In 1994, while nations everywhere stood idly by, 800,000 people were slaughtered in eight weeks in Rwanda. Arriving as U.S. ambassador to neighboring Burundi a few weeks later, Bob Krueger began drawing international attention to the genocide, which was moving into Burundi.  He sought to minimize the violence and to preserve Burindi’s fledgling democratic government from destruction by its own army.

Krueger and his wife Kathleen, witnessing the slaughter occurring all around them, tried to get the U.S. government and the international community to take notice and act. Bob Krueger reconstructs the events of the military coup that precipitated the Burundi genocide and describes his efforts to uncover the truth by digging up graves and interviewing survivors. In straightforward and powerful language, Kathleen Krueger recounts her family's experience living amid civil war, including when she faced down a dozen AK-47-wielding African soldiers to save the life of a household worker.

Their story is about hope and the many courageous individuals who worked to build a more just society.

Please join us for this a special holiday presentation about Africa, healing and the strength of the human spirit. Robert Krueger, former ambassador to Burundi, also served in the US congress and senate. Prior to public service, he taught English literature as a professor and was later vice provost and dean of the Trinity College of Arts and Sciences at Duke University. His wife Kathleen is a writer.