Returning to Rwanda

From Our Own Correspondent

BBC

News, News Commentary

4.4 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 6 April 2024

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Kate Adie introduces stories from Rwanda, Estonia, St Helena and Puerto Rico.

This weekend marks the start of the genocide in Rwanda that led to the death of more than 800,000 people – most from the country’s Tutsi minority. Three decades on, Emma Ailes met those who, against the odds, survived the violence – but continue to live with the trauma to this day.

Among those who survived the genocide is the BBC’s Victoria Uwonkunda, who was just 12 years old at the time. She recently returned for the first time in three decades, where she retraced her journey to sanctuary, and spoke to genocide survivors - and perpetrators - about the difficult path towards reconciliation and forgiveness.

As a result of the conflict in Ukraine, NATO countries close to Russia, such as Norway, Latvia and Lithuania, are expanding their military conscription programmes. In Estonia - where military service is already mandatory – our correspondent Nick Beake met some of the country’s new recruits.

Coffee from Jamaica to Ethiopia to Guatemala is a common sight in high-street cafes, but a more rarified blend comes from the Atlantic Island of St Helena. It’s high-quality and short-supply means it fetches a high price – but as Mark Stratton discovered, that doesn’t mean locals are reaping the benefits.

It's hard to escape the Puerto Rican sound of reggaeton. Now a global phenomenon, it's created superstars in artists like Bad Bunny, Daddy Yankee and Vico C. Jane Chambers went to find out how this multi-faceted music reflects both the island’s culture – and politics.

Series Producer: Serena Tarling Production Coordinator: Katie Morrison Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts.
0:05.3	Hello. Today, 30 years on from the genocide in Rwanda,
0:10.2	we hear about one woman's escape from Kigali and stories of reconciliation.
0:16.0	In Estonia, military conscripts are preparing for the worst,
0:20.0	the feared expansion of Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine. We visit a coffee
0:26.0	plantation on the Atlantic Island of Centilina. Despite the eye-watering
0:30.9	cost of this cup of gold, islanders don't appear to be reaping the benefits.
0:37.0	And we're in Puerto Rico, where we dance to the beats of Regiton, whose influence pervades the island's culture and politics.
0:47.0	But first, Turuanda, which this weekend commemorates the genocide that saw more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus
0:57.3	slaughtered in a devastating episode in the country's history.
1:02.1	In the three months from April 1994 to June that same year,
1:07.0	Hutu leaders embarked on a systematic campaign to wipe out the minority Tutsi population.
1:14.0	Lists naming families to be targeted were distributed to Malicious who embarked on a spree of rape and murder. It took time for the gravity of the situation to be
1:26.3	recognized by the international community, which was subsequently criticized for being too slow to intervene.
1:35.8	Emma Ailes met a tutsi woman who survived the genocide and her daughter who revealed
1:42.1	how they still wrestle with the impact of what happened three decades ago.
1:48.6	As our car swings down the twisting tree-lined road, the silvery water of Lake Kivu slips shimmering into view.
1:55.0	P perched on the hillside, a yellow brick church keeps watch over the peaceful town of
2:00.0	Kabuia below. Its spire rises up against blue sky and cartoonishly puffy white clouds.
2:06.0	Last spot on the eastern edge of this land of a thousand hills.
2:10.0	Looking out at the postcard perfect view, it's hard to imagine what I know happened here.
2:15.0	On a spring day 30 years ago, as dead bodies piled up in the capital and national radio spewed hate,
	...

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