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A slice of life in N’Djamena
Overlooking the River Chari I am standing on the bridge over the Chari, the river which forms the border between Chad and Cameroon. I came here as a sort of a pilgrimage – one year ago today, this...
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Cutting sausages in CAR
The Hollywood version of Bangui Bangui in the Central African Republic has not got much in common with Hollywood, except the imposing sign on the hill above the city. City? Well, not really. 10 minutes...
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Despatch from Paoua
As I flew in to the north west of the country today, the plane banked sharply and circled as it came in to land. On the ground, on the bumpy, dusty bit of cleared bush that acts as a runway, soldiers...
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The power struggles around Paoua
I was thinking again about that local official in Paoua. He has another constraint – he can’t even get to see the area he administers. It's quite in contrast with my own role - I am traveling right...
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Of money, mice and men in Paoua
All the women contribute money to the boxes We are in the shanty side-streets of Paoua, where crumbling buildings patched with tin crowd in on dusty alleys, and where skinny cats patrol. I am sitting...
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The dead lizard and I
Last night, I had to abandon my room - it was just too hot inside. So I set up on a mattress outside the door under a mango tree. It was a busy night. Central African Republic in the twilight hours...
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Haiti – the first wave of humanitarian help
I had a feeling of déjà-vu this morning, as I drove to work in Jerusalem where I have been posted since August. The BBC reception is patchy here, but I could still make out the words: ‘Large-scale...
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Killing relief with kindness
Amongst the snowstorm of information clogging the humanitarian wires (Alertnet, Reliefweb, etc) one little nugget, buried at the back of a WHO report caught my eye. ‘The airport is intermittently open...
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Healing the mental scars in Haiti
The statistics coming from Haiti now are like telephone numbers, numbing our sense of scale. Two million people needing food; up to 800,000 people living in transitional shelter; up to 4000 temporary...
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The humanity of humanitarian work
What’s this then? A whole day dedicated to humanitarian workers? Don’t they get enough air time as the face of disasters, recounting tales of untold suffering on our TVs? Well, no, actually. The sad...
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