Roméo Dallaire

Jessica Dee Humphreys

Longlisted for the RBC Taylor Prize: In this piercing memoir, Roméo Dallaire, retired general and former senator, the author of the bestsellers Shake Hands with the Devil andThey Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children, and one of the world's leading humanitarians, delves deep into his life since the Rwandan genocide. At the heart of Waiting for First Light is a no-holds-barred self-portrait of a top political and military figure whose nights are invaded by despair, but who at first light faces the day with the renewed desire to make a difference in the world. Roméo Dallaire, traumatized by witnessing genocide on an imponderable scale in Rwanda, reflects in these pages on the nature of PTSD and the impact of that deep wound on his life since 1994, and on how he motivates himself and others to humanitarian work despite his constant struggle. Though he had been a leader in peace and in war at all levels up to deputy commander of the Canadian Army, his PTSD led to his medical dismissal from the Canadian Forces in April 2000, a blow that almost killed him. But he crawled out of the hole he fell into after he had to take off the uniform, and he has been inspiring people to give their all to multiple missions ever since, from ending genocide to eradicating the use of child soldiers to revolutionizing officer training so that our soldiers can better deal with the muddy reality of modern conflict zones and to revolutionizing our thinking about the changing nature of conflict itself. His new book is as compelling and original an account of suffering and endurance as Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking and William Styron's Darkness Visible.

My Ongoing Battle with PTSD

Waiting for First Light

Rona Ambrose

An introduction to the International Day of the Girl — and why it matters. Celebrated every October 11th, the United Nation’s International Day of the Girl was created to increase awareness of issues that affect girls — and only girls — and to encourage progress toward gender equality. Nine stories inspired by the real-life experiences of girls from all over the globe bring to light the importance of this day. From gender-based violence to illiteracy, sanitation to child marriage, each story is set in a different country and sensitively describes a situation in which the main character faces an inequity based on her gender and young age. With realistic yet hopeful outcomes for each story, girls are presented as reformers, not victims. Ordinary girls making a powerful difference — these stories will stir the activist in every child!

Jessica Dee Humphreys

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