Pulitzer Center

Pulitzer Center Staff

Post your questions and comments for Stephanie and Steve here.

Please list your school and name in the name box (e.g. Nathalie Applewhite/The Pulitzer School)

You might find it useful to read over the previous questions and answers below.

"Stephanie responds to Georgetown Questions"

"Answers to some St. Louis questions"

"Gorongosa Day 6"

Nicholas Wadhams, for the Pulitzer Center

The first of several stories Zoe and I are writing from our Ethiopia trip has moved at last, in The San Francisco Chronicle. You can find it here, with a sidebar here. More to come in the coming weeks. Please let us know what you think -- we're happy to respond to questions and comments.

Jolo is a volcanic island in the southwest Philippines. It has a population of approximately 300,000 people. Jolo is also the name of the town on the island which serves as the capital of the province of Sulu. About a third of the island's population live in the municipality of Jolo. Fighting on the island intensified in February 2005 when between 4,000 and 5,000 Philippine troops clashed with around 800 Islamist militants from the Abu Sayyaf group, along with followers of Nur Misuari. Up to 12,000 people were thought to have fled the fighting. (Source: wikipedia)

U.S.-backed Ethiopian troops grabbed headlines this winter, invading Somalia to drive the Islamic Courts Union from power. Less known is the Addis government's massive persecution of its own people.

Zoe Alsop and Nick Wadhams spent a month in Ethiopia interviewing people across some of the country's least-visited regions, capturing the strains of a people under siege -- by their own government.

Their reports will be appearing in U.S. publications over the next few weeks.

Stephanie Hanes, for the Pulitzer Center
Gorongosa, Mozambique

Since we received a question about this... unless we include a caption that says otherwise, the pictures on this blog came from Steve. They're still images taken from his video footage. We'll try to post more soon!

Stephanie Hanes, for the Pulitzer Center

I exchanged a few emails today with Vasco Galante, the communications director at the park. He has been reading this blog, and wanted to share a story about running into a herd of elephants yesterday... It is still the rainy season at the park, which means it's extra special to see animals - the grasses are very tall and thick, and even elephants can disappear quickly.

Stephanie Hanes, for the Pulitzer Center
Gorongosa, Mozambique

So we've gotten some comments about the whole landmine issue.

During the Mozambican civil war, there were landmines all over the place. And sometimes, at least according to what people on the ground have told us, nobody kept track of where the mines were buried. (And in a really cruel turn of events, big flooding in 2000 and 2001 moved a bunch of the landmines, making mine maps of the area all but worthless.)

Stephanie Hanes, for the Pulitzer Center
Gorongosa, Mozambique

Hi. I realize there have been a couple of questions about animal reintroductions, and I haven't really answered those yet.

The whole question about how to bring animals back to the park has been the focus of a lot of research and analysis. See, ecosystems are super complicated. Every species has a role to play, and each animal impacts every other animal. So the park staff has to be really careful.

Hi there. So Steve and I flew back to Johannesburg (where I live) this weekend, and then Steve went back to DC. I think we are finally feeling clean. We are still working on the story though, and are happy to continue chatting online. Also, if anyone has a question for someone at the park, we can try to get answers for you.

Here are some questions from St. Louis:

Stephanie Hanes and Stephen Sapienza, for the Pulitzer Center
Gorongosa, Mozambique

So a question from St. Louis:
"I was reading about your time over in Mozambique and I was wondering if you could describe what exactly you are seeing and how it is affecting you physically and emotionally."

Stephanie Hanes and Stephen Sapienza, for the Pulitzer Center
Gorongosa, Mozambique

Yet another complication for the Carr Foundation crew:

Officially, the rural communities that live around the park don't really exist. They've been around for generations, and have traditional rules about land use, but they've never registered with the government, and have never mapped out their land in any modern or formal way.

Stephanie Hanes and Stephen Sapienza, for the Pulitzer Center
Gorongosa, Mozambique