I Have Before Me a Remarkable Document Given to Me by a Young Lady From Rwanda

Juliette Badaki, a Rwandan refugee, has come to London, fleeing from the horrors of her homeland. Quite alone, almost penniless, she has been referred to a Refugee Centre in central London for help with a book she is writing about her personal experience during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. At the Centre, she meets Simon Baker, a diffident and disillusioned British poet in his forties. A new Centre volunteer, Simon has offered to help refugees with their writing; Juliette is his first client. Through the writing of Juliette’s remarkable document, these two very different and adrift people find a rich, anchoring friendship, which teaches them and us much about survival, resilience, and the healing power of the written word.