Region

Africa

Georgetown Students Pose Questions

Nathalie Applewhite, Pulitzer Center

Hi Class,

Thanks for being such a good group last week!

This is a blog for our latest project. Check out the main project page for Mozambique (there's a video that introduces the issues and many other related resources) and then post your questions here for Stephanie and Steve who are in Mozambique now and ready to answer questions.

Thanks!

Nathalie

Gorongosa Day 2

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

Today we met Tendai Loja, a man cutting grass with a big machete in Gorongosa's Chitengo camp. He used to be a poacher – the boss of a group of villagers who would go into the park and snare protected animals, which they would sell at local markets. But he was arrested after some of his colleagues ratted him out, and he was sentenced to six months of manual labor in the park.

Students in Action

Three Vermont high school students spent part of their 11-day trip to Rwanda visiting students in Project Independence, which provides job skills training for Rwandan young people orphaned by AIDS. On one day, the Vermont students' first stop was a garage in the capital of Kigali where Rwandan students were working on vehicles as part of a three-month internship in auto repair. Then the group watched students studying hospitality learn about food preparation in a class at a hotel restaurant.

American teens, Rwandan truths

A group of Vermont high school students travelled to Rwanda to meet teenagers affected by HIV/AIDS. They share their photos, video, and their own words about their experiences in country

Check here for when and where to watch in your local area.

Produced by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting

"Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria" is produced by Azimuth Media

US Videographer: Colin McCullough

Children Affected by HIV/AIDS (CHABHA)

The following text and photographs were provided by Susanna Grannis of CHABHA.

CHABHA supports a total of nine projects, four of these are in Rwanda. CHABHA provides the sole support for these Rwanda projects.

"What Do I Have? What Can I Offer Them? Cashews

By Cynthia Perry, chaperone and Operation Day's Work director

Although we stayed mostly in the Rwandan capital of Kigali, a two-day excursion to Volcanoes National Park in northwest Rwanda to see the mountain gorillas gave us a searing glimpse of rural poverty in Rwanda. Below is an excerpt from a journal entry written by Thetford Academy teacher Cindy Perry, who coordinates Operation Day's Work in the United States. The excerpt begins as we returned to our Land Cruiser after hiking into the jungle to see the gorillas.

Part 3: Teens Challenged by Rwanda's Contrasts

Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda -- Hand outstretched, the small boy chases our white Land Cruiser as it jolts along a dirt road deep in the Rwandan countryside. His thin legs churn to keep up until our car leaves him behind amid the red dust that swirls in our noisy wake.

Gorongosa: Rich in Biodiversity

Although most of the animals are gone, Gorongosa is still rich in biodiversity. The park sits at the end of the Great Rift Valley, in the trough between the Cheringoma Escarpment and the long, flat-topped Gorongosa Mountain.

I Wish You Were Here to Experience This Place

By Cynthia Perry, chaperone and Operation Day's Work director


Thetford Academy teacher Cindy Perry kept in touch with family during the trip. What follows is an e-mail she sent to her partner, Thetford Academy teacher Marc Chabot, on our third day in Rwanda. It describes a meeting of Amahoro Association, a group providing support for children affected by AIDS, to which we brought gifts of athletic equipment and clothing.

Part 2: American Students Struggle With Stark Differences


Kigali, Rwanda -- Basketball will have to wait, at least until her novelty wears off.

Kylie Butler, a 16-year-old Thetford Academy student, has been invited by a Rwandan girl to join some young men playing a pickup game on a rough cement court at a primary school in Rwanda's capital. But as she leads Kylie toward the court, a group of children abandon their nearby soccer game and form a tight circle around Kylie and classmate Lizzy King, 17, clamoring for attention.