Rwanda's Gacaca Reconciliation Courts

Here is a WSJ article on the wrapping up of Rwanda's government-sponsored reconciliation courts that were set up to process many of the accused perpetrators of the 1994 genocide.  (See the NYer reconciliation article linked to in the right margin)  This Journal article does a good job of briefly describing the progress the courts have brought about but also the significant human rights concerns they raise.

Funding of the Congolese Rebels in Eastern DRC.

Here is a NYT article describing a new significant internal UN report on how the Congolese rebels have been financially supported and allowed to operate in Eastern Congo.  The conflict in this region has resulted in over 4 million deaths as factions within the country, other nations in the region, and international economic and diplomatic interests worldwide have been involved in the ethnic clashes, highly profitable mining of several essential minerals, and failed and flawed peacekeeping efforts.

Trip to Kinshasa, DRC

Shortly after arriving in Brazzaville, I went with the rest of our team across the river to Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, for a couple of days of meetings and work with HOPE's operation that has been serving DRC since 2004.  It was a great opportunity for us to understand their team's best practices and lessons learned.  However, I didn't get to explore much of the city, and its technically illegal to take photographs in public in DRC without permission, so the pictures are limited and often a little crooked as I tried to take them stealthily.

Click here for the full album.

Quick Stopover in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

On my way from Kigali to Brazzaville, I had a brief stop over in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.  The shuttle dropped me off at the hotel around midnight and picked me up at 6 the next morning, so I didn't have time for much beyond taking some pictures out of my hotel window.

See how many satellite dishes you can spot in the picture below.  Pretty incredible for corrugated aluminum shacks.

Click here to see the full album.