Africa

Tomgram: David Morse, A Collision Course in Africa

In late 2001, Michael Klare published a book with the title, "Resource Wars, The New Landscape of Global Conflict." Its cover had a dramatic photo of burning oil wells and he suggested that, while resource wars themselves were nothing new in history, we were potentially at the edge of a new era of resource scarcity and heightened conflict, not only over energy, but over water, minerals, gems, and even timber.

Tomgram: David Morse, Energy Wars and Lost Boys in Sudan

If Somalia, occupied by U.S.-backed Ethiopian troops and in the midst of a chaotic, growing insurgency that has hardly been noted here, could well be our new Afghanistan, then what might Sudan be? Perhaps the starting point for the next disastrous oil war on this planet? Right now, in the American mind, Sudan is essentially Darfur, where a genocidal ethnic-cum-energy war run out of Islamist Khartoum is already underway -- a subject which independent journalist David Morse took up at this site in 2005 and 2006.

Pulitzer Center grantee Ruthie Ackerman talked to Cholo Brooks, a Liberian journalist who worked for the BBC African Service during the war, about the challenges facing Liberian youth after the war.

Everyone knows poverty exists, and seeing people beg for money isn't all that surprising. But in Liberia, some of these young men who beg are the ones praised and handed medals on the soccer field.

After more than a decade of civil war, many Liberian youth end up at the margins of the society, struggling to better themselves and reintegrate into the society.

Jon Sawyer, Pulitzer Center

Charles and Mabel were former fighters who went through the demobilization process thinking it would help them escape poverty. And like many ex-combatants, they were disappointed and let down.

The executive director of Liberia's demobilization program says the soccer players should be given a job—any job—to keep them off the streets. But with limited resources, that's easier said than done.

It's the first awards ceremony for the Amputee Football Federation's league and everyone's on the edge of their seats.

Jion is a soccer player for Amputee All Stars, a team made up of disabled Liberian youth. Despite the fame and recognition he has received, he still has to beg for money and food to get by.

Junior, an English teacher at a local high school in Liberia, has dreamed of going to the U.S. his whole life, mainly for better education. But he doesn't realize how tough life in the U.S. could be.

Comfort is training at THINK, a safe home that provides education and training to young girls, to be a pastry chef. She's one of many Liberians who're struggling to better themselves after the war.