000 UN peacekeepers there seem superfluous?
Hutu rebels drop guns, return to Rwanda Christian Science Monitor 20 February 2009
“Now, the base has disappeared…. People are fighting as they are moving. We have the guns, and the women have the bags.”
Congo Rebel Leader Seize in Rwanda GlobalPost 23 January 2009
In an unexpected shift of alliances, Rwanda arrests the warlord observers accused it of aiding.
Congo’s risky push to crush rebels Christian Science Monitor 26 January 2009 (with Scott Baldauf)
What’s really behind the erstwhile enemies’ new cooperation?
Analysis and features
In Rwanda, women run the show Christian Science Monitor (2010)
Rwanda has the only female-majority parliament in the world. But do women really rule differently than men?
Congo’s war leaves legacy of sexual violence Christian Science Monitor (2010)
New quantitative and qualitative epidemiology reveals the lasting effect of sexual violence in Congo — and a troubling change in the characteristics its perpetrators.
From noses to hips, Rwandans redefine beauty Christian Science Monitor (2008)
What makes for beauty is a tough question in a country where physical characteristics are behind ugly history.
Poverty tours travel a fine line Christian Science Monitor (2009)
Does peeking at how the other five-sixths lives preserve culture – or commodify it? A look at “tourism vs. poorism” from the Millennium Village in Rwanda.
Through the river and over the falls Christian Science Monitor (2008)
Ugandans willing to brave the risk can make good money swimming the Nile’s waterfalls, but their way of life is threatened by the coming Bujagali dam.
In Congo, a new twist on ‘blood diamonds’ Christian Science Monitor (2008)
Warring militias are stealing cows to perpetuate a conflict sparked by spillover from the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
Voices of Rwanda: Healing the wounds of genocide Christian Science Monitor (2008)
An oral history project tries to help a country move forward.
Wood, Wheels, Workhorse: The chikudu story Christian Science Monitor (2008)
In eastern Congo, homemade bikes move (between) mountains.
Through the River and Over the Falls Christian Science Monitor (2008)
An unusual profession is threatened by the Bujagali dam, Uganda’s newest hydropower project.
Criticism
The Teeth May Smile but the Heart Will Not Forget Christian Science Monitor (2009)
One Ugandan man’s quest for truth and justice about the crimes of Idi Amin.
The Antelope’s Strategy Christian Science Monitor (2009)
Jean Hatzfeld gets closer to Rwandans, and stays longer to listen, than any other journalist has. What he reveals is a country of unspoken loss.
All Things Must Fight to Live Christian Science Monitor (2008)
In Congo brutality seems to be everywhere: history, war, politics… in the landscape and the poverty and the desperate chug of locals’ day-to-day lives. It’s difficult to know whether this vision is about the country itself, or the way foreigners have chosen, since Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness,” to imagine it. In his first book, Bryan Mealer sets himself the impossible task of giving us a different choice.
