Petites et Grandes Aventures

9 hours in Kyoto

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara) — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 14:21:00 +0000

Japanese capsule hotels have always intrigued me. Who stays in these places? How do you sleep in a space barely bigger than a coffin? And don't you get woken up by the snoring of your neighbours? On my last trip to Kyoto I decided to check out 9 hours - a new capsule hotel with a difference.

As you can see from the video - 9 hours is definitely a uniquely Japanese experience. Virtually everything follows a colour pattern of white, black and a few spots of red - all carefully designed from the shoe lockers to the slippers, pyjamas and tooth brushes. 9 hours even developed its own fragrance for its shampoo, conditioner and body wash. Flat, form and texture - all the objects fit into one of three design categories.

The highlight of course are the capsules or as the hotel refers to them: "sleeping pods". It's all high-tech with sleep control systems designed to make you sleep more comfortably and wake-up with the gradual increase of light. Significant research - I was told - has also gone into designing pillows and mattresses in order to create a cozy space that promotes peaceful sleep.

The traditional market for capsule hotels are businessmen needing an affordable place to stay. 9 hours takes it one step further and creates a stylish place of transit. It also offers the same amenities for women hence the women's only elevators that lead to women only capsule floors to make them feel comfortable, safe and secure.

For those of you who are thinking of visiting Kyoto and maybe staying at 9 hours - definitely try it for the experience. The design is great, the pods are comfy and I slept really well. But anything longer than one night might leave you - as in my case - wanting a few more comforts from a normal hotel room. I missed a comfortable lounge to chill and read. And the lockers on the floors are simply not big enough for overseas travellers with a lot of luggage. Though I must say after a couple of nights in Ms Hashimoto's quaint traditional Japanese B&B smack bang in the old town (which I loved!) 9 hours couldn't have made for a starker contrast. Tradition and high-tech, elaborate rituals and minimalist design - in Japan it's all side by side and that's one of the many reasons why I find this country so fascinating.

Hau den Lukas - a Hamburg institution

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 11:53:00 +0000

I'm a big fan of Hamburg. I love strolling through the HafenCity with its modern architecture and the old beautiful brick warehouses that give the city a worldly flair, or catching a boat to tour the massive port, eating Fischbrötchen or Sushi or going on a shopping spree.

Now I'm not a big fan of fun-fairs - but if you're out for some roller coaster action, want to enjoy the view from the ferris wheel or nibble roasted almonds or tasty waffles the Hamburger Dom might be an option.

The name sounds a little misleading. I first expected some religious landmark, but it goes back to a group of merchants, craftsmen and jugglers, who in 1337 were granted the right to seek shelter in the cathedral Marien-Dom whenever the weather was particularly bad. At the end of the 19^thcentury, the fairground showmen had to move to Heiligengeistfeld, the location of today’s fairground. But the name Hamburger Dom stuck and today the fun-fair runs three times a year.

I found out about this Hamburg icon while co-producing a short multimedia piece during a workshop led by Bombay Flying Club at the Akademie für Publizistik earlier this year.

So, meet H.J.H. Schroeder - the merchant who runs Hau den Lukas - an institution that's been around for over 50 years and something you don't want to miss if you're touring the Hamburger Dom.

Recipe wanted!

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 22:17:00 +0000

This was the treat that meant Sansibar was nearly always included on our walks: the warmer Schokoladenkuchen mit flüssigem Kern auf Himbeeren und Vanillerahm!

Hot and melting chocolate cake on raspberries and vanilla cream

I've emailed the chef to ask if he would be willing to share the recipe as this dessert does not appear in the various Sansibar cook books. So far I have not received a reply, but I've been experimenting on my own.

Barb's hot and melting chocolate cake on raspberries

Sylt - an island holiday a train ride away

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 21:29:00 +0000

Who would have thought that you can catch a direct train from Bonn and end up on Germany's most northern island? And given that it's in the middle of winter, I did get a few strange looks from friends about choosing Sylt for an island holiday.

After a week on the island I must say that it's been a great choice. Yes, it's cold, sometimes really cold even under blue skies with glorious sunshine. But long winter walks through almost frozen sand dunes, flying kites on one of the beautiful deserted beaches or strolling through the little historic villages, such as Keitum, makes for a really relaxing time. Oh, and did I mention the island is a foodie paradise too?

We found a great place to rent in the picturesque little village of Rantum, in the south of Sylt. The island is particularly narrow here. You're surrounded by nature reserves and it takes only minutes to walk from the Wattenmeer (Wadden Sea) on the eastern side to the wild beaches of the North Sea on the western side. Almost every house in the village boasts a traditional thatched roof, which is very quaint. Being low season it feels like we're the only tourists here. The local shop only opens for a few hours in the morning and they seem very happy to see us every morning when we buy delicious crusty Sylter Brötchen and pick up a newspaper. The shop owner says she loves this time of the year, as summer is too crowded.

Photo: Fieldreports

Rantum is quite a few kilometres away from the über-trendy village of Kampen, where the rich and famous come to party in summer and can pop in to their local Louis Vuitton boutique just in case they need a new beach bag. It is a little surreal wandering around the most expensive addresses in Germany, but at least you're sure to find all you need for cooking up a storm - the gourmet supermarkets are great!

Our little house has bikes, but when we've needed to cover longer distances we've been getting around on the local buses. They come every 30 minutes like clock work. And with a little bit of planning we haven't missed having a car on the island.

And for some reason we've been planning our trips to include a little stop at Sansibar, but I'll tell you about that in my next blog post.

Ouagadougou's best kept secret: Lebanese Manoushe

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 14:15:00 +0000

Now that I have a few days off work I've finally got around to post a recipe that I meant to share from my last trip to Ouagadougou, the vibrant capital of Burkina Faso.

We conducted our journalism workshop at the Hotel Splendide and every day for lunch we whizzed up to Chez Simon just a block away. It's a buzzing little Lebanese food mecca known for its cheap eats and delicious pastries.

I was keen to try their Manoushe, a kind of Lebanese pizza. Their selection of different Manoushe is rather extensive, so I asked Simon for his favourite. He recommended the Manoushe Spéciale. And, dear reader, it was so special I had it every day for two weeks in a row!

MANOUSHE SPÉCIALE

250 gr white flour
Salt
20 gr yeast
2 tsp sugar
Butter
100 gr of Labneh cheese
Fresh tomatoes
Black olives
Onions
Peppermint
Olive oil

PREPARATION

You should first make the Labneh (creamy yogurt cheese) as it takes a day to drain. It's actually much more straight forward than I would have thought. You make Labneh from plain yogurt by using a cheese cloth to drain the extra water out of it. Just pour the yogurt into the cheese cloth, bring up the sides and tie them together, then place it in a colander with a bowl underneath (keep it in the fridge) and let it drain for a day.
Now, it's time to prepare the dough. Add flour and a tsp of salt into a bowl. Mix in the yeast, then add sugar and a little warm water. Knead the dough, adding flour if necessary. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise for 10 minutes.
Add 2 tbsp of oil and knead into the dough. At this stage the dough should not be wet and not stick to the bowl. If you think it's too dry add a little warm water. Then roll the dough into a ball and leave in a warm place for an hour.
Using a rolling pin flatten out very thin pieces and roll the edges up a bit with your fingers.
Pre-heat oven to 200°C.
Add a small slice of butter in the middle of the dough, so it melts inside the oven.
Wait till the manoushe becomes golden brown. Now add the Labneh and serve with plenty of fresh tomatoes, black olives, fresh peppermint and olive oil.
Enjoy!

Short stop over in Warsaw

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara) — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 18:26:00 +0000

It's grey, cold and raining. A great time of the year to visit Warsaw, I thought sitting in a taxi from the airport on my way into town. And yet, I must say I was immediately taken by the charm of the old houses and the cobbled streets as we got to Warsaw's New Town, a neighbourhood dating from the 15th century, where my hotel was located. I was staying at Le Regina - a boutique hotel housed in the beautiful arcaded 18th century Mokrowski Palace and a great place to unwind. Plus it has fantastic weekend deals and lies smack bang in the historic centre of Warsaw - the Stare Miasto.

My location was perfect for exploring Warsaw's historical monuments - the Royal Castle, St John's Cathedral and the Citadel. It's impressive to see how well the city was rebuilt after the total destruction by the Nazis during World War Two. It really looks and feels like the 17th and 18th century - and yet it's barely 50 years old. Restoration was indeed so successful that UNESCO granted the Old Town World Heritage status in 1980.

Freta 33, New Town, Warsaw

Exploring Stare Miasto, makes you peckish. Ulica Freta, where Marie Curie was born, connects the Old Town with New Town and has a great range of food choices. I checked out Freta 33 - a small arty restaurant which serves moderately priced Mediterranean food. Try the penne with mixed seeds, sun dried tomatoes and spinach for a treat.

And of course I also had to sample Polish cuisine. I went to Restauracja Pod Samsonem a local restaurant just down the road known for its tasty Polish food infused with a Jewish flavour. I had a choice of marinated fish, pierogi and Polish blinis. Loved it! And also the vodka shots, that I hadn't ordered but our enthusiastic waiter was keen to pour down my throat…

But his enthusiasm evaporated quicker than you could down a shot, when he saw the tip I left. Next time I'll definitely have to properly work out the exchange rate between Euros and Polish Zloties before trying to leave a tip. Or maybe Poland will have the Euro by then.

The Moro-Naba ceremony, but no photos please

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara) — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 17:11:00 +0000

Friday morning, 6 am.

My iPhone alarm goes off. I'm not an early riser, but my colleague has convinced me that a must-see in Ouagadougou is the Moro-Naba ceremony that takes place every Friday morning at the Moro-Naba Palace. The Moro-Naba is the king of the Mossi, the largest ethnic group in Burkina Faso which makes about 40% of the population. It's a traditional ceremony and not something put on for tourists. Importantly, photos during the ceremony are strictly forbidden so that in itself makes me curious.

CC photonka

Still yawning and bleary eyed we set off to find the palace for this intriguing weekly ritual. We were told to leave early as the ceremony starts around 6.30 am. We're the first ones to arrive on the dusty grounds, but soon enough we're joined by several groups of "Nasara" (white) tourists.

Time goes by... 7.00... 7.15... 7.30... but not much happens… without our morning coffee we're starting to become a little impatient. Then, a lone servant saddles up a horse and begins decorating it elaborately. OK now surely it's going to start! Um, no. Back to clock watching and not much happening.

As 8.00 draws closer the crowd begins to draw in. Old Peugots and Mercs begin pulling up and drop off what appears to be important Mossi elders clad in beautiful long robes, red round hats and carrying traditional wooden objects. Some more arrive at full speed on their tuned-up mopeds. They greet each other with great reverence and sit on the ground according to rank: in the first row sit the Moro-Naba's spokesman and his chief ministers and, behind them, other dignitaries in descending order of seniority. Then Moro-Naba appears, dressed in red, the symbol for war. Suddenly we hear a crack as a cannon is fired. Now I'm definitely awake. From where I'm standing I can't quite make out what's happening, but the king's most senior subjects approach His Majesty to pay their respect. The Naba then retires in a mud hut, while his horse is unsaddled and takes off at a brisk trot.

A few minutes later the Moro-Naba reappears, dressed all in white (a sign of peace), and with that, the gathered crowd jumps back on their motorbikes and zooms off to tend to their days' business.

The whole ceremony is over in less than 15 minutes. And the story behind the ceremony? Well as my colleague told me, the Ouahigouya Mossi had stolen the Ouagadougou people's main fetish - an object of special powers. As the king was about to head to war, his ministers persuaded him to hold back while they try to recover the fetish. So this ceremony every Friday is a small celebration of peace. I've also read that the Naba's subjects are subsequently invited to the palace for a drink; millet beer for the animists and a kola nut concoction for the Muslims. Apparently the Moro-Naba then gives audience and hands down his verdict on local disputes and petty crimes. Maybe we should have stayed a bit longer, but like everyone else in the crowd we too had to take off for work and the millet beer can wait until sundown.

Bienvenue à Bonn

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara) — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 10:00:00 +0000

Petites et Grandes Aventures on Canadian breakfast radio - talking about living in Bonn, German reunification and the day's media headlines.

Fashion, Food, Fun and Flemish - a weekend in Antwerp

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara) — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 18:12:00 +0000

Planning a little weekend away from Bonn - a 'mini-break' as Ms Briget Jones might call it, literally one hour before leaving on a Friday afternoon, is a tad ambitious. Last minute flights anywhere fun were too expensive. Then we thought, what about going to London on the choo choo - only 5 hours away and there's always a special offer. Unfortunately the Thalys leg from Cologne to Brussels was booked out. That by the way also ruled out Paris. Copenhagen was also a wild card but quite far to go by train and the sleeper wagons were also booked out. So, deciding we might drive somewhere, we looked at the map and wondered what's possible say within in a two hour radius of Bonn. Alsace-Lorraine is nice, but a bit too far. Maastricht... meh, didn't get us excited. But, what about... Antwerp? Fashion, culture, good food, interesting things to see - it seemed to fit the bill - and my word it did!

(Photo credit @CharlesFred some rights reserved)

I knew that Antwerp is Belgium’s capital of diamond dealers, art lovers and fashion designers. And certainly wearing one's best was our first sight in the city. As we arrived in the late afternoon we first passed many stockinged and traditionally black attired orthodox Jews - probably just coming out of the synagogue on the Sabbath. The most interesting were gentlemen wearing large round fur hats.
On we drove into the historic centre. The patchwork of old and modern architecture, the startling visual and cultural contrasts won me over instantly.

Beautiful medieval architecture side by side with baroque, art deco and some surreal construction sins of the 1960s; cobbled lanes filled with touristy cafés and souvenir shops, next to trendy neighbourhoods with funky design and fashion shops, antique furniture shops and great restaurants. What more could you ask for?

We found our Hotel Banks was smack bang in the middle of the St Andries "Fashion District". Oh what good planning Mr Aventures! So, after a leisurely brunch on Saturday we had little choice but to begin our exploration of Antwerp with a little, well.. more like a thorough shopping spree. After all, the big names such as Ann Demeulemeester, Walter Van Beirendonck and Dries Van Noten were just around the corner.

I must say though I was more impressed by the design of the Het Modepaleis - the Dries Van Noten’s flagship studio, rather than the fashion. The 19th-century triangular-shaped building is one of Antwerp's many architectural gems. We then meandered down just a few blocks to the east along Lombardenvest, Huidevettersstraat and Schuttershofstraat - well worth a stroll for popping in to see more fashion boutiques.

I can also thoroughly recommend the MoMu - Antwerp's Fashion Museum which is currently hosting a brilliant exhibit on Stephen Jones, one of Britain's leading milliners.

I also liked RA in ’t Zuid (Kloosterstraat 13), which houses collections from up-and-coming and yet-to-be-discovered designers. It's a fascinating space. When you enter the 300-square-meter loft you're not really sure if it's a gallery, store, cafe or an artist's studio. The inventive displays (including a thatched hut) and unusual assortments are curated by owners and founders Romain Brau and Anna Kushnerova - hence RA. It's sort of a playful layout. At the right of the entrance, you could be mistaken for thinking you're stepping into someone's apartment. Your eyes are drawn to a Hoch-Bett decked out with cushions and blankets, but then you realise you're in a cafe. It seems like a popular hangout for a hip and arty crowd, chatting over cappuccinos, working away on their silver Macbooks or leafing through design books and magazines in a designated little reading nook.

No matter where you go in Antwerp you're never too far away from somewhere interesting to stop for a caffeine fix or a well deserved Belgian beer. We were intrigued by Kapitein Zeppos (Vleminckveld 78) - a cafe right behind the beautiful botanical gardens. It's perfect to grab a quick bite and there are loads of tables to sit outside if it is sunny. The staff are friendly and laid back and if you're wondering who is Kapitein Zeppos? Well he's a character from a Belgian children's TV series.

Other nice places to stop are Berlin (Kleine Markt 1) or Hangar 41 (Sint-Michielskaai 41). On the Marnixplaats there are loads of bars, cafés and restaurants too. We tried Lucy Chang for creamy coconut currys and other yummy Asian-fusion dishes. Fiskebar on the other side of the square is also highly recommended for grilled fish and big seafood platters.

Of course, in between the boutiques, cafes and bars you have to squeeze in seeing some of the big ticket items in the medieval heart of the city. On our Saturday afternoon stroll there were few tourists in the Grote Markt which is lined with splendid guild-halls. Newly wed couples posed for photos outside the impressive Italo-Flemish Renaissance-style Stadhuis (town hall) and the towering Gothic cathedral loomed over the whole square.

And for those of you who love food or love investigating food markets, I would also definitely recommend to check out the Vogelenmarkt situated between the popular shopping street Meir and the upmarket Huidevettersstraat. It's sort of an open/covered market bustling with locals and you can literally buy anything from meats, fish, Dutch cheeses, French savouries, fruit, vegetables and fresh cut flowers.

But I recommend two treats - either a dozen freshly shucked oysters and some bubbles at J&M or queue up at Sudelices for a Moroccan style "M'Semen" consisting of fresh fetta cheese, drizzled with honey and topped with a sprinkle of olives or sun dried tomatoes, all wrapped into a wafer thin piece of lightly fried bread and served with a glass of sweet mint tea.

Thanks to Mr Aventures for the photos!

Are you getting the picture that we had fun?

And yet there's still so much more we wanted to do: visit the contemporary art museum M HKA and the Photography Museum for example. Um, when's the next mini-break? We'll be back soon! And if you do know a nice Bed&Breakfast or a good-value Boutique Hotel in Antwerp - do let me know. We want to spoil ourselves more often in this fantastic Flemish city.

Funky word clouds

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 10:37:00 +0000

This is snapshot of Petites et Grandes Aventures created with Wordle a handy little tool for generating “word clouds” from text (or websites) that you provide. You'll see, the clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text.

I think it's a funky visualisation toy. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes - and just have fun!

A new look at King's Daughters

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:17:00 +0000

Sometimes it's good to take another look at a project, particularly if you've learned some new tricks.

A little over year ago I visited King's Daughters, an innovative project of the Bicycling Empowerment Network, in Katutura, Windhoek's largest township. In a nutshell they train former prostitutes to become bicycle mechanics.

I was very moved by this encounter and decided to produce an audio slideshow. Although I had a Marantz audio field recorder and a very good microphone, I only had a small point and shoot digital camera - a Canon IXUS 950. However, with good light during the day it produced reasonable images.

Back home I produced my audio slideshow with a programme called Soundslides which is a great way to get into audio slideshows. It's fast, intuitive and very straight forward. All you need to do is produce your soundtrack, import your pictures, arrange the order to suit your story, add some transitions and you're done. Here's how it turned out.

In my eyes Soundslides produces a clean looking result and is a very good way to start off and have fun, but if you want to do something more advanced, the natural progression is to move up to video editing software.

I've now started using Final Cut Pro. It really makes a difference, even with a relatively straightforward audio slideshow. Why didn't I do this sooner? Well, probably because I didn't have a Mac agile enough to run it. But of late I've been using a new MacBook Pro and have an HD video camera. Hopefully a DSLR will follow soon. I have several really good lenses from my old Canon film camera that I want to put back into action. Now, there's no excuses for not producing more multimedia! Here's my new look at King's Daughters produced on Final Cut Pro.

King's Daughters: Tools for a New Life from Barbara Gruber on Vimeo.

Les boules, c'est cool!

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara) — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 21:01:00 +0000

Oh la la the Brits have discovered that boules is now becoming the height of cool. Either that or the editors of the G2 section of The Guardian have had a little too much sun. What next? Will Pastis replace Pimms as the Poms' summer drink of choice?

It's funny how a game I've played all my life, is now chic with les rosbifs.

Here in Saint Cézaire there's plenty of die hard locals who play without fail every afternoon. They all belong to the local Amicale Bouliste de Saint Cézaire and are not backward in coming forward to tell you what they think of your boules skills, or lack thereof.

Yesterday they were laughing because we were throwing the jack way too far. "C'est une provencale que vous jouez". The rules say it should be thrown 6 to 10 meters. But they're very sweet, tomorrow they promised to give us expert advice.

The rules

And for those of you who are going to dash out to buy a set of boules after reading The Guardian, here are the rules:

A player from Team A throws the jack 6-10 meters away. The same player lobs the first boule, always underarm.
Now someone from Team B throws; this team keeps throwing until they land a boule closer to the jack than Team A or run out of boules.
Then it's Team A's turn again.
Points are scored when everyone is out of boules: one point for each boule closer to the jack than the best-placed boule of your opponents.
First to 13 points wins!

Thanks to Mr Aventures for the photos.

Taking the windy road to Lake Kivu

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:04:00 +0000

I've just got back from Rwanda where I was training radio and print journalists in the lead up to the presidential elections that will be held on August 9. (Kigali Wire has produced a good background to the elections).

A weekend break in the training offered the chance to explore Lake Kivu, which forms the western border of Rwanda with the DRC.

From the capital Kigali it's a scenic drive through rural Rwanda heading to Gisenyi. The bus trip itself was one of those, well, one of those trips that I'd rather not repeat. I'm fine with travelling in a cramped mini-bus, and can even handle listening to World Cup top 5 tunes in a loop for three hours. But I do draw the line at several small children throwing up onto you and your luggage… Rwanda is called the land of a thousand hills, and while yes it's beautiful, I guess that also means windy roads increase the chances of one being car sick. Oh well, the impressive Virunga mountain range and its seven towering volcanoes did make up for it, and unlike my dear colleague, at least I didn't have to wash vomit out of my hair.

Gisenyi itself is a very little backwater town boasting quiet sandy beaches - something I had not expected in the heart of Africa. I was told it's precisely this low-key charm that lures an eclectic mix of well-to-do Rwandans, expat escapees from the Congo and independent travellers.

Unfortunately the town also has its dark side and is remembered as the location of major massacres during the Rwandan Civil War, the 1994 Genocide and the First and Second Congo Wars. Sharing a border with the DRC certainly hasn't improved Gisenyi's reputation - what frequently comes to mind are the disturbing TV images of the many refugee camps near Goma just over the border.

We decided not to cross into the Congo and stayed at the quaint Paradis Malahide just a few kilometres south of Gisenyi on the shores of the Rubona Peninsula. The lodge offers rustic rooms and bungalows scattered around a lovely garden and a tiny beach.

I particularly enjoyed watching the fishermen set out at sunrise and sunset in their majestic boats working in formations of three. From each fishing boat, long wooden poles that support nets reach out and sway like tentacles - lifting and rising the nets in and out of the water like exotic lake insects.

We also checked out the natural hot springs, which are reported by locals to cure a variety of ailments. I must admit I wasn't tempted to jump in, but then I didn't really have any ailments to cure…

Unfortunately we didn't get to swim, but our guide had warned us: There are certain parts of Lake Kivu, particularly around Gisenyi, where it is very dangerous to swim. The culprits here are not hippos or crocs, but rather volcanic methane gases that are released from the lakebed. In the absence of strong wind, these toxic gases can collect on the surface of the water, and quite a few people have been asphyxiated as a result of so-called limnic eruptions.

These limnic eruptions got me curious. To date, only two have ever been observed: in 1984, 37 people were asphyxiated following an eruption at Lake Monoun in Cameroon. Two years later, a second even deadlier eruption occurred at neighbouring Lake Nyos releasing over 80 million cubic meters of CO2 and killing around 1800 people.

At Lake Kivu scientists are expecting an eruption some day. If an eruption does occur, the exploding underwater methane is likely to push a huge cloud of carbon dioxide above the surface of the lake, as well as triggering a series of tsunamis along the shoreline. Since CO2 is denser than air, it sinks quickly to the ground, pushing breathable air up into the sky. At this point, there is little you can really do to survive, and it's only matter of time before you succumb to CO2, poisoning, suffocation, drowning or a combination of all three. Hmmm great, but it get's even better: according to my Lonely Planet guide, the last thing you will probably smell will be the warm vapours from all the combusting methane, which are somewhat reminiscent of a giant, earthy fart.

Andrew Brown's "Inyenzi" - recommended reading for Rwanda

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:16:00 +0000

A few weeks ago during the pre-world cup South Africa hype I read an interesting interview with Andrew Brown, a young author from Cape Town. His first novel "Inyenzi" written in 2000 about love and genocide in Rwanda was a bestseller in South Africa, but never really made it onto the international stage. With a trip scheduled to Kigali I was curious to learn more about my destination and ordered the book in the US.

It's the story of Melchior, a Hutu priest whose devout view of the world falters when he sees Selena, a beautiful young Tutsi, in the seminary grounds. Theirs is a love that is twice forbidden - by the Catholic church and the ethnic animosity between Hutus and Tutsis. Ethnic hatred is on the verge of tearing Rwanda apart. In the eyes of the Hutu extremists, such as Melchior's childhood friend Victor, Selena is nothing but a cockroach - an inyenzi - that must be crushed.

In the chilling events leading up to the killing spree, the fates of the three characters become increasingly intertwined. Every chapter ends with official documents, newspaper articles and press releases from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in the case against Victor Busisiwa Muyigenzi, the former head of the communal police for Rweru, accused of genocide and crimes against humanity. The cold and blunt court records documenting the tragedy of Rwanda's genocide are a stark backdrop to what is a beautiful love story.

And while this story could have fallen victim to a cliched plot of a B-grade Hollywood romance, Andrew Brown captures with great sensitivity and compassion the innocence of first love, the beauty of Rwanda and the horror of the genocide. The language is moving; gripping the reader page by page and, is disturbingly powerful.

Social Book Club

If this got you curious, leave me a message and I'll put the book in the post to you - but only on condition that you forward it to the next person interested.

Little Perugian Baci or what I'm taking away from #IJF10

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara) — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 21:24:00 +0000

Eyjafjallajökull has sent me on an unexpected 1257 km dash against the ash adventure across Germany, the Swiss alps and deep into Italy to attend the International Journalism Festival in Perugia.

As expected quite a few international speakers and journalists were unable to attend but I was surprised at the resourcefulness of some participants determined to make it down to Italy. Ande Gregson from Media140 for example drove all the way from London on his R1 Yamaha motorbike (it's red, so it must go fast!), David Sasaki caught one train after another for a day and a half to travel from Austria, while Lisa Zilberpriver changed her original flight Sydney-Bangkok-London-Rome and spent several days flying across the globe via Hong Kong and Doha.

It was a jam-packed five days at the #IJF10 with many interesting insights into the Italian and international media landscape and loads of discussions about the opportunities of new media in our profession.

I'm not a regular conference goer, so I can't give you the pros and cons of this conference versus any other large journalism talk-fest, but I must say I liked the wonderfully organised Italian chaos, the beautiful historic venues spread all throughout the old town, the professional translation, the daily happy hour "Taste of Umbria" and the large jars of Perugian Baci chocolates luring me time and again back into the press centre.

It's impossible to pack the whole five days into a blog post, so here are just a few little "baci" from Perugia that I want to share with you:

Data Visualisation

A real discovery was the work of David McCandless of Information is Beautiful. Of course visualising data is nothing new, but the presentation David gave at Media140 took the visualisation of information - be it facts, data, ideas, or statistics - to another level. David links information and design to "help us understand the world, cut through BS and reveal the hidden connections, patterns and stories underneath". Very inspiring! And I added two new professions to my vocabulary: data journalist and information designer.

Media140

Along with presentations from David McCandless and Guy Degen the Media140 team who was stuck in the UK produced a great live broadcast from a bunker.

Video and Creative Commons

Al Jazeera was represented by Moeed Ahmad, head of new media, and Laith Mushtaq, one of their brave camera operators working in conflict zones and now a keen blogger. The broadcaster has a pioneering approach to new media and challenges other traditional broadcasters.

Al Jazeera's Creative Commons Repository is particularly interesting. It's the first time a broadcaster has shared its professional video footage on the internet free to be downloaded, shared, remixed, subtitled and eventually rebroadcasted by users and TV stations across the world under the most permissive Creative Commons license, "attribution only".

Dialogues on the Future of News

For me each day at the #IJF10 started with Justin Peters and Megan Garber from the Columbia Journalism Review who hosted very interesting and focused panels entitled Press Forward: Dialogues on the Future of News, based on a series of essays, interviews and case studies published in the bi-monthly publication.

How does the web change news organisations when it comes to communication with its users? How is credibility and trust affected by new media? What happens to traditional narrative techniques in the short-form world of the web? Those were just some of the big questions the CJR panels tried to address.

Outsourcing comment moderation

Josh Young, social media editor of The Huffington Post (who seemed to pop up on every other panel of the #IJF10) shared some very interesting insights on the HuffPost's conversations with its users. The liberal American news website and aggregated blog attracts around 40 million visitors and more than 2 million comments a month. That's a lot and needs to be managed.

Josh stressed the importance to structure online communities and to identify those users who are the most committed. Take the example of Wikipedia: 93% of the entries on the web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopaedia come from 8 % of the authors. So, it's crucial to identify and tap into this commitment. At the Huffington Post the most active and dedicated users have been given extensive rights in moderating comments, including deleting comments they deem inappropriate.

But let's first go back a few steps: Any comment can be flagged as abusive. In the past, a team of moderators checked whether these flags were valid or not. To try to deal with the sheer volume of comments, the HuffPost analysed the way users were flagging content and ultimately decided that those who have a good flagging history could obtain the right to delete. Of course, HuffPost moderators can still double check whether any comment deleted was fair and justified, but this strategy is spreading the burden of moderating, and at the same time raising the profile of the HuffPost's most loyal users.

Users, Josh says, are a positive term, because they do much more than just reading the website. They've also experimented with crowd-sourcing headlines. For example: here's a story - do you have ideas for a headline? But ultimately, Josh admits it takes more time to vet all the suggested headlines, than to write it yourself.

Social translation

Global Voices also hosted an interesting panel on bridging the gap between different cultures and languages online. While electronic or "machine translation" is improving, for example between French and English or vice versa, that's not the case for say going from Chinese to Bengali, or any other exotic language combination. We still need humans!

And yet if you do want a full picture, languages are still tremendously important. And that's where social translation comes into play. Social unpaid translation is really nothing new, many people translate something they appreciate in one language into another to share for a common good. But the internet as a social web has brought many new possibilities, it makes the process easier and more people are doing it.

Wikipedia is one example of a social translation website, Global Voices another.

Taiwanese blogger Portnoy Zheng recalls how frustrated he was by the media in Taiwan and started translating Global Voices' articles from English into Mandarin and posting them on his blog. Portnoy said he wanted people in Taiwan "to see more of the world" and soon was asked to join the Global Voices team as one of its main contributors.  Global Voices officially began translating into Chinese in 2006 and gradually added new languages, today offering 26 - including exotic ones like Malagasy, the language spoken in Madagascar.

David Sasaki from Rising Voices gave numerous examples of the growing trend of social translation, including Ecocn.org - a Chinese version of The Economist produced by volunteers, and Jaqi-Aru - a Bolivian website dedicated to preserving the Aymara language. I highly recommend reading David's blog post on social translation and the news industry. News media companies have a lot to learn from social translation initiatives!

Guy Degen aka @fieldreports recorded an interview with David after the panel.

Listen!

Search and track

There were also some good points on search engine optimisation and tracking what users are searching for. Adrian Michaels from the Telegraph Media Group said it's important to give people what they want - if they are for example searching for British politician Nick Clegg, you must run something on him.

And don't forget to pay attention to the top left of your story, because that's where the Google robots are looking. On Facebook it's how many click like or comment that will determine your visibility. And if you put a depressing information on a Facebook page, people are not going to click like…

Search and tracking results is something I'm certainly going to explore more.

New business models

Given the crisis in traditional media advertising and the growing importance of online news, media business models are changing - and bound to be discussed at a conference like the #IJF10. Italian blogger Luca Conti hosted a panel with Mark Glaser from Mediashift and two Italian publishing heavy weights. All agreed that in order to charge for news you have to have something very special and unique. The WSJ might get away charging for its content because it offers specialised business news, but general online news has very low added value.

According to Mark's forecast, smaller sites focusing on niche audiences (for example moms) have a better chance of survival as they will be more likely able to charge their audiences or offer very targeted advertising. Non-profit models, such as ProPublica, have so far had much success in the United States, but they were also kick-started with large grants - and it will be interesting to see how they fare in the future.

Spot.Us was another model that was mentioned time and again. David Cohn joined a conversation about new models of investigative journalism with Paul Steiger and Luca De Biase via Skype. With a grant from the Knight Foundation David founded Spot.Us - a fundraising platform which aims to pioneer “community powered reporting.” The public commissions, funds and interacts with journalists to report on important and often overlooked topics. So far, the focus is on local, civic reporting in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. An interesting concept, but would it also work in Europe where there's not a similar fundraising culture?

And talking about viable new business models I should also mention Italian blogger and independent new media publisher and consultant Robin Good who has a lot of experience in earning revenue from advertising on his blog. Ultimately though, he says, he got sick of the lack of transparency of Google Adsense, and decided to start generating income by consulting "students" on how to become successful bloggers and developing niche online content. Thanks Robin for your boldness, humour and business tips!

I was planning to be brief.... but there is just another highlight to mention.

An evening event featuring Al Gore and investigative journalist Roberto Saviano packed Perugia's Teatro Morlacchi…. I just managed to get in.

I've read Saviano's book Gomorrah and to much applause Saviano spoke with passion about fighting the mafia, an issue that Italians must keep talking about. I liked his references to the Jacobin revolution in Naples where the city's constitution enshrines the right of citizens to see the sea and to rebel. While he was not calling for a revolution, Saviano urged Italians to challenge the wrongs in their country and to act upon what they deep down believe is right.

Al Gore strode onto the stage in his cowboy boots and did not disappoint. Gore has positioned his Current TV in Italy as a beacon for independent media. He both played to a local audience by honouring several Italian journalists and at the same time challenging Berlusconi's grip on Italy's media landscape. He called for anyone who can't get his or her story published in Italy to bring it to Current TV Italia.

Judging from the hundreds of young Italian students who didn't make it into the theatre and watched the debate on large screens outside - I wonder if Current TV Italia will put in place a crowd-sourcing mechanism to go through all the incoming pitches.

Madagascar: living with cyclones

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 13:41:00 +0000

Earlier this month tropical storm Hubert struck Madagascar's east coast, killing at least 36 people and leaving almost 40,000 people homeless. The worst hit areas are reported to be around Nosy Varika - a tiny and extremely remote town on the south-east coast of Madagascar.

Two years ago I traveled to Nosy Varika with the Malagasy radio journalist Lea Fanihia. It was quite an epic journey to say the least. After an arduous 14-hour drive from the capital Antananarivo to Mananjary, we boarded a speed boat of the Deutsche Welthungerhilfe (German Agro Action) to make our way up the Pangalanes Canal.

I vividly remember the passing procession of boats all shapes and sizes as we whizzed by, the endless rice paddies and the kids of all ages on shore waving, laughing and running trying to race us.

The beautiful little villages of clustered thatched huts on the banks of the Pangalanes evoked a picture postcard of paradise... but this image is deceiving. You only need to get off the boat and speak to the locals to realize how harsh reality really is. This is one of the poorest regions in Madagascar. And if poverty was not enough to deal with - cyclones, heavy rains and floods hit and flatten this region every single year.

It takes about half a day by speed boat to reach Nosy Varika. The coastal village is cut off from the rest of the island. Radio communication is literally the only means of contact the inhabitants have with the outside world. There are no fixed line telephones and no mobile phone networks. Even in the dry season, the area is difficult to reach and jeeps struggle on the potholed dirt tracks.

In the rainy season, you can forget it. It is not even worth trying to get through. The locals use the waterways to get around, travelling along the Pangalanes Canal in boats or in traditional pirogue canoes.

Along with the north of the island and the entire east coast, Nosy Varika is hit by cyclones nearly every year. It's part of life. Only the names change: Grettelle, Indlala, Jaya, Dina, Clovis - now Hubert.

The material damage is always enormous: roads, bridges and houses destroyed, fields laid to waste and the annual rice harvest annihilated. In the storms' aftermath the people in the affected areas often face famine.

Back in 2007, Lea and I visited an emergency project run by the German Agro Action that distributes emergency food aid and also offers a so-called "food for work" programme.

Helping people help themselves

But in remote rural areas like Nosy Varika, inhabitants cannot rely on outside help to cope with the cyclones. They need to be able to protect themselves and have to deal with the after-effects. The list of preventative measures is a long: catastrophe committees, better communications infrastructures, early-warning systems and food storage facilities.

The co-ordinator of Care International in Madagascar, Didier Young, told us back in 2007 that he supports the introduction of new rice varieties that ripen faster and can therefore be harvested up to two months before the cyclone season begins. As an added benefit, this would stop the annual flooding of the rice paddies during the rainy season, he said. But he added that his agency is struggling to convince the Malagasy.

The Malagasy are highly traditional people. Their culture revolves around ancestor worship - a practice based on the belief that deceased family members have the ability to influence the fortunes of the living. Because of this, many things are "fady," which means they are forbidden. For example, new rice varieties are ignored because these have not been handed down by Malagasy ancestors.

Deforestation with fatal consequences

Another obstacle in the way of change is the extreme poverty on the island. Three-quarters of Madagascar's 18 million population live on less than a dollar a day, and don't have enough to eat. People who live in poverty generally have little incentive or time to worry about the environment.

Acute deforestation is now visible all over the island. It increases the devastation left by cyclones and causes flooding, landslides and the degradation of rice paddies. Without the forest's natural barriers, sand and debris flows into the irrigation channels of rice paddies and blocks them. Topsoil is also swept away, leaving fields deficient in nutrients and useless for growing. When the wet season's heavy rainfall comes, there is nothing to stop water from flooding valleys.

Cutting down trees illegally to sell as lumber is a way for the islanders to survive. People also cut down trees to use wood for cooking and heating. The average annual income of a Malagasy is only around 250 dollars. According to the UN, the island is one of the poorest and least developed in the world.

Political deadlock fueling the humanitarian crisis

Madagascar's political deadlock is yet another threat to the fragile humanitarian situation. Last year former President Marc Ravalomanana was forced from power by Andry Rajoelina with support from parts of the armed forces. Rajoelina has installed himself has President and Madagascar has remained without an internationally recognized government since.

Amid the political turmoil and economic decline, aid organizations are worried that the humanitarian situation will even deteriorate more and fear that the Malagasy government is becoming ever less able to respond to emergencies on the disaster-prone island.

Lea and I produced the radio feature "Living with natural disasters" in French, German, English and Malagassy which were broadcast on RNM, the Malagasy National Broadcaster, and Deutsche Welle.

They're big, hairy and really look like us

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:29:00 +0000

Staring into the eyes of a mountain gorilla in their natural habitat is a special experience. And it takes on an even greater significance when you think that there are only 700 mountain gorillas remaining in the world today. All of them live in central African nature reserves on the border between Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.

Last year I traveled to Uganda to report on refugees in Northern Uganda and the use of mobile phones to fight poverty.

I'd also researched the possibility of tracking mountain gorillas, one of the rarest animals on the planet. But looking at the map I was daunted by the long trip it would take to reach the border with Rwanda and Congo. I only had a couple of days free and permits to enter the park and join a track are very hard to get at short notice.

Still, I was determined to meet these majestic mountain gorillas, described in my guide as one of Africa's most memorable experiences. After persevering with at least a dozen phone calls to various authorities and several trips to the HQ of the Ugandan Wildlife Association in Kampala I managed to get one of the coveted permits, because someone had canceled their trip. With the permit in hand I was able to make a booking for the Clouds Mountain Gorilla Lodge and organized a driver for the 10-hour journey down to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.

So, do you fancy meeting some relatives?

Check out this multimedia mash-up of some of the reports I produced about my trek into the Impenetrable Forest for the Lonely Planet in English and the Deutschlandfunk auf Deutsch. I've also included an audio feature about the luxury 5 star Clouds Mountain Gorilla eco-lodge and how they are working with the local community for sustainable tourism.

Even if you have only a few days in Uganda, I would make sure not to miss it. Tracking the mountain gorillas is one of the most incredible wildlife adventures I've ever experienced.

Meet the Interpretation and Guiding Club

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 14:03:00 +0000

Having recently been in Morocco I'm on my guard when someone approaches me close to a tourist attraction offering some sort of deal or service. I've met my fair share of fake tour guides - usually young teenagers, wanting to take you around the sight and ripping you off at the end of the tour. "Please, just look. One or two pieces. For the pleasure of your eyes," is still my favourite invitation to date.

So, having just arrived in Kyoto (and dropped bags off at Mrs Hashimoto's quaint little ryokan) and then walking up Chawan-zaka (Teapot Lane) to the famous Kiyomizu Temple, it was somewhat unexpected to be approached by a smiling young Japanese girl on the temple's steps. This is after all the land of being reserved and extremely polite.

"Do you want a guide? It's free!"

My North African scepticism kicked in telling me this smelt fishy, like sushi going off in the sun. But, I hadn't even had the chance to even (politely) decline, when five other rather geeky and timid looking teenagers rocked up behind her saying they were also part of the tour.

I thought to myself, "Hello Kitty, this is definitely the ultimate Japanese Tour Temple Scam!"

Mr Aventures wasn't much assistance at this point either.

But within seconds our fears were allayed as the 6 member tour guide team started introducing themselves - this was the real deal.

Yoko, Yui, Yuto, Akihiro, Natsuki and Manami turned out to be members of the Interpretation and Guiding Club of Kansai Gaidai University. They'd come up to Kyoto for the day and all they wanted to do is to practice their English. A few of them already had fairly good conversational English, but for the others, you could immediately see that they were trying very hard to work on their language skills and in their own time.

So off we went to visit Kiyomuzi - the pure water temple.

Our young student guides all clutched colourful note pads and followed the directions of Yoko, their energetic instructor. On Yoko's cue the guides gave a short presentation at each point of cultural or historical significance. Some were very insightful, others were... well, they need a bit more practice - though their enthusiasm made up for any deficiency in delivery.

I must say, I learned a lot about temple rituals. For instance, you have to wash your hands before entering the temple. Not only that, the left hand must be washed first. And I think there was something about the left hand symbolizing worldly matters and the right being more spiritual.

Along the way our young guides patiently explained all the tiny shrines where you can determine your luck in life, health and love - we tried them all! And while the last time around I was given bad fortune, this year is looking surprisingly good.

In the eye of rush hour at Shinjuku station

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 13:22:00 +0000

Every day around 3 million people pass through 新宿駅 - Shinjuku station, making it one of the busiest in the world. The JR, Toei, Odakyu and Keio lines, plus the subway all cross here pouring out every minute more commuters into the labyrinth of Tokyo's underbelly.

Lifting the veil of Marrakech

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 19:33:00 +0000

It's the second time I travelled to Marrakech. Twelve years ago I remember being annoyed by the constant hustling of the souk vendors, trying to drag you into their shops to buy a carpet or some other object you don't need.

This time was very different. The first thing that struck me was the sheer intensity of light. Glorious clear blue skies and warm December temperatures in the "red city" made for a perfect escape from the cold European winter.

It's difficult to say what I liked best: the bustle of the colourful souks; the ritual bargaining; the sensory overload of the Medina; Jemaa el-Fna dressing up for a night out on the town; the palaces, medersas and other jewels of Islamic architecture; the beautiful parks and gardens smelling of orange trees and spring; or, the delicious Moroccan cuisine.

Here, in no particular order, is my Marrakech pick for a short trip to this imperial city:

We stayed in the exquisite Riad Khabia tucked away just behind the royal palace and a stone's throw away from the Palais de la Bahia and the Palais El Badii. The rooms are beautifully decorated and the calm of this Riad is a welcome change to the craze of the medina. There's hardly a better place for a post-souk snooze than the rooftop overlooking Marrakech and admiring the views of the snowy Atlas mountains in the distance. But it's no doubt the hospitality of Dany and Julien that topped off our experience, making us truly feel at home - something I have very rarely experienced.

My other highlights included the Café des Épices on Rahba Lakdima smack bang in the middle of the souk.

The narrow three storey Café des Épices looms over the spice square, and has a great rooftop view. Don't be deterred by the queues to get a table, they dwindle quickly. The staff are super friendly and a veggie & cheese sandwich with a mint tea is exactly what you need to recover strength for your next bargaining duel.

If you'd like a more elegant recovery then head to the Café des Épices big sister Terrace des Épices. This airy and very stylish restaurant on a terrace overlooking the Cherifia Souk serves up light, simple Moroccan fare. The food is delicious and the place is so inviting we wiled away a whole afternoon lazing in the sun.

For a real Morrocan tasting experience we went to Le Tanjia. The food was very tasty and well presented, the decor is sort of 1001 Nights and the belly dancing show surprisingly fun.

My friend Yoko from Japan forwarded me the latest GOOP newsletter with a list of the most "in-the-know spots" of Marrakech. Kasbek was certainly a real discovery. Aussies Cassie and Rebecca sell new and vintage Kaftans with details handmade by local craftsmen. The cloths are beautiful, and after hesitating between bright red & turquoise, light green & orange or black, I decided to get all three...

For culinary shopping we were told to check out the Marrakshi institution Patisserie des Princes for the best petit-fours and Morrocan sweets. You can buy their fresh and deliciously gooey cakes starting at 5 AM.

Finally I would recommend going to a hammam. We went to the Hammam Ziani right by the Palais de la Bahia. It caters exclusively to tourists so it's not the most authentic hammam experience, but steaming up, scrubbing down last year's skin and indulging in a fantastic massage was a great way to start the New Year.

Sale in the Souk

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 18:00:00 +0000

Jemaa el-Fna: the pulse of Marrakech

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 17:18:00 +0000

No matter what time of the day, Jemaa el-Fna, the beating heart of Marrakech is bustling with activity.

Street vendors sell delicious freshly squeezed orange-juice and colourful dried fruits, healers offer cures for many ails and pains, astrologers read what the future will bring in 2010, while veiled women try to grab your hand for a henna tattoo (I got one too...). And then there are the snake charmers and monkey men who try to hustle tourists for a few dirams.

At dusk camera totting tourists jostle one another on the many roof top terrace cafes to catch a glimpse of the sun setting behind the Koutoubia Minaret.

Down below storytellers begin their epic tales - lasting we were told up to 7 days. A smokey haze starts to waft over Jemaa el-Fna as food stalls fire up their barbecues for delicious spicey keftas, which they offer with Moroccan salads and steaming snails.

Of course this magical square is a tourist magnet, but it's not all staged and artificial. Jemaa el-Fna is where people in Marrakech come to socialize. You'll see groups of young women strolling up and down the square, families enjoying a meal at one of the many food stalls, and also large groups of men crowding around story tellers or Berber musicians.

Namibia and the fall of the Berlin Wall - a German-African odyssey

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 12:32:00 +0000

The Berlin Wall came down 20 years ago, on November 9, 1989. Back then I was living in Los Angeles. I was only 15, but I could feel I was missing out on something really big. It was a historic moment in my country and I was at the other end of the world. My friends wrote to me about celebrating in the market place in Bonn. Within days, my high school history teacher in LA was proudly showing classes bits of concrete from the Berlin Wall that she received by express post. Funny to think that even in such a short space of time remnants of the Wall were being distributed around the world.

20 years later German media are in a frenzy about the day that changed European history. Strangely, I can't get excited about it. Of course I grasp the historic significance, but I never got excited about anniversaries, the much loved pegs for journalists to go overboard pondering history, to come up with endless specials or to seek bizarre angles and stories no one else has dreamt up.

So, you might say: what does that have to do with Namibia? Well not much, except that I too was asked earlier this year to research a strange African connection to the former East Germany.

Namibia was a former German colony and after WWI was occupied by South Africa for almost 70 years. For decades, the freedom fighters of the SWAPO – the South West Africa People’s Organization – fought for independence and lived with their families in refugee camps in neighbouring Zambia and Angola.

But in the 70s and 80s, the SWAPO sent several hundred children to East Germany (known as the GDR in English and DDR in German) for education and training. They hoped that after independence Namibia would need a new, educated elite. These kids became known as the "East German Kids". The Central Committee of the GDR supported the project - after all it was the height of the Cold War and freedom fighters across the African continent were encouraged to embrace communism and turn their back on capitalism.

The book pictured above is by one of these GDR-kids, Nambian author Lucia Engombe. At the age of seven she was catapulted from a refugee camp in Zambia to a secluded castle in East Germany. She then spent 11 years in this strange GDR microcosm thinking she would grow up to become one of the future elite of Namibia.

But then the Wall came down and her life suddenly changed once more. Along with hundreds of other Namibian teenagers, Lucia was packed onto a plane sent back home. A country that she no longer knew.

Lucia's account of her remarkable childhood and life in East Germany is entitled "Child Nr. 95“.

Back in May I met Lucia in Windhoek and spoke to her about her German-African odyssey. Below you'll find excerpts from her book and the interview - in German, sorry to all the English speakers!

Lucia Engombe: Child Nr 95 by Aventures

Traditional Friday

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:55:00 +0000

I knew about casual or mufti Fridays - dressing down at the end of the working week, leaving your suit, shirt and tie in the wardrobe and coming to work in jeans, T-Shirt and sneakers. But here in Ghana I came across another very interesting idea: Traditional Friday.

This morning about half of the participants from our current affairs reporting seminar showed up in beautiful traditional dresses and shirts, made of colourful local prints and fabrics.

About two years ago the last government came up with this novel idea. Diana, one of the participating journalists tells me it's a way of promoting traditional clothes and boosting the local garment industry - including everyone from producers of local fabrics, to retailers and seamstresses.

Thanks to the British colonialists suits and shirts have long time ago taken over dress codes at the office, but Traditional Friday is a great idea, says Georgina, who wears a beautiful bright green and yellow dress. "It identifies you with the institution you work for. Mine here says GBC and has our logo on the print. So everyone knows that I work for the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation."

Kwarteng, one of our male participants, is wearing a Fugu - that's a traditional hand made shirt from Tamale, a town in the north of Ghana. Every Friday he wears traditional clothes. "It's not a law, but a moral thing", he says and "it protects what we have as Ghaneans". He thinks that too many clothes are being imported from Europe, Asia and other parts of the world and not enough is produced locally, so it's tremendously important to support the local industries.

Apart from boosting the economy, keeping the traditions alive, there's still another benefit, adds Georgina: "For all those who get their days of the week mixed up, on Fridays you're sure to know which day of the week it is."

P.S. This is a shot we took on our second Friday when we handed over the certificates to our participating journalists. If you look closely you can see that Christine and I also wore Friday wear...

Bringing the firebird to the big screen

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:45:00 +0000

The Firebird performance in Bucharest last week was one of the most moving performances I've ever seen. The kids were simply amazing and astounded the audience. I've never seen so many people cry in a theatre.

We mustn't let the fire of the Firebird go out. As Monique Gruber wrote earlier in the project's blog 90 percent of the necessary funds to stage Firebird were raised with the generous support of sponsors and donors.

However, we still need help to complete an important part of the project - the documentary film that follows the journey of everyone involved in this magic experience.

Tedy and his film crew have worked tirelessly to capture every moment of this endeavour. We've all seen the high quality that they can produce - just look at the trailers!

Film making is an expensive process and every euro will help bring the Firebird film to the big screen and show people what these Romanian children accomplished.

Here are the details for donations by bank transfer:

Account name: "Jungen Rumänen eine Chance!"
Account Nr: 2381435
Badische Beamten Bank
(BLZ 66090800)
IBAN: DE6609 0800 0002 3814 35
BIC: GENODE61888

Thank you for your support!

Photos by Alisa Tarciniu & Daniel Angelescu.