An Ordinary Man

I just finished the book An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina, in which he chronicles his actions during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, helping to save hundreds of people at the Hotel Mille Collines in Kigali. Some of you may recognize this as the basis for the Hotel Rwanda movie starring Don Cheadle.

As I've said earlier, my interest in Rwanda stemmed from a speech I heard given by Romeo Dallaire. I then read Shake Hands With the Devil. So, when a friend lent me An Ordinary Man I knew I had to read it.

The majority of us in North America could never imagine the horror these people witnessed, lived through, helped fight and must remember. We could never imagine how one person could do these things to another human...a child, a mother, a father, the elderly, the educated and the uneducated. All stemming from a fear of loss of power.