It was the year that the first interracial elections were conducted in post-apartheid South Africa.  Bishop Desmond Tutu's voice was heard around the world and Nelson Mandella -  a once convicted "terrorist" -  was elected President.  

1994 was the year that the transit tunnel - "The Chunnel" - connecting France and England beneath the English Channel opened.

1994 was the year that Brazil won the world cup of football (soccer).

1994 was the year that peace accords were signed by Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians. William Jefferson Clinton was President of the United States at that time - and he took much of the credit for that development.

1994 was the year that, following an invasion by US forces, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was welcomed back as the democratically elected leader of Haiti while the brutal former dictator of that island nation, "Baby Doc" Duvallier was welcomed by France to sanctuary in exile, in the
sunny Riviera. His removal was "facilitated" by a joint force of French and US troops who invaded the tiny nation to help "stabilize" the region.

1994 was the year that the western world rose up in outrage over the atrocities committed by the factions in Bosnia, Herzgovina and Macedonia. Images were broadcast and published around the world showing white, European people starving to death behind high, fences -and the word holocaust was whispered quietly in the halls of power.

In 1994 terrorism, which has only recently become a serious concern for most Americans, was continuing to ebb and flow across the globe. The factions in Ireland agreed that year to try yet another cease fire but the Russian army attacked the secessionist rebels in Republic of Chechnya with huge loss of life on both sides and, as yet, no resolution.

In 1994, Boutros Boutros Ghali was in the middle of his 5 year term as Secretary General of The Untied Nations, a job he won with the strong support of his friends in the French government after serving in the government of Egypt (a Francophone nation) for more than 14 years.

That tidbit might seem insignificant - unless you know that during his tenure as Egypt's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs from October 1977 until 1991, he was responsible for a major arms deal with the tiny central African nation of Rwanda.  (A deal which he orchestrated despite specific
prohibitions by Egypt's President, Hosni Mubarak)

In fact the tiny central African nation of Rwanda might seem insignificant, unless you know that Rwanda was the scene of one of the most effective, horrific, and rapid genocides in world history... in 1994.

In 1994,  I was running a small dairy farm in the hills of northeastern Pennsylvania.  Despite all the news reports about the booming US economy, times were tough. We were living like hamsters on an exercise wheel... we were staying out of the red - but we could not get into the black.

In 1994 our family made a difficult choice.  On a farm which has been in the same family continuously since 1803, we got out of the farming business.  I had a lot on my mind that year - so perhaps that why I missed the news from Rwanda.

My earliest awareness that something dreadful was happening was when I saw televised news footage of endless lines of refugees - walking, walking walking their way out of Rwanda - bound for the refugee camp in Goma, Zaire.

I felt so bad for these poor tortured souls - some of whom had collapsed and died in the ditches along roads - some of whom had contracted cholera due to the lack of clean water - babies - children - teens - young and old - walking, starving and dying. What I did not know then, was that these long, seemingly endless lines of people were comprised of, for the most part, the
killers.  The "genocidaire" who were responsible for hacking to death more than 800,0 00 people and were now on the run from the rebel forces who were systematically taking control of the nation

The media portrayed the situation as a humanitarian catastrophe brought on by an endless civil war.  Those reports were wrong.  In my ignorance,  I wished that somebody would do something to help these poor people - then, like most of the world,  I went about my business.

It was not until late in the year 2000 - long before the terrorist attacks on the United States - when I read a news report that Canadian General, Romeo Dallaire had been found in a public park, by police officers, in a near comatose condition that the result of overdosing on alcohol and
antidepressant drugs.  Drugs which he was taking to help him recover from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from which he was suffering due to the events he witnessed as leader of the UN Peacekeeping force in Rwanda during the genocide.

This small article about a Canadian General's suicide attempt, was what drove me to find out more about what had happened in Rwanda... in 1994.

In my heart I carry a heavy weight now.  It is the weight of guilt - guilt which I feel because I remained ignorant of one of the most horrific crimes against humanity that has ever been perpetrated.  GENOCIDE.

Genocide is defined as: "The systematic and planned extermination of an entire national, racial, political, or ethnic group."

Genocide, a crime about which the world once joined together and pledged, "Never again." ... had happened again ... in full view of those with the power to stop it.  I guess the thing that I agonize over the most is the fact that a full three months before the genocide exploded into reality, General Dallaire and his men had uncovered proof of the plans.  They knew the dates, planned events, the names of the leaders (including the wife of then dictator President Juvenal Habyarimana) and they knew the locations of the arms caches and training centers.  All of this information was related
to the UN.

However, the UN Security Council refused to permit the Dallaire to take action.  They refused to let him interfere.  They forced him to keep his troops in Rwanda throughout the genocide and refused to even provide basic supplies and equipment and most significantly - with no reinforcements. They condemned nearly a million people to death - essentially because they were
black, poor and African.

At the end of his second term as President of the United States of America, President Clinton traveled to Rwanda and apologized for "sins of omission" on behalf  of the American people.

I would submit that the greatest sin of omission we could ever commit would be to allow this horrific event to fade from our awareness.  Hence the works contained on this web site.

I bid you read, listen and learn - in peace.