Education Resource

Meet the Journalist: Neil Brandvold

Photojournalist and filmmaker Neil Brandvold and science writer Amy Maxmen report on Konzo, a neglected tropical disease, and travel to Kahemba in the Democratic Republic of Congo—known as "the place of suffering."

Konzo is a disease caused by consuming cyanide from improperly prepared cassava. The result can be irreversible paralysis. Brandvold and Maxmen were told that up to 1 in 10 people in Kahemba suffer from the disease and are forced to walk with home-made crutches or drag themselves to move.