Hopes on the Horizon

Documentary that chronicles the rise of pro-democracy movements in six African nations during the final decade of the 20th century: Benin, Nigeria, Rwanda, Morocco, Mozambique and South Africa. In Benin, the people take back their country from a dictator. 1989 was a tumultuous year in Benin, which had been under military dictatorship for 17 years. A strike by university professors, students and trade unionists led the government to abandon Marxist-Leninism and forced the president to convene a National Conference. The conference provided a forum for the entire nation to voice concerns and paved the way for non-violent transition to a multi-party democracy. In Nigeria, a movement for human rights proves stronger than the military. With more than 250 ethnic groups, a population split between two competing religions, and competition for its vast oil resources, Nigeria is a nation in danger of disintegration. The country has spent most of its four decades of independence under harsh military rule, which held the nation together. But a human rights movement emerged in the 1990s to terminate military rule and raise issues of resource- and power-sharing. In Rwanda, historians help their country overcome genocide. In the wake of the 1994 genocide, Hutus and Tutsis faced the challenge of rebuilding every aspect of their society. Rwandan intellectuals and scholars saw a need to re-examine the nation's painful history. In a series of seminars, historians have labored to promote a new interpretation of Rwandan history that acknowledges previous oppression and allows all Rwandans to face up to their past. In Morocco, women fight for social and legal equality. Although civil law in Morocco is based on French secular law, relations within the family are governed by Islamic principles codified in a document called the Moudawana. In 1990, an organization of women mounted a petition campaign to urge the king and religious leaders to reform the Moudawana and grant Moroccan women equal rights in their country. In 1999, Morocco adopted an unprecedented national Plan of Action to integrate women into the economy, protect them from violence and increase female literacy. In Mozambique, peasant farmers lead the fight for land reform. Following independence from Portugal, women peasant farmers built an agricultural cooperative movement in Mozambique. The cooperatives were instrumental in providing food to citizens during years of violent war and they have extended education and health services to their members. Most recently, women from the cooperatives have been at the forefront of efforts for economic and land reform. In South Africa, education becomes a tool for liberation. One of the greatest challenges facing the post-apartheid government of South Africa was to develop a non-racist, quality education system in a nation that for decades had systematically undereducated its majority black population. Aha Thuto, a high school in the new black township of Orange Farm, has been a role model for teacher-parent-student cooperation to promote high academic standards and strong community values.