Thomas Rippe is a freelance journalist and photographer currently residing in Beijing, where he focuses most of his energy on recovering from three years spent working for Chinese government-run media. Prior to arriving in Beijing he spent two years in Kigali, Rwanda, where he did freelance work for the Associated Press and Voice of America. While in Kigali Thomas also worked for the non-profit Tiziano Project helping a group of young Rwandans produce a weekly radio program that aired on VOA.