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Rwanda Genocide: Carl Wilkens-The American that Stayed Behind — Transcript

by Joshua Hanna · 10,915 words · 1,490 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:01[Music]
0:16[Music]
0:25[Music]
0:28than
0:35morning I'm going to I I am for the last
0:40sheh 2008 years yeah for the last eight
0:44years I've been traveling around the
0:45schools talking about Rwanda so I've
0:47told these stories a few times before uh
0:50for the last eight years I mean four
0:52years I've been doing it fulltime
0:56and sometimes for my own sanity and
0:58sometimes because I'm trying to discover
1:00new things I just take it from a
1:02different angle so so this morning I
1:04decided we're going to take this from a
1:06different angle we won't necessarily
1:08follow a lot of pictures although we'll
1:10come back to them but let's just use
1:12good old Google Earth for a minute to
1:15zoom on down in here you know guys this
1:18line right here in South Sudan a year
1:20ago a year and a couple of months ago
1:23when I was speaking in schools um on the
1:26East Coast I was begging students to
1:29contact their Senators their legislators
1:31because everybody was saying that come
1:34January that's a year ago January
1:37there's going to be a war here in Sudan
1:39they're saying the government forces in
1:41the north are bringing their soldiers
1:43down and and and and the south is
1:46gathering together all their old rebel
1:47forces and I was just begging students
1:50to contact their representatives or
1:52senators and let the people know
1:54especially the people in South Sudan
1:56people in North and South but won't get
1:57into the details let them know we care
2:00and and I said you know imagine if you
2:02could have a part in stopping a war who
2:05who who Who's going to get out of bed in
2:07the morning and think they could they
2:09could be part of stopping a war and it
2:11happened the war did not happen a new
2:14country was born unfortunately there's
2:17still a lot of guns and a lot of stress
2:19and a lot of people who are facing
2:22death but when we when we actually do
2:27something it it makes it anyway I get on
2:30I don't know if you look at a map and
2:31you see a border like that might not
2:33make you emotional but this this border
2:36here means a ton to me but but let's
2:38zoom on down in here and and uh actually
2:41okay I'm easily distracted come back up
2:43here for a minute this part let's see
2:46what'll come in here on Google Earth as
2:48we come in here to DAR 4 I haven't
2:51loaded I just loaded this got the little
2:52laptop a month ago I love Mr Mac here
2:55but um okay it's not loading up on you
2:58so I'm not going to take the time uh
3:00there was a kid going to college about
3:02six years ago and and in this part of
3:04Sudan um the DAR for region is where
3:08they've been killing people the
3:09government has been killing its own
3:10people that's really the reason I quit
3:12my job and started traveling to schools
3:14CU I was in Rwanda when the Rwandan
3:16government was killing its people and I
3:19was wondering does the rest of the world
3:20give a rip and and now I'm outside and
3:23the Sudanese government is killing his
3:25people I'm like yeah I give a rip and I
3:27and I and I quit my job and started
3:28traveling to schools and so this is why
3:30I'm I'm easily distracted but but the
3:32boy in college 6 years ago his named
3:34Michael Graham the government was
3:37denying that they were killing their own
3:39people and and Google Earth had just
3:41come out and and Michael's thinking wow
3:44okay the government is denying it but
3:45the people are telling us their their
3:47towns are being bombed they're they're
3:49doing homemade bombs in these planes
3:51that they're throwing out and they're
3:52doing regular old kind of destructive
3:55bombs and doing all kinds of stuff
3:56Google Earth will have pictures right
3:59and and so he he emails gets on finds
4:02the head of Google Google Google whoever
4:06the head is and and and the and and he
4:08says listen we're we've got this crisis
4:11going on did you guys would you care do
4:12you and they're like Absol they come and
4:14visit he was going to LS and Clark
4:16College some of you are probably seniors
4:18you're wondering maybe you already know
4:19where you're headed next year Lewis and
4:21Clark's pretty amazing School in
4:22Portland little plug there but but um
4:25but
4:27Michael contacts the head of Google they
4:30actually visit the school the President
4:32of University was pretty surprised to
4:33hear Google heads coming what's up
4:34Michael anyway they use their technology
4:38and if I would have loaded the program
4:39right here and some of you can get on
4:40and find it they have ways to show how
4:43you know 5 years ago here was Town Happy
4:47Gardens two weeks ago decimated burnt
4:51destroyed people so you know the women
4:53in the camps were just starting to wear
4:56colored clothes again because for so
4:57long at home they realized if they wore
4:59colored clothes when when the when the
5:02military the the government gunships
5:04would come in and stuff like that and
5:06and if they if their sons if their D if
5:08their husbands who were who would be on
5:10watch didn't actually see it coming and
5:12stuff like that and they'd be fleeing
5:14from their homes you can imagine running
5:15on this kind of desert kind of floor
5:18with a bright colored you become a
5:19Target I mean these are strange little
5:21things we often don't think of there's
5:24there's a fabulous book um it's called
5:28the translator and it'll introduce you
5:30to what's going on and if you'd like to
5:32have a read that's very hard to lay down
5:34and very
5:35powerful sometimes really I mean I was
5:37reading it on the plane a couple years
5:39ago and then one part you know the tears
5:40are starting to come down my cheeks I'm
5:42like I got to stop reading this book for
5:43a moment and people think I'm I don't
5:45know what they'll think I'm doing here
5:46on this plane but it's a very very
5:49powerful powerful story da the the young
5:52man on the cover he he uses his English
5:55he was at that time using his English to
5:58as as a tool taking reporters from
6:02National Geographic CNN and stuff across
6:04the border from Chad where the camps are
6:08into Dar for region he he had on his
6:10cell phone the numbers of the Rebel
6:12leaders in the area and he would call
6:14them before he'd go into their area
6:17everybody's got cell phones you know I I
6:19often would look at these robes and say
6:21where do you keep your cell phone but
6:23but but anyway d one day he he runs on
6:27um he doesn't have the right connection
6:29the right number and um but he's like
6:31he's been doing this he's going to wing
6:32it and he's got a National Geographic
6:34guy with him he convinces I think the
6:36guy's name the pickup truck driver's
6:38name was Abdul convinces Abdul to do it
6:40against Abdul's better judgment you'll
6:42understand why in a moment and um but he
6:45doesn't have the number they crossed the
6:47border into Chad and uh they're quickly
6:50intercepted by some Rebels he hadn't
6:52made his contacts they take the um
6:54National Geographic reporter one way
6:55they take dud and Abdul another
6:57Direction three days torture question
7:00you're Spies all this kind of stuff and
7:02finally at about the third day um the
7:06commander of the group says to four
7:0716-year-olds with their kalashnikovs
7:10with their assault rifles he says take
7:12them over there where you kill everybody
7:13and kill them and so dud is marching to
7:17the to the death spot but what's really
7:20interesting is even while he's walking
7:22to the death spot as he gets closer and
7:25there's bones of people who have been
7:26killed before him he tries to be careful
7:28not to step on their bones he has such a
7:31respect for for life and humans and the
7:34value and and then stop there you know
7:37the ORD barked and they stop and and as
7:39the boys are raising their guns Dow says
7:41um guys I don't blame you for what
7:44you're doing I know you've been ordered
7:46to do this but could you find something
7:48we could use as as a blindfold and and
7:51and the one boy who was kind of in
7:53charge he's like what for and and do
7:56says he's been with him for a few days
7:58I've been around the campfire and and he
7:59heard them talking and stuff he points
8:01at one and he says I actually went to
8:03high school with your older brother he
8:05points at another one and he says I I
8:07just met your family I heard you talking
8:08and then I met your family and he names
8:10a a refugee camp that he had just met
8:13his boy they would be so excited to know
8:15you're still alive and the boys you know
8:17their guns are kind of lowering and and
8:19and the one boy you you went to school
8:20with my brother my family's still alive
8:22and he says he could see this little
8:25flicker of Life come back into their
8:28eyes you see every time they had pulled
8:30their trigger it wasn't just taking
8:32someone else's life it was it was taking
8:35part of their own life and well needless
8:37to say they didn't shoot him but but D
8:41anyway the book is an incredible read
8:44and and and one of the reasons that that
8:47I I love this book and one of the
8:48reasons that I'm so passionate about
8:50stories I mean you can see I'm sorry
8:52those pictures are so small but the the
8:54homes the areas that have been that that
8:56were you know have been destroyed by the
8:58government and St stuff um one of the
9:01reasons where do I have these silly
9:02things up here yeah come with me here
9:04for a second right
9:05there uh um I usually look for a guy
9:09okay cuz I'm going to slug you in the
9:12shoulder we get input right somebody
9:15says something to us he wonder what's
9:17going to happen I'm just I'm just going
9:19to give him a little input okay just a
9:22little input and they tell us tell me if
9:26this is true in a second they tell us
9:28that when we get input we think we
9:32feel and we act now what was his action
9:37his action was just kind of the Grim
9:38like I don't know what this guy's going
9:39to do but I mean th this sequence is is
9:43what they tell us happens sometimes not
9:45always in that you know linear circular
9:47and kind but basically like this we get
9:50input and then people focus on the last
9:52part the action part would you stop
9:55doing that oh I at a high school where
9:57North Carolina two weeks ago get your
9:59feet off the furniture you ever heard
10:01that before huh we focus on the actions
10:03and yeah maybe they'll take their feet
10:05down slowly or whatever did somebody
10:07other their feet up on the front anyway
10:08and and and then but but then the feet
10:11are back on the front and you know the
10:12change doesn't come when we focus on the
10:15action and the feelings that are driving
10:18well those are those are pretty scary
10:20things at times and they're powerful
10:21things and stuff like that but the real
10:23change comes in our thinking when we
10:26think different we feel different the
10:28problem is often often we don't think we
10:31assume yeah that's a little tension
10:33getter but but we make assumptions about
10:37people we make assumptions based on
10:39their height we make assumptions based
10:41on their skin color we make assumptions
10:42based on the clothes they wear we make
10:44assumptions on their weight we make all
10:46kinds of assumptions about people and
10:48those assumptions often Drive our
10:50feelings which Drive our actions so you
10:53understand when a story comes along a
10:56story has the potential to change the
10:58way we or assume the way we think or the
11:00way we assume and that then can change
11:03the way we feel dud was standing there
11:06about to be shot and he starts to tell
11:09them well it's kind of like a story I
11:11went to high school with your brother I
11:13just met your family dud is rehumanizing
11:17himself he was just a
11:19Target they're going to go and shoot him
11:22over there like they shot the other
11:23people and then they'll go to lunch just
11:24another day but he changed himself from
11:28a Target
11:29to a human he re that's why I'm really
11:32passionate about the power St that's why
11:34it's so cool you guys I don't know where
11:36these people were when I was in school I
11:37hated English but there's these awesome
11:39English teachers now who yeah
11:45absolutely I I think that I think that
11:49that there might have been a few around
11:50when I was in school maybe a little bit
11:52was my fault but but but the whole idea
11:56that English is is about stories is
11:59communicating life I mean you you saw
12:02Freedom Writers and
12:04anyway back to our we were diving in
12:07back to our map right weren't we there
12:10here and we're we're going to go down
12:14south Congo Rwanda this is where we were
12:18living for six years okay one more
12:20distraction come down a little lower
12:23here and uh Harari Zimbabwe this is the
12:27first country I moved to Africa right
12:29out of college and if we even went down
12:31even farther into South Africa that's
12:33why you don't want to give me a map
12:35right here in in um South Africa right
12:38along what they called The Wild Coast
12:39was the first place I went in Africa
12:41when I was in college you get a chance
12:43to take time out from college our school
12:45had an awesome service learning program
12:47and I spent a year in the trans skyp
12:49back in
12:501978 um but anyway let's go back up it
12:53seems It's just interesting each time
12:55I've gone back to Africa we've moved a
12:57little farther north my wife and I were
12:59just married when we moved to Zimbabwe
13:01she's 22 I was 23 we were fresh out of
13:03college I studied as a a high school
13:06shop teacher auto mechanics and welding
13:08and all that kind of stuff so anyway
13:10I'll tell you a little more about what
13:11we were doing in Rwanda in a minute but
13:14I'm going to just take us into the city
13:16I'll take you to our house where we
13:18lived and um I'm going to dive right
13:20into a story in the middle of this
13:23horrible three months of Slaughter in
13:26this little that little country
13:29most densely populated country in
13:32Africa I hate to say the numbers because
13:36sometimes numbers just really mess us
13:38around we think we understand when we
13:41can count and yet often that that that
13:44clouds the picture it doesn't make it
13:46clearer but I'll use them a little bit
13:49just because we don't have a lot of time
13:50here together this morning they people
13:52were being killed like 5 6
13:557,000 10,000 people in a day
13:59it's
14:02it's it's
14:04incomprehensible but it was it was
14:06happening in this little country let's
14:08go from the airport we might go back
14:10there past the soccer stadium and and uh
14:13past the Parliament building past a
14:15statue where everybody likes to get
14:17their their wedding pictures taken
14:20there's there's a woman with a child in
14:23the middle and on a Saturday you often
14:25see a wedding party on each sidewalk
14:27everybody just likes their picture but
14:29let's let's go on down this road to um
14:33our house we'll go past there's a bunch
14:35of hotels and government buildings and
14:38shoot melum what's this Carnegie
14:42melon say that carneg Millan yeah I
14:46didn't I I was twisting the name they've
14:47just set up a college in the building
14:50right over right back here I just saw
14:53right there when I was there in Rwanda
14:55last month they've just set up over
14:58there in Rwanda and the American Embassy
15:00is right down at the they've even got a
15:01pool at the American Embassy down at the
15:04end of the road but you turn here come
15:07down one intersection two intersections
15:09and turn in how this yeah you're seeing
15:11okay up there um and there's the roof of
15:14our house now let's do this thing let's
15:18turn it around like we used to sort of
15:23see and there's the roof of our house
15:25and let's do this thing
15:29isn't it
15:31cool and let's turn so we're now going
15:34to be
15:36looking okay there's the there's the
15:38embassy there's the foot soccer field
15:40above our house so you can't see our
15:41roof very well and uh we went too far
15:44let's turn back oops let's turn back
15:48this way yeah so I want you to get the
15:51picture from our house
15:55whoa okay the roof of our house right
15:58there and you look across the valley and
16:01you look up here to the downtown section
16:03of the city now this isn't perfect 3D
16:06and stuff so you can't see all the
16:08skyscrapers and stuff like that but
16:09there's the Holy Family Church right
16:11here and
16:14um I'm just going to pause on that
16:16picture because we're going to dive into
16:17the story now so you see where our house
16:19was you're looking at the city um the
16:22president's plane has been shot down
16:24probably I don't know 5 7,000 foreigners
16:28have left people from America from Egypt
16:31from Canada from China people from
16:33France they've all left
16:37foreigners that I could I say well just
16:41white foreigners easily identifiable
16:43there were some foreigners there from
16:45Africa I think still other African
16:46nations and I and I wasn't able to pick
16:48them out but but of of all those 5 7,000
16:51who left 10 of us stayed there was a
16:54French man that I want to tell you about
16:56this morning Mark Mark had long long
16:58hair and a beard and the kids called him
17:01Jesus Mark when when all the foreigners
17:04were leaving Mark said no he had a house
17:07with 12
17:09orphans I'm I'm not leaving how can I
17:12leave these kids how can I leave these
17:14these little ones and so mark it was
17:16just no I'm not leaving I mean I know a
17:19lot of the other foreigners had
17:20difficult decisions and hard to make but
17:22but Mark I'm not leaving Mark's house
17:24unfortunately we could we could have
17:26Googled Earth over to it up on the top
17:29right hand corner but his house
17:30unfortunately took a mortar just behind
17:33our house the rebels were controlling
17:35the city and they were launching mortars
17:37into the downtown section of the city so
17:39regular that we had an African gray our
17:42daughter she had an African gray parent
17:44the birds started whistling like mortars
17:47the bird was sitting in his cage
17:49going and and so that's how regular the
17:52mortars were and one of those mortars
17:54unfortunately hit Mark's house nobody
17:56was hurt I mean it was an it was like a
17:59miracle the house was damaged nobody was
18:01hurt couldn't live there anymore and he
18:03had to move into another church that I
18:05won't take the time not the Holy Family
18:07Church but another the basement of a
18:08church up to the to the top leftand
18:11corner there with his kids and as time
18:13went on this killing was going
18:16on more and more kids came parents were
18:20kill parents were looking for a safe
18:22place and here's a foreigner maybe my
18:25kids will be safe with this Foreigner so
18:27by the time the genocide end there were
18:28more than 200 kids with
18:31Jesus and and and Mark was just doing
18:35everything he could not only to protect
18:38these kids but to find food for them and
18:40I was trying to help them food and water
18:41I was at his the basement of the church
18:43one day talking to him when this woman
18:45showed up she was from a political party
18:47and I won't get into all the politics of
18:49Randa at the time but basically politics
18:51were at the bottom were at the root of
18:53the genocide if you heard a bit about
18:55the genocide if you saw Hotel Rwanda if
18:58you different things sometimes it's easy
18:59for people to think that one group of
19:01people hated another group The hutus
19:03hated the tootsies and they and they
19:05hated and killed and finally a genocide
19:07exploded and there's just nothing
19:09spontaneous about a genocide a genocide
19:12just doesn't happen it it it's hard to
19:15pull off a genocide hard but but in any
19:19case politicians very much at the at the
19:22base of the I didn't want much to do
19:24with this lady I was trying to avoid
19:25cameras and news and politicians and and
19:29and she we greeted and I introduced and
19:31Mark started to talk to her and I said
19:33thank you Mark and I just kind of
19:34quietly snuck away but before I got away
19:37there was a young man who was with her I
19:39don't know his name I've forgotten it
19:42I'm I'm sorry but I'll call him Bernard
19:46Bernard was maybe in his 20s late 20s
19:49middle 20s and um Bernard was softspoken
19:52and he said excuse me um I understand
19:55that you're helping orphans around this
19:58City and I said yeah I'm trying and and
20:03I'm thinking boy he's with the lady
20:05politician you know avoid and um and and
20:10he says I'm wondering if you could help
20:12me I I have a group of people I'm trying
20:14to help and and so you know I'm I'm I'm
20:19cautious and stuff but there's something
20:21about him he's just there's a gentleness
20:24there's a there's a sincerity something
20:26about his eyes and and and I kind of let
20:28my defenses and he says if you could
20:30help me that it would be awesome could I
20:32could I take you to where these people
20:34and so we made an appointment for the
20:35next I don't know was the next or two
20:37days later we made an appointment to
20:39meet um I said let's meet at the
20:41roadblock the checkpoint above the
20:43market it was kind of like saying let's
20:45meet at you know 7-Eleven at uh at um
20:49the corner of Oak and and Maine or
20:51something you know it's just kind of I
20:53thought just a a a landmark where we
20:57could me I showed up there in fact I
21:01during this this 3 months of killing um
21:05and I haven't shown you pictures yet of
21:06my family which I'll do that before
21:09we're done here but I started I got the
21:12idea about the second week I was stuck
21:13in my house for 3 weeks the government
21:15said nobody can come on the streets 24/7
21:18curfew the only ones on the streets were
21:20the ones doing the killing and and so
21:23the second week I'm in the house stuck
21:25there I'm reading every book I can find
21:27in the house and you know we're trying
21:28to collect rain water and there's a lot
21:29of survival stuff going on but um I
21:32decided I it must have been about the
21:34second week of genocide I got the idea
21:36of talking on a cassette recorder to
21:39record what was happening around me I
21:41honestly didn't know if I was going to
21:42survive this dark time and if I didn't
21:45survive I wanted to leave something for
21:48my wife and our three children perhaps
21:51hearing me tell
21:53stories would would remind Teresa that's
21:57my wife why we both decided that I
22:00should stay in Rwanda maybe the stories
22:02would help our children Mindy was like
22:0510 at the time Lisa was seven and Shawn
22:07was five maybe the stories would help
22:09our children understand something more
22:12of their dad above all I wanted these
22:14stories to help the four of them know
22:15that I really did love them more than
22:17anything else and I always scribbled um
22:20our home address in Spokane Washington
22:23on each tape in case something happened
22:25to me and the house was trashed maybe
22:27someone would find a tape and send it to
22:29its intended destination but but anyway
22:32I finally got those tapes out of the box
22:34just last year and I I wrote this book
22:36and
22:38um the boy the young man Bernard I
22:41wanted to just read to you the little
22:43paragraph or two here when I when I met
22:46him the next day at that at that
22:48Landmark at that checkpoint um next day
22:52I drove with Giga he's a Rwandan guy who
22:55worked with me a courageous man he hid
22:57more than 40 people in his house an
23:00amazing man C I don't know why they
23:02didn't kill him often because they broke
23:04in eventually to his house many of them
23:06fled about 20 of the 40 were kids and
23:10and his house oh man his house is small
23:13it would be like from here to the wall
23:15Square I mean and 40 people he's hiding
23:17in his house when the killers would come
23:19he had a chicken project he would offer
23:22them a chicken to go away and they would
23:26go away with the chicken and say We'll
23:27come back and kill those people another
23:29day and eventually when they did come
23:31back I they didn't kill him like I said
23:34many times they would kill people hiding
23:36they tied him up while they while they
23:39murdered some of the people in his house
23:42this is an amazing man he he's working
23:44in a nursing home in in Southbend
23:47Indiana in the dishroom every day moving
23:50these big you know the commercial
23:52dishwashers putting those things in
23:54there and stuff comes home making a
23:56night I think boy if people people knew
23:59more people knew this man's story a man
24:01of integrity anyway the next day I drove
24:04with CA to the designated roadblock and
24:07looked for the young man I'm calling
24:08Bernard I was shocked to see that he was
24:11part of a gang Manning the road block
24:14when he' suggested this meeting point I
24:16thought it was just a landmark like
24:18someone say yeah I'll meet you at the
24:19corner a second and El never crossed my
24:21mind that he might be an inter hamway
24:23that's that's what they called The
24:24Killing
24:25squads never crossed my mind he might be
24:28he saw us and turned to say a few words
24:31to his team before walking our way you
24:34can leave your car right where it is
24:36we're just going down the block he
24:38instructed gasu and I slowly rolled up
24:40our Windows climbed out and locked the
24:43door we walked one and a half blocks
24:46down the street and then turned into a
24:48vacant lot on the left the whole time
24:50we're walking my mind was concentrating
24:53on the guys at the roadblock and
24:54wondering what we were getting ourselves
24:56into in the back leftand corner of the
24:59lot Bernard wrapped on a metal door and
25:02we were ushered through the doorway into
25:04an open
25:06courtyard I scanned the area and saw
25:09about 40 people in this 60x 60t
25:12enclosure so this was the group he was
25:15helping I thought right in the middle of
25:18the plot there was a large 200 lit drum
25:20cut in half and resting on Three Stones
25:22a fire under it something bubbling
25:24inside probably lunch for everybody in
25:26the far right hand Corner was a was a
25:29powerful smelling ouse and another pile
25:32full of garbage here and they they let
25:33me through some doors on the side into
25:35some rooms people were laying on
25:36mattresses barely alive they were sick
25:39and and and somebody brought a little
25:41guy up to me and and they tilted his
25:43head back the little guy with skin and
25:45bones the the the the light was gone out
25:47of his eyes and and they tilted his head
25:49back and pus was oozing down from under
25:51his ear because he'd been hit by a piece
25:53of shrapnel and and and they said and
25:56you see we babies and and so we left and
26:00as we're walking back up the street to
26:02the car I'm not thinking about you know
26:05the guys at the roadblock anymore I'm
26:06not suspicious about Bernard I'm
26:08thinking about these people we saw and
26:10and and and I said to Bernard look I'll
26:13see what I can do I'll try to find some
26:14powdered milk I had I had found some
26:18women who were selling powdered milk at
26:19a little market and they put me in touch
26:21with their suppliers some thieves who
26:22had stolen a bunch of powdered milk from
26:24a store and I was buying from these
26:26thieves to to to help the orphans and so
26:29I said to Bernard I'll see what I can
26:31get and we'll meet back again tomorrow
26:32we climbed in our little this little
26:34Toyota Corolla sat there and and as I
26:36put the key in the ignition I I looked
26:39over at gasa and I and I said gasa a lot
26:42of those people looked like tootsies now
26:45in Rwanda it was often hard to tell
26:47who's a Hu who's a tootsie hu being the
26:50majority Tootsie being the minority but
26:53everybody speaking the same language
26:54everybody SE eating the same kind of
26:56food and you know what even marrying
26:58each other all the time so this whole
27:00idea of dividing is pretty pretty
27:03ridiculous in rwanda's case because they
27:06had so much that they were alike but
27:08anyway that's that's for another time
27:11but tootsies here's the main thing if
27:13you if you suspected somebody was a
27:15tootsie it would be because they were a
27:17bit taller or a bit lighter
27:20skinned and these are the people who are
27:22being murdered these are the people who
27:24are being
27:25exterminated and I said to cas
27:28these are the people who who everybody
27:29was trying to hide I said that wasn't
27:31much of a hiding place back there I said
27:33they look like tootsies oh yeah he says
27:34they were there were many many tootsies
27:36there and I don't know how gasa got his
27:38information he had his way talking with
27:41people and stuff and and and somehow I
27:44guess maybe when I was looking in the
27:45rooms or whatever gasa just those few
27:47moments had found
27:52out some young
27:54ladies I I always kind of struggle
27:58not just to tell their story but to find
28:00the
28:00words they were they were
28:03sacrificing their bodies to
28:06soldiers it's it's it's rape um it's
28:12it's it's rape and and and and yet
28:15they're doing this because the soldiers
28:17in exchange would then protect their
28:22families imagine if your sister is doing
28:26this to protect protect you if your
28:29daughter is doing this to protect you
28:33that's that's why I called that chapter
28:35um heroic
28:38sacrifices and so that explained how
28:42this group of people was managing to
28:44stay alive in the middle of the city and
28:46not much of a hiding place in a pretty
28:48squalid place because these young ladies
28:51were were
28:52sacrificing for their families and the
28:56next day I came back with with some
28:57powdered milk and as we came into this
29:00um
29:03Courtyard you know
29:05um crying in front of
29:08people used to bug
29:10me I'm still not real happy about
29:14it but but we're not
29:17wired for these kind of
29:21things we're not made to have a
29:24vocabulary for this I mean we've come up
29:26with this word genocide but but we're
29:28not made to to to just shrug these
29:33things
29:34off and I think to myself yeah you might
29:37be uncomfortable shedding some tears in
29:38front of people but but it's not about
29:42you it's about other people and it's
29:44about telling the story and it's about
29:48believing like
29:50d up in in Sudan that when people hear
29:54the
29:55stories it will change the way they they
29:57think and it will change the way they
29:59feel and it will change the way they act
30:03and and so I'm pretty much over it and
30:06and sometimes I don't I can tell these
30:08stories sometimes and it doesn't but
30:10every once in a while it just it
30:12does but in any case I get back there
30:14the next day and um I've got some
30:18powdered milk and everybody's pretty
30:20excited and and and we're in the
30:22courtyard and all of a sudden a lady
30:25comes running in the courtyard
30:28screaming screaming howling waving her
30:32arms just kind of putting her hands over
30:34her face and go and kind of they they do
30:36this kind of scream
30:38like and it's really a lot louder and
30:41and and and she leaves the courtyard and
30:43goes back out on the street and we're
30:44like what we follow her back out she
30:47runs into the street and she Scoops up
30:49what looks like Rags just a bundle of
30:53rags but we quickly see it's not
30:56somebody saids say it's her son and and
30:59I I get her to stop and and I put my
31:02hand there on that little guy's throat
31:04trying to find does he still and he's
31:05got a pulse you see when all the
31:08foreigners left they left their cars and
31:11of course there were many other cars
31:12besides the foreigners cars but the
31:14foreigners cars really helped uh the
31:16killers they they hotwired these cars
31:19and they ripped the doors off of them
31:21and the trunk Lids off and they would be
31:22sitting in the trunk with their assault
31:24rifles and they'd be poking their sight
31:25rifles out the opening of each and they
31:27raced around the city with all of their
31:31Terror and and their killing and and and
31:34I guess to them probably that little boy
31:35was just a sack of garbage as they hit
31:39his body and kept on going and and and I
31:41said to the mother come come quickly get
31:43him get in my car and um she gets in my
31:46car I'm not thinking now who T Tootsie
31:49obviously I'm thinking a little boy
31:51whose heart is still beaten can we get
31:53him to the Red Cross hospital and and we
31:56had to go through many roadblocks you
31:58know
31:59um uh the these checkpoints that's where
32:02people they'd have to show their ID card
32:04and if their ID card said Tootsie they
32:06would be murdered at these checkpoints
32:08and I they started to know me at these
32:10checkpoints cuz I was moving around the
32:12city and and there's a guy I guess my
32:14computer went to sleep there's a guy who
32:16um who I'm I'll hopefully I'll get a
32:18chance to show you a picture of who um
32:22was in charge a colonel in charge of the
32:24city and I think my connection with that
32:28Colonel helped me to be able to move
32:31through these checkpoints I in fact
32:33asked him partway through the genocide
32:35to try whatever influence he had to get
32:37them to to give me some cut me some
32:39slack because they were making it so
32:41hard for me to do anyway I come up to
32:43the first checkpoint and I'm thinking
32:46guys who were there at the checkpoint
32:48this little boy was just hit by a car
32:49look in my back seat and they see this
32:51bloody little guy in the back seat and
32:52mother's lap I'm going to the Red Cross
32:54and they open up and another barrier
32:56repeated and they open up another about
32:58five or six barriers and I get to the
32:59Red Cross and and take them in it's a
33:02school that they've turned into a field
33:04Hospital in a classroom put them on a
33:05table a doctor comes begins examining no
33:08no x-ray but the doctor's checking and I
33:10leave him in with the doctor I go to
33:12talk to a guy um Peter was his name
33:14trying to find more blankets for some of
33:15the other orphans I'm I'm trying to help
33:18come back about maybe an hour later 45
33:20minutes later and here's the little guy
33:22sitting on the
33:24table looking around he's all bandaged
33:28up by now I mean he looks like a little
33:30mummy he's just wrapped with cloth all
33:32over his head and his arms and stuff but
33:35the doctor says can't find anything
33:36broken we're going to keep them here for
33:38obser maybe internal in you know we'll
33:40keep them from for observation and um I
33:43said excellent and I went about I don't
33:46even remember what I did the rest of
33:47that day but towards evening I came back
33:50to check and I came in the um the
33:52parking lot of the Red Cross and here's
33:56his mom sitting on a on a a chair or
34:01something I don't know stump and she's
34:03got her little boy on his on her lap and
34:05she's got a porcelain bowl with corn
34:08kernels the corn is really matured and
34:10they've cooked it and and she and her
34:12boy are eating a colel at a time and
34:15they were she was gorgeous I mean it was
34:18this picture of a mom and her child and
34:21it just I remember it just it stunned me
34:24I she had been
34:27insane with grief and fear and screaming
34:30and Howling when I first noticed her and
34:33here she is sitting there with her son
34:35and and they seem so content and
34:37somebody says you know you don't have to
34:40go back to that place I got someone to
34:42trans late I saw him talking I said what
34:44are they talking no they're telling her
34:45she she could stay here at the Red Cross
34:47and not go back to that place and and
34:50and and and well what's she saying well
34:54she she has three other children
34:57and her husband back at that
35:00place and she's really torn and and so I
35:04entered in the conversation and I said
35:06tell me a little bit about your kids and
35:07she says well I got a baby that I'm
35:09nursing and and actually you met my
35:11other son he's the one who had that
35:13wound behind his ear and and um uh and
35:18and then I've got another older son and
35:20my husband and I said listen trying to
35:23move your husband here would be like he
35:25would get killed at the first roadblock
35:27and probably your other maybe maybe I
35:30could get the baby and the other wounded
35:32boy here maybe I could get them through
35:35the checkpoints if I could get those two
35:38and you had three of your four children
35:40would you then
35:43stay nobody should have to make a choice
35:46like that but this Mom finally said o
35:49okay I went back I managed to get the
35:52little I said where's that little guy
35:53who everybody wanted to know how's the
35:54little boy you know is he okay and stuff
35:56I said look looks like he's going to be
35:57okay they're keeping him for observation
35:59I understand the mom has a baby here
36:00that needs to be nursed oh yeah somebody
36:02brings a baby out of the crowd and and I
36:04understand that her son was that little
36:06guy wound somebody shoves the little boy
36:08to the front of the crowd and and and so
36:10I take these two kids and I managed to
36:12get them through all the roadblocks and
36:14and we'll just kind of fast forward to
36:16the end of the genocide I sort of lost
36:18track of them on purpose because I
36:20didn't want I didn't want if somebody
36:23asked me I didn't even want to know I'm
36:25like you know they're at the Red Cross
36:26and it's better I'm trying not to be
36:28labeled as someone who's saving the
36:30tootsie people I mean it's pretty
36:32obvious but I'm trying to walk this
36:33narrow line and in any case the genocide
36:36ends July
36:394
36:40um and you already see how easily I'm
36:43distracted and so this is helping me a
36:45lot because if you guys there's more
36:47stories I want to tell you and I want to
36:49leave a few minutes for you to ask
36:50questions and I'll show you a couple
36:52pictures of our family and stuff but um
36:54I brought a bunch of books if some of
36:55you are readers and and you want to or
36:57if you haven't been readers and you want
36:58to start um I I brought some so you can
37:01read some more of these stories we these
37:04these help me and my wife we started a
37:06little nonprofit called World outside my
37:08shoes and hopefully we can connect on
37:10Facebook and some other things but these
37:12books help us travel around and speak at
37:14schools and stuff they're a fundraiser
37:16so if you if you could like donate 10
37:18bucks that'd be cool but if you just
37:20have a dollar that's okay too and I
37:22always tell people if you just have $100
37:24okay but um but but if you'd like to
37:27take a book I don't expect many people
37:28to have money now you can go online in
37:30the back of the book is our website and
37:32you see the Donate button on the website
37:34you could make a donation later if you
37:35take the book today but so so that makes
37:38me feel better that if you want more
37:39stories you can take some books and
37:42we'll do that but but we're at the end
37:45that's where we are it's July 4 it's
37:47ended and and I'm at a school the the
37:51rebels have finally after launching
37:53those mortars so regularly and many
37:55other things they finally driven the
37:57genocidal government out they they go
38:01into mostly into the Congo and that's a
38:03whole another story if we could talk
38:04some more this morning TimeWise the
38:07horrors happening in the Congo are are
38:10just it's the worst place right now to
38:12be born and hope you're going to live I
38:14mean you it's more people are being
38:16killed per square mile it's it's
38:18terrible but but in any case they're
38:22driven out of Rwanda and in Kali the
38:25rebels have told told everybody go to
38:27these different assembly points while we
38:29secure the city we're going house to
38:31house building to building making sure
38:33that the killers are all gone and I went
38:36to one of the schools where um where
38:39there were like 15,000 people gathered
38:42together looking for one of my friends
38:44guy who worked with me and while I'm in
38:45the parking lot uh I got this pickup
38:48truck that had been stolen from the UN
38:50and then the UN got it back and they
38:51sort of abandoned it you know that movie
38:53Hotel Rwanda this truck was left in the
38:55parking lot of that hotel and I managed
38:57to get the truck anyway I'm sitting in
38:59this truck and um a guy comes up to my
39:01window and he says Hey do you remember
39:04me and and I look at him and I'm like
39:07yeah but where and he says I was in that
39:10courtyard remember the kid who was hit
39:11by the car and that I'm like oh yeah now
39:14I haven't told
39:16you I'm not sure how many weeks after
39:19the incident of the boy getting hit by
39:21the car it I don't even know if it was a
39:23week it wasn't long I know I was never
39:26able to take supplies back there again I
39:28had just made I'm pretty sure just one
39:30delivery of powdered milk and and um I
39:34woke up one
39:35morning looked out from the window of
39:37our house to the picture that was just
39:39on the screen and I mentioned Holy
39:41Family Church
39:44um I looked out of my my window and and
39:48I
39:50um I thought that the hillside over here
39:54I thought this Hillside down here yeah
39:57there's the CH there were a bunch of
39:58people in this church looking for
40:00protection and this has a lot of
40:02buildings now but back then there
40:04weren't quite as many and this Hillside
40:06from from our
40:09house you can see it's kind of far over
40:12to that Hillside from from our house
40:15somewhere right around anyway I won't
40:17take the time I get my binos and I look
40:20cuz I thought the hillside was covered
40:21with
40:23trash it was people who had been
40:25murdered the night
40:27before the the rebels had come in and
40:29tried to do a Kind of Rescue operation
40:31at the church it had gone bad and and it
40:34was a terrible terrible Massacre and
40:36then that that ignited another sweep
40:39through the city and then it didn't M
40:41looking for tootsy people and then it
40:43didn't
40:44matter what what young ladies were
40:47sacrificing what soldiers they that's
40:50when they came through and killed I
40:52thought everybody in that courtyard but
40:55here I am now at the end and there's
40:57this man and he survived from that
40:58courtyard and I'm like wow that's that's
41:00incredible you're alive and and and he
41:02says well you know the lady who took her
41:05her husband was killed but her fourth
41:07child survived and I'm like really and
41:10he says yeah and I'm wondering could you
41:12take him to his mother and I said well I
41:15I I I really don't know where his mother
41:17is but yeah I'll take him bring him here
41:19and you know and and so um he brings
41:23them to me and and we drive to another
41:25assembly point St Paul's it's another
41:27one actually right near Holy Family
41:29Church and I'm looking for some other
41:30friends I got the little guy it's a
41:31double cab pickup got him in the back
41:33seat and another it's exact it's crazy
41:35the same thing a woman comes to my
41:37window before I get out of the pickup
41:39and she says Hey do you remember me and
41:41I look and I'm like yeah but where same
41:44repeat she says I was at that courtyard
41:47little boy hit with a and I'm like no
41:49way this is not I've got the little and
41:50I turn around to the back seat and he's
41:52gone and I'm like where'd he go and he's
41:55running around the front of the truck
41:57this woman is his aunt and he he she
42:00hugged they Embrace and and and I'm like
42:04unbelievable and and I said well you
42:06know where is Mom oh yeah yeah she's
42:07still at the Red Cross she became a
42:09house mother for a bunch of Orphans in a
42:11home there she gave me directions I said
42:13well tell the little boy get in the car
42:15we're gone and and and to find his mom
42:17and so the little guy gets in the car
42:19well he's not so little but medium
42:20little guy and and and we park in the
42:24driveway next to the house
42:26and as we get out of the truck out the
42:29back door comes his mom she's got a
42:31basin a wet laundry she's heading to the
42:34clothes line and she looks and she sees
42:38and the laundry falls on the ground and
42:40and she runs and the little guy runs and
42:43we're all crying and and and and this
42:46lady you know her fourth child and but
42:50not a husband and and I just thought
42:54wow it's incredible
42:57but also what's going to be incredible
43:00is how is she going to move forward from
43:02here life is hard already she's without
43:05her husband she has these for you see to
43:08survive is one thing that's
43:10phenomenal but how do you keep living
43:15afterwards and and hang on to that
43:17question while I show you a couple of
43:19pictures um that question of of how do
43:22you keep living afterwards um
43:26I'm skipping over the history and some
43:28of this stuff I was just in Rwanda last
43:31month January with these kids from
43:33Buffalo State College and their
43:34Professor he's really passionate he's a
43:37theater guy and they're all theater
43:39Majors um well Paige is a film major she
43:42was filming but but um they they went to
43:45Rwanda for two weeks because this man
43:47believes theater shouldn't yeah it yeah
43:50it can be entertaining it can be funny
43:52but theater better be have a point and
43:54for him the point better be about making
43:56our world a better place social justice
43:59so anyway I'm thinking some of you guys
44:01could be envious these kids went for two
44:04weeks theater they met with Rwandan
44:07actors young actors Angel and Simon and
44:10daa and and Arthur and and hope is the
44:13one who's in charge of the mashara the
44:15theater group there and our students
44:17together with these young people at the
44:20end of two weeks wrote and performed a
44:23play it was it was incredible but but um
44:26a few pictures just of the mall you can
44:29buy whatever you want in Rwanda if you
44:31have the
44:32money a treadmill huh who would go
44:35shopping for people in Rwanda are like
44:37what do you need they walk all anyway um
44:40there's a lot of foreigners and so I
44:42guess the foreigners need their
44:43treadmills but um yeah you can get
44:46pretty much whatever you want
44:48um I don't recommend riding the tax I
44:51mean those motorcycles they are fun and
44:54exciting but they have too many
44:55accidents
44:57um just a few pictures of the kids yeah
45:01that usually gets that response thank
45:03you
45:05um I always tell people that that this
45:08little girl probably doesn't own a
45:10toothbrush but on her way to school
45:12she'll break off a twig and chew it till
45:15it's soft and use the twig or these guys
45:18you know typically can't get their hands
45:20on a on a soccer ball so with plastic
45:23bags and string they they make a soccer
45:26ball or they probably don't have money
45:28most of them to go to the mall to buy
45:30toys or things so this is an awesome
45:33homemade scooter I mean he's using it
45:35for a wheelbarrow right now but other
45:37later he'll be playing on this thing and
45:39and I love these three pictures
45:42because they are part of the answer to
45:45the question I just left with you how do
45:48you live after your family has been
45:51murdered how do you live after and and
45:54these kids they show in very practical
45:57ways that you're not defined by what you
46:00don't have you're defined by what you do
46:04with what you do have that's the key
46:07it's not what you don't have it's what
46:09you do with what you do have and it's
46:11not just about a scooter and a soccer
46:13ball and and a and a stick
46:16toothbrush it's also about
46:19life focusing not on what you have lost
46:23and you'll never the people of Rwanda
46:25will never never forget our friends and
46:27and family members who were who were
46:29lost in the genocide but then you find
46:31people focusing like my sister is still
46:34alive I have one family member I have a
46:37little brother who survived and people
46:39focusing on what they have or new
46:42relationships that have been formed it's
46:43it's huge okay that's me and my family
46:49that's easy to tell
46:50right come on just darken the hair and
46:54suck in the gut
46:57Teresa and I met in high school actually
47:02so and uh we dated in college got
47:06married a week after graduating from
47:08college six weeks later we moved to
47:10Zimbabwe I already showed you there as
47:12that shop teacher she did business and
47:13accounting our daughter Mindy and Lisa
47:17those our two daughters were born in
47:19Zimbabwe uh after six years came back to
47:21the States got an MBA and Shawn was born
47:24and then with that business bu that MBA
47:26combination and the school high school
47:28shop teacher technology Tech Teacher we
47:31went to Rwanda to build schools to
47:34operate clinics we went there with the
47:37Adventist Church the humanitarian arm of
47:39the Adventist Church doing all of these
47:41a war started that went on for three
47:43years we started working in in the
47:45displaced camps the refugee camps people
47:47who' been chased out of their homes and
47:49um but in many ways life just went on uh
47:52I didn't always make her pull the
47:54scooter but it was an office party and
47:56and she said no no no I'll pull and you
47:58give the rides but uh that's our home
48:01that you were looking at the roof of
48:02with Google Earth and looking out across
48:04at the city here that's the Holy Family
48:06Church that I was showing you in the
48:07other pictures and um here's the the
48:10building from that the story of Hotel
48:12Rwanda was based on that that that hotel
48:16right there come home from work these
48:18little guys were always there my Three
48:19Musketeers to greet me and our kids just
48:23it was a wonderful place to raise
48:24children um Lisa's always got a
48:27reputation since being little of being a
48:29baby Grabber and I I tell people she got
48:32that from her mother cuz teres said they
48:34started calling her the baby Whisperer a
48:36while ago because you can hand my wife
48:38any crying baby and she pretty much gets
48:41them to settle down yeah I was waiting
48:44for that
48:46too as you can see it was uh not hard
48:49for us to find our kids in the
48:51neighborhood but for 4 years for four
48:55years
48:56Sean and Lisa and Mindy are playing with
48:59their friends and building relationships
49:03this might sound a little strange but
49:04for four years Mindy Lisa and Shawn were
49:08making deposits in the hearts of the
49:12moms and the grandmas in our
49:14neighborhood strange phrase but hang on
49:16to that for a minute because you know
49:18when your kids play with their kids and
49:20and and relationships are formed and I
49:22make that I make that strange phrase I
49:25say that strange phrase because when the
49:27plane is shot down and this doesn't
49:30cause the genocide but this is the
49:31trigger the genocide has been well
49:33planned and this is the Detonator when
49:35the plane is shot down and we hear the
49:37explosion at our house and they and
49:39these ID cards then become the crucial
49:41thing that's the only way you get
49:43through a checkpoint is if yours does
49:44not say Tootsie if Tootsie is crossed
49:46out and it says hu it's the only way you
49:49make it through cuz they've they've been
49:51broadcasting things there's all kinds of
49:52hate radio before and now during the
49:54genocide there's comedians making jokes
49:56there's musicians but the message is
49:58against the tootsie people it's
50:00dehumanizing it's against the
50:02Cockroaches it's against the snakes all
50:04the names that they have for them and
50:06they had other propaganda and I won't
50:07read the hu Ten Commandments I I'll
50:10pause though at this cartoon some of you
50:12who've studied French you you can you
50:14know the guy here is saying I'm sick
50:16doctor what's your sickness the tootsies
50:20the tootsies the Toots this whole idea
50:22of I'm sick this is something that's
50:24part of our life how many times have you
50:26said or heard somebody say just recently
50:27I'm so sick of that person they make me
50:30sick they just make me sick and and what
50:32do you do with a sickness you want to
50:34eliminate it you want to eradicate it
50:37and this whole idea that we're somehow
50:39going to we're going to make a place
50:42better by getting rid of somebody is a
50:44lie it it does temporarily can make a
50:47difference temporarily at best but it's
50:51genocide at worst here's the young lady
50:53who lived and worked in our home and so
50:56I'm going to break here in just a second
50:57because I do want if you have some
50:59questions but but many people ask why
51:01did you stay and and it starts with this
51:04young lady who lived and worked in our
51:06home the kids loved her my wife and I
51:09loved her she she just had become like
51:12part of the family in many ways and this
51:14young man who came looking for work this
51:16is a picture years later um he didn't
51:18wear a a military uniform when I knew
51:21him back at the time he was just a young
51:23guy looking for work and we hired him to
51:25be at our house in the evening to kind
51:26of watch over night guard and so he and
51:29this young lady both had the the tootsie
51:31ID cards and they're the beginning of
51:34the reason why my wife and I decided
51:37together I didn't try to convince her
51:39she didn't try to convince me why we
51:41decided together that I would stay and
51:44she and the kids would go because we
51:47hoped that by staying this young lady
51:50would not be tortured and killed or this
51:53young man now by the way his uniform is
51:55because after he did survive the young
51:57lady survived too got married she's got
51:59two beautiful boys but but he survived
52:02and and he joined the military and this
52:04is a picture of him in
52:06darur at Rwanda set troops as well as
52:10other African nations in in trying to
52:13have peace in the middle of this
52:15genocide and here's a kid who survived
52:17the Rwandan Genocide serving in dark I'm
52:20really proud really proud of him um and
52:23this whole word I told you about
52:24genocide before and this thinking that
52:27my world would be better you know that
52:28thinking and those feelings and those
52:30actions that come and there's no such
52:32thing as my world I I I tell people we
52:34should say it's my fantasy because my
52:37world doesn't exist except between my
52:39ears it's in my head and and and so
52:41shifting in our thinking from my world
52:44to our world and our world is better
52:47with everybody in it and anyway lots to
52:51talk about I'll skip through if you want
52:52to watch the film it's a documentary
52:55called ghost of Rwanda I actually have
52:57some parts in that documentary and
52:59because of that I get invited to that's
53:01what open the door that's why I get
53:03invited to a bunch of schools this
53:04documentary and I don't recommend it
53:06because I have some parts in it it's
53:08just an incredible piece of of work um
53:13to explain what happened during this
53:15time and that there were enough soldiers
53:17that it could have been stopped but I I
53:21just I can't race on past that point
53:25these people didn't have to die it could
53:28have been
53:30stopped if their orders had been
53:32different and you stop and think what
53:36are who's who's driving the orders of
53:39soldiers well there's commanders and
53:41then there's governments but honestly
53:44we've got to recognize I'm running out
53:46of power thank
53:48you no or is my thing not on good you're
53:54okay
53:57my point is during the Rwanda genocide
54:00the phones in Washington DC at our
54:01Senators and representatives office were
54:03not ringing off the hook there weren't a
54:05bunch of people in America calling and
54:07saying hey we got to do something about
54:09what's going on in Rwanda they saw what
54:11happened in CNN some of you who saw one
54:13of the scenes you often remember from
54:14Hotel Rwanda is is this scene where the
54:17newspaper reporter thinks boy I've sent
54:18the footage now something's going to
54:20happen and the other guy says to him
54:22what he says oh people will watch it on
54:24the evening news and they'll go oh
54:26that's terrible and then they'll turn
54:27the channel today in the Congo and in
54:31Sudan and in Burma and in other
54:33countries around the world people are
54:36calling there's in fact a phone number
54:38right now that wasn't around in 1994
54:40it's 1 1800 genocide any of you heard of
54:43that phone
54:44number that's thank you it's it's a
54:47number you can dial you can dial it at
54:49lunchtime and and and it'll where are we
54:52we're just an hour different from DC um
54:54it will it will ask you for your ZIP
54:56code you put in your ZIP code it'll put
54:58you right through to your Senator's
55:00office to your represent to the White
55:01House call the White House at lunchtime
55:03and just tell them I mean it's kind of
55:05fun too but just tell them we were this
55:09morning talking about the Congo we were
55:11talking about the genocide in Rwanda I
55:13care about what's happening you might
55:15think what good does that do tell
55:17President Obama I care about the people
55:19in Sudan what good does that do I'll
55:22tell you two things it does it is making
55:25a difference because our people in
55:27government are hearing from the people
55:29that they
55:31represent and and it not only makes a
55:33difference for them but it makes a
55:37difference for you because you've done
55:40something if you hear stories and you
55:42don't do anything you can be worse off
55:44than you were before the stories that's
55:47why service is is huge well I said I was
55:50going to pause and and and I will um
55:52I'll
55:53just write
55:55oh yeah okay that's our house
55:59again they killed many of the people in
56:01our neighborhood at this home was one of
56:03the first places we saw them carrying
56:04the furniture down the street and
56:06Thursday night they came to our house
56:08with their machetes and their clubs
56:10we're not tootsies obvious but is
56:12everything everybody can do whatever
56:13they want they can take from whatever
56:15people they want to I don't know maybe
56:17they were going to rob our house maybe
56:19they were going to do worse things
56:20they'd been doing horrible things to
56:22women in our neighborhood to young
56:24ladies
56:26but they never came inside our house
56:28that night because our neighbors notice
56:31the houses around us little metal roof
56:33mud brick homes out of these simple
56:36little mud brick homes this house wasn't
56:39even built at the
56:40time ladies here's two of them came and
56:44courageously stood up and said
56:47no you can't come inside they didn't
56:51they didn't have guns they didn't bring
56:54out Garden H or machetes or things they
56:57came with stories this is the grandma of
57:00Shawn our boy's best friend's grandma
57:03she was among those ladies too they came
57:06with stories telling about how we'd been
57:08living there for four years about how
57:10we'd take them to the hospital in the
57:11middle of the night just little acts of
57:13kindness and and the one that I think
57:16just really to me was huge was they said
57:19you can't go in there their kids play
57:21with our kids somehow these ladies I
57:24said weren't armed not true they were
57:27armed with stories and somehow the
57:29stories changed to some degree the
57:31thinking of these guys and and perhaps
57:34even a bit their feelings but it changed
57:36their actions they didn't come in our
57:38house these women they are not ordinary
57:40women if they were ordinary women I
57:42think they would have stayed in their
57:43house they're
57:44extraordinary and they used what every
57:46single one of us
57:48has a
57:50story to make a difference so our family
57:54did leave you can see the kids are not I
57:56mean that's a bunch of cars as they were
57:58driving out you can see the kids don't
58:00look
58:01terrified and you ask them why and Lisa
58:04will say because Mom wasn't afraid at
58:08checkpoints they might bang on the side
58:09of the camper they might Rock the camper
58:11try the handle several times so the door
58:14never got in our kids were were well
58:16protected my dad was actually visiting
58:18so he was driving but I can't give
58:20enough credit to my wife for the courage
58:23that she showed and the security she
58:25gave our kids the sense of stability
58:28there's a little clip on YouTube you
58:30ought to watch it's called the girl
58:31effect and and it and and it just talks
58:33about if you want to make a difference
58:35make sure young ladies are empowered
58:37make sure they have education this if
58:39you want to make a difference anywhere
58:40in the world this is where you're going
58:41to have the best return on your
58:43investment in any case I won't go on but
58:46uh I will stop here uh Teresa didn't go
58:49to the states she just went to Nairobi
58:51and every day we talked on the radio an
58:53Incredible Gift to be able talk to her
58:55and you can read more of the stories I
58:57thank you very
58:58[Applause]
59:18much

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