Outside Read Blog #2: April 29th

In a section of my reading this week from An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina they explained a new radio station that went on the air on August 8, 1993. This radio station was called Radio-Television Libre des Mille Collines. It was very influential and everyone listened to it. They described it as the radio of the side walk because you always heard it throughout the village. This reminds me of my own life because the radio is very influential to listeners and can tell a lot about a person by the radio station that they listen to. For instance, if you listen to 98.5KTIS you are most likely a Christian who enjoys a variety of Christian music. The music influences you because something that you heard on the radio might effect a decision you make during the day. This was very true during the genocide in Rwanda. They would send messages over the radio telling stories to persuade people that they should dislike the Tutsis. For example this was a story that they shared in the book as a typical broadcast: "Jeanne is a sixth-form teacher at Muramba in Muyaga commune. Jeanne is not doing good things in this school. Indeed, it has been noted that she's the cause of the bad atmosphere in the classes she teaches. She urges her students to hate the Hutus. These children spend the entire day at that, and it corrupts their minds. We hereby warn this woman named Jeanne, and indeed, the people of Muyaga, who are well known for their courage, should warn her. She is a security threat for the commune"(Rusesabagina 52). Stories like these caused people to grow tension between Hutus and Tutsis. These never ending stories influenced the people of Rwanda daily and contributed to the 1994 genocide.