Rwanda & Recovery

In last week's New Yorker, Philip Gourevitch has a fascinating article about the rebuilding of Rwanda. The genocide was fifteen years ago, and now there are courts organized by the government to facilitate some kind of reconciliation between Hutu and Tutsi, perpetrators and survivors, and lay at least a tentative groundwork for preventing another genocide. There are also new roads, billboards promoting the payment of taxes as an honor to the country, and a lal banning plastic bags. That's right. To limit garbage and environmental damage, Rwanda has outlawed plastic bags. Considering everything, it's the least amazing part of their recovery, but still amazing nonetheless.