Frontline Club bloggers
Africa Reading Challenge – 3. A Bend in the River by VS Naipaul
When Salim leaves his home on Africa’s ocean coast to take over a small trading shop deep in the continent’s interior he embarks on an adventure that marks his coming of age – in stark contrast to the progress of his adopted country, which is stuck in an endless cycle of upheaval. The town at […]
Chad Rebels’ Last Chance
Chad’s rainy season is coming. With the exception of U.N. and E.U. aircraft, transportation in the barren country will most grind to a halt. That means the U.N. must rush to get newly arrived refugees — from Darfur and the Central African Republic — settled into their camps. It also means that Chad’s rebel groups, […]
Dreams from Kogelo
Granny Sarah and a calendar featuring her grandson as she celebrates Obama’s victory over Clinton Must confess to one of those moments when I lose my cynicism and suddenly find myself going a bit misty eyed. Have done my best in the past to try to debunk the Obama myth by pointing out his family […]
Picture blogging to support the troops
I try to read a fair few blogs so every now and then it’s refreshing not to have to trawl through pages and pages of writing. Military Motivator is one of the blogs I like ‘looking at’ rather than reading. I got in contact with the author of the blog to see how it started. […]
Let Them Drink Coke – Cash or Food for the Hungry?
The Coke truck arrived just in time. After a long day in the sun watching an aid distribution I was in need of a cold lukewarm drink. But wait, these people in Kenya’s Kerio Valley were hungry. Many had not had a proper meal in weeks yet vendors seemed to come and go with chapatis, […]
31 very interesting things: 6. Reservoir Dogs
Reservoir Dogs is a great film. Less great if you watch it via our satellite service DSTV which sees fit to blank out the word “God” and anything stronger. If memory serves, the opening scene went as follows: Joe: Who hasn’t BLANK put BLANK in? Mr Pink: I don’t BLANK BLANK tip just because society […]
Give the man a dime…
Frontline blogger David Axe is cap in hand as he heads out to Chad and Sudan in the coming days. The Guerilla News Network is helping him raise $5,000 to make the trip to report on the European peacekeeping force and the U.N. refugee camps out there, I believe that vivid, courageous journalism, adequately resourced, […]
Jeremy Bowen to speak on reporting suffering
World Have Your Say, a BBC World Service radio programme, is going to be discussing when and whether a reporter should help the suffering subjects of their news stories. Though not exactly a new topic, the idea for the debate, entitled ‘To report – or to help?’ was sparked by a blog post written by […]
Saving Somalia
Children are among the guards at a warlord’s home in Mogadishu In this part of the world it doesn’t take long to spot the problem with international aid to Africa. Or maybe I should rephrase things. In this part of the world it doesn’t take long to spot the problem with British aid to Africa. […]
Somalia’s Pirates = Robin Hood?
“Brutal†and “savage†is how The Guardian describes Somali pirates who have been seizing and ransoming ships at an increasing rate in recent months. On April 5 pirates from the Somali Marines group seized the French luxury yacht Le Ponant, leading to a daring French commando raid that nabbed several pirate suspects. In the wake […]
31 very interesting things: 5. Madeleine Peyroux
I’ve never signed up to the theory that cover versions are rubbish. They’re rubbish if they’re just a cheap attempt to fill an album slot or add five minutes to your live set. But taking a song from one genre into another has provided unexpected delights. Until now, my favourite was The Ramones’ version of […]
Saving Darfur
It hasn’t quite reached the levels of ferocity seen between Alex van der Waal and John Prendergast last year, but there’s been lively debate under way at the Guardian’s Comment is Free site about Darfur and the role of peacekeepers. It opened with Julie Flint, co-author of Darfur: A New History of a Long War, […]
Trent Keegan
The Committee to Protect Journalists has taken up the case of Trent Keegan who was found dead in Nairobi on Wednesday morning. “This is a devastating loss for those who knew Trent Keegan, a photographer who worked to document people in need of a voice around the world,†said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Tom Rhodes. […]
Latin America promotes but doesn’t respect human rights
Latin American countries such as Brazil and Mexico have been strong on promoting human rights internationally and in supporting the UN human rights machinery during 2007. But unless the gap between their policies internationally and their performance at home is closed their credibility as human rights champions will be challenged, according to this week’s report […]
Sudan v Chad (Replay)
There I was all set to travel to Khartoum for the World Cup qualifier between Sudan and Chad and then this arrives from Fifa… In view of the current situation between Sudan and Chad, FIFA has decided to suspend the 2010 FIFA World Cupâ„¢ preliminary competition game between Sudan and Chad, which was originally scheduled […]
Photographer Killed
Police here in Nairobi think they have found the body of freelance photographer Trent Keegan. They have still to do a formal identification. He called me yesterday, saying he’d just arrived in town and did I want to team up on some features? It looks like he may have been killed by a hit and […]
Interview with Alex Strick van Linschoten
Frontline blogger Alex gets interviewed on BBC Radio 5 Live – great bit of insight into how one the Frontline bloggers operates, where he goes, how he approaches work and travel. Worth a listen.
Chad Refugees Race the Rain
On its own, Chad is one of the poorest and most desperate countries in the world. Now, to make matters worse, Chad finds itself sandwiched between conflicts in Sudan and Central African Republic. Hundreds of thousands of refugees (pictured) from those countries have flooded into Chad in recent years. The U.N. is struggling to keep […]
BBC Radio 5 Interview
This link will take you to an MP3 of my interview yesterday with Chris Vallance on my way home from the airport. Light listening.
Operation Return Home Unless You Want to be Beaten
A few weeks back the Irish Foreign Minister visited the displaced people in Kenya. He was introduced to the crowds at Kitale’s stadium by the District Commissioner. It was a flying visit, but it wasn’t difficult to pick up the fear among people in the camps: No-one wanted to go home until security was improved, […]
When hope turns to fear
You could see it on every face, in every pair of eyes. Here a hesitant smile; there a glint of hope. The weary and the hungry lined the early morning streets of Bulawayo as the elections results started seeping out, you could already smell the scent of change in the air. I had arrived in […]
Video: Illegal border crossing – for tourists
[video:bliptv:935010]Home Front
Today, I came across a blog written by the wife of a member of the Royal Marines. She’s been blogging since 2006. Her husband has already completed one tour of Afghanistan since she started writing and he is due to start another six-month deployment in September. Her blog provides an insight into the ups and […]
Illegal border crossing – for tourists
Panting for breath, I waded through cow-pat flavoured mud, struggling to keep myself from slipping in the dark. “Vamanos, vamanos, vamanos!†urged my coyote, the Spanish name for people who smuggle migrants across the border into the United States. The sound of La Migra’s sirens – also known as United States Border Patrol – sounded […]
New Militia for Darfur
[video:youtube:EwgQIeRjCk0] If you thought international efforts to find peace in Darfur were going nowhere, think again. It seems that while I wasn’t looking, the “global citizenry” has been organising itself into a force to take on the Janjaweed and Sudanese government. Admittedly at the moment it comprises only Peacepipe Repairman and Kitten but as I […]
Crossroads
“Abu Skandar, who always drives by the university when he comes to Cairo from Heliopolis, has made this passegiata into his personal polling sample to measure the progress or regression of Islamic veiling. I secretly suspect him of privileging the qualitative aspect of the investigation over its strictly quantitative dimensions. In his defense, it is […]
Shopping in Sudan
Darfur is not exactly a shoppers’ paradise. The sand and heat make it a bit much to spend the whole day browsing the stalls, although parking is not really a problem. But it’s amazing what you can find. In El Fasher I’ve seen jars of sour cherries, bottles of Spanish olive oil and fridges packed […]
Beautiful Mogadishu
There was one must-have item on my last (quite possibly last as in my final trip ever) trip to Mogadishu, the “Beautiful Mogadishu” T-shirt. They came in two designs, one featuring a smiling camel and a second featuring the simple star of Somalia. And they came in two sizes, small and not-quite-big enough. I bought […]
Brain Drain Dooms Somalia?
With peace talks in Djibouti underpinned by growing momentum for another round of U.N. peacekeeping, is Somalia on the verge of a turn-around following 17 years of conflict? Mark Bowden asked this question in a piece for The Philadelphia Enquirer. His answer is pessimistic: One of the things Somalia lacks is a capable, homegrown movement […]
