In 2009 Oprah Organized a Surprise to a Rwandan Refugee Family Reunion of its Kind

Clementine and Wamariya Family Reunion at Oprah Show

 Wamariya Family Reunion

From Oprah Show 2009
Many viewers will never forget Clemantine and Claire Wamariya , sisters who escaped the Rwandan genocide. When the Tutsi Rebels attacked Rwanda Wwamariya was 6 years old. After witnessing the murder of family members perpetrated by the RPF, they hid for 100 days and then spent six years in Hutu refugee camps across Africa . They didn't know if their parents were dead or alive, so in 2000, they immigrated to America.

The sisters continued to search for their loved ones, contacting the Red Cross, UNICEF and other organizations for assistance. Then, one day, an acquaintance told Clemantine and Claire the news they hoped to hear—their mother and father were alive.

The family reconnected over the phone, but Clemantine and Claire hadn't seen them in person since the genocide began 12 years earlier. As the girls stood onstage, Oprah announced that she'd flown their parents to Chicago for a surprise reunion. Tears streamed down the girls' cheeks as they embraced the family they thought they lost.

Watch the family's emotional reunion.

Clemantine continues to thrive. She says she's doing a post-graduate year at a Connecticut boarding school before heading to Yale University. Her family is also doing well. "I have good news," she says. "The whole family—my dad, my mom, my sisters, all my siblings—are in the United States now, right in Chicago."

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