14 Stories of Overcoming the Odds

Rwandan Genocide Survivors

After witnessing the murder of their family members during the Rwandan genocide, sisters Clemantine and Claire hid for 100 days and then spent six years in refugee camps across Africa. They didn't know if their parents were dead or alive, so in 2000, they emigrated to America. After years of searching, an acquaintance told Clemantine and Claire that their parents 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 on Oprah's stage in 2006, Oprah announced that she'd flown their parents to Chicago for a surprise reunion.