Not all who wander are lost

This is a long, long, long and winding tale of a government, a virus and me. As with all stories, plot twists abound, driven by pathos, frustration and, ultimately, redemption. Our heroine tries to bear up under it all, sometimes with grace and sometimes lacking grace entirely, occasionally coerced into screaming like a banshee, and then trying desperately to center and calm the mind. Let me tell you, desperation is not a fit state for a calm mind! How she cursed those gurus who know ways of contentment. She would find herself trying to be reasonable and rational: surely this woman with a 50-year driving … Continue Reading

The Unknown Known. In his most recent book, “We Don’t Know Ourselves,” Irish Times columnist Fintan O’Toole coins this term to describe the myriad times in the past 65 years of his life that the Irish people have chosen to bury what they know to be true. Girls disappearing to “visit an aunt in England” for nine months or more? A deeply corrupt but engaging prime minister? Priests molesting little boys? A briefly lucrative but totally chimeric Celtic tiger? You know the truth in your heart and your soul. But you can’t know it, because to know it is to expose it and to expose … Continue Reading

In Rwanda, as in many cultures throughout the world, teenaged mothers are terribly marginalized. Especially in rural areas of the country, many girls are without access to proper birth control or reproductive education. Many are victims of gender-based violence, and yet, of course, they are blamed for their pregnancy. “Once you’re a teen mother here, you’re basically garbage. It’s your fault, your stigma, your shame. Your parents disown you. If you are a victim of rape, you don’t admit it because you don’t expect people to believe you,” said my daughter Bridget Rhinehart, the Rwandan country director for the Swedish nongovernmental organization Kvinna till Kvinna … Continue Reading

One million people in 100 days. That is how many ethnic Tutsis were believed to have been murdered by Hutu forces — their fellow countrymen — in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. One million people in 100 days. Try to wrap your head around what that means. In order to kill that many people in so short a period of time, thousands, tens of thousands were wiped out en masse – in churches, in basements, in hospitals, whole communities gone in an instant, dumped in mass graves. Women and children especially were targeted so that there would be no next generations. It seems to me that … Continue Reading

There is a deepening sense of unease here. If I still lived in the states, I would be horrified, angry, insulted about the war in Ukraine – all of the emotions my American friends and family are feeling and perhaps more. I would not, at least not immediately, be adding to that an anxious unrest and an inkling of fear that comes from living in Europe right now. World War I, World War II, these were Europe’s wars. Yes, America was deeply involved, but the fighting was in France and England, Brussels and Italy. And even though Ireland is not next door to mainland Europe, … Continue Reading

I turn to current events in today’s blog. I fully get this will not be everyone’s cup of tea, but there’s a lot happening on this side of the pond right now. Perhaps most pressing is the Russian troop buildup on the border of Ukraine. It seems pretty clear that Europe is holding its collective breath at the moment. Presidents, prime ministers and high-ranking officials have been visiting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zalensky at a fair clip in recent weeks – Emmanuel Macron of France, Olaf Scholz of Germany, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and on and on. Even Irish … Continue Reading