Hope for Sierra Leone

Sunday night I had the privilege of attending a lecture by Carolyn van Gurp about her work in Sierra Leone. Carolyn's blog is here and it delivers a message of hope for rebuilding the world's poorest country from the ashes of war. Much of her work is through the Centre for Development and Peace Education and Peaceful Schools International. She has about "3,000 photographs" so far and had to narrow it down to just a few for the lecture. Somewhere in there is a great documentary film.

Zoriah

Zoriah is an award-winning photojournalist whose work has been featured in some of the world’s most prestigious galleries, museums and publications. Zoriah's clients have included The BBC, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, ABC News, NPR, Focus and many others. His web site gives an open look at the Iraq War and that has caused him some grief with the U.S. Marines. Following a photo display of a suicide bombing he was ordered to remove the post but when he refused his embed was canceled.

Global Voices for Justice has an interview with Zoriah here.

Happy Canada Day!

It seems fitting my Citizenship Card arrived yesterday and today I am "officially" a Canadian citizen. Happy Canada Day everyone!

IPS Journalist Assaulted

GAZA CITY - Mohammed Omer, the Gaza correspondent of IPS, and joint winner of the 2008 Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism, was strip-searched at gunpoint, assaulted and abused by Israeli security officials at the Allenby border crossing between Jordan and the West Bank on Thursday as he tried to return home to Gaza. Read more...

Martin Fletcher

I just finished Martin Fletcher's book 'Breaking News' so though I'd post a thumbs up. It's a great read and offers quite a few tales of living life as a foreign correspondent. Lots of close calls, sad memories, friendships made and lost, and moments of reflection. I really enjoyed this book. More about it is found here in MSNBC's web site.

War/Dance

War/Dance is a documentary film that explores the importance culture plays in the lives of children and how through it they can triumph over tragedy and war. Set against the backdrop of Uganda's 20 year civil war during which over 30,000 children have been abducted by a rebel army, the documentary tells the story of Dominic, Rose, Nancy and their school in the Patongo Internally Displaced Persons Camp as they make an historic journey to compete in Uganda's national music and dance festival.

The film is simply breathtaking as it captures the beauty of Africa while exposing heart-wrenching terror seen through the eyes of children. It's one thing to read about the atrocities that plague Africa and it's people but quite another to watch a young girl cry at the grave of her father as she begs God to let her see him one more time.

War/Dance was directed by Sean and Andrea Nix Fine. It scored an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes. A documentary should do one of three things - inform, outrage, or inspire. War/Dance does all three.

Shooting Back

In January 2007, B'Tselem, The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, launched "Shooting Back", a video advocacy project focusing on the Occupied Territories. They provided Palestinians living in high-conflict areas with video cameras and asked them to film the reality of their lives under occupation.

"Shooting Back" works with families who live in close proximity to settlements, to military bases or at the sites of frequent army incursions. It's a form of citizen journalism that records the daily life of the Palestinian people. Settlers attacking farmers, soldiers shooting unarmed civilians, invasions, and death are being brought to the global audience as shocking evidence.

The BBC has published online one such attack on an elderly shepherd, his wife and a nephew by four masked men for allowing their animals to graze near the settlement of Susia.