When The Stars Fall To Earth. Rebecca BSL Tinsley

that the African Union had given them no authority to do anything but compile a report, which they did. Ahmed was raging with anger that it had taken so long for the monitors to arrive, but he knew the Rwandan officers had put themselves in considerable danger, just being there and asking questions.

      A week later, Khalil told Ahmed that the incident at the school had been mentioned on the radio news. Evidently a copy of the Rwandan monitors’ report had found its way into the hands of a U.S. senator. The senator had asked the U.S. State Department and the United Nations how long episodes like the girls’ school would continue before the world acted. Why didn’t the international community support the African Union monitors with the proper resources, rather than expecting them to do the job with their hands tied behind their backs? he had asked.

      For several days Ahmed and Khalil listened to each radio bulletin, hoping to learn how the world’s diplomats would respond. However, the Rwandans’ report was quickly forgotten, buried in the avalanche of dispatches about famine, civil war, terrorist attacks, kidnappings, natural disasters, and tyranny from around the globe.