Aid

One April afternoon, Lt. David Ochs, an earnest 23-year-old from Charlottesville, prepared to hand out humanitarian aid in a village called De Kak Chopan near the Helmand border. Churches and other groups had sent his platoon heaps of donated goods, but he had a hard time giving them away. At least one Afghan had begged Ochs to take his charity elsewhere, saying the Taliban would cut off his head if they learned he had accepted anything from the Americans.

Vanessa M. Gezari, for the Pulitzer Center

A dispute over a one-acre island in Lake Victoria that has fueled talk of war between Kenya and Uganda is but one instance of increasing conflict over shrinking water resources throughout Africa.

Such conflicts pit ethnic groups, races and nations against one another and are likely to get worse, fueled by a toxic mix of climate change, environmental ruin, mounting droughts and famine.

Vanessa M. Gezari, for the Pulitzer Center

On April 1, suicide attackers invaded the headquarters of Kandahar's provincial council. A bomb-laden car blew open the gates and four men ran into the compound shooting. They wore the dark green uniforms of the Afghan National Army and suicide vests.

Vanessa M. Gezari, for the Pulitzer Center

Vanessa M. Gezari, for the Pulitzer Center

An estimated 35,000 people died last week as the 5th World Water Forum convened in Istanbul, Turkey. If you didn't hear the news, don't be surprised; the 35,000 deaths the week before, and the week before that didn't grab any headlines either.

One of the biggest challenges facing the thousands of delegates at the forum from water and sanitation NGO's is getting the media to take notice of the startling numbers of people dying each day from water borne illness, and the billions around the globe without access to clean water and sanitation.

Kenya's Lake Turkana, was in the spotlight in the just ended World Water Forum here, when a claim that the country's second largest lake faced the threat of extinction due to plans to dam Ethiopia's River Omo — the lake's main inlet.

Ms Ikal Angelei told the forum that the Government of Kenya had "traded off," the people of Turkana in exchange for hydro-electric power to be supplied from Ethiopia after the damming of the river.

More than a year ago, the United Nations mandated a peacekeeping force for the violence-torn Darfur region of Sudan. Two and a half million internally displaced people, known as "IDPs," remain in camps, under threat from government-sponsored forces. Undermanned and under resourced, the peacekeeping force is losing the trust of those it was meant to protect.

Produced, directed and shot by Susan Schulman

Co-produced and edited by Chris Milner

In association with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting

Susan Schulman, a photojournalist who was embedded with Unamid peacekeepers in northern Darfur last year, recalls the day their convoy was shot at by suspected government soldiers.

By Bob Shacochis, USA Today Opinion