The dumping and burning of e-waste in Agbogloshie has attracted significant attention from environmental groups, researchers and journalists, writes Clair MacDougall, a journalist in Monrovia, Liberia.
Columns / Letter from…
Crikey readers phone home.
Dadaab, with ‘Furka’ and ‘Turka’, no one’s going home soon
Dadaab’s population has hit 450,000. That’s as big as cities such as Bristol or Antwerp. Or a camping trip three times the size of Glastonbury, where no one gets to go home, writes Rafiq Copeland, a freelance writer in Dadaab.
Liberia, where women pray before the polls
More than 100 women dressed in white sit in the shape of a crucifix hoping to draw God’s eyes down towards the small West African nation of Liberia, writes Clair MacDougall, a journalist in Monrovia, Liberia.
Letter from: Ghana … caught on the wrong side of the political divide
While Côte d’Ivoire may be relatively stable for now, human rights organisations continue to express concern at the government’s seeming unwillingness to investigate and prosecute its own forces, writes journalist Clair MacDougall.
Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee camp
The world’s biggest refugee camp is getting bigger. Fast. The steady stream of new arrivals at the Dadaab refugee camp has now officially become a flood, writes Rafiq Copeland.
Burkina Faso, rebellion in the land of ‘honest men’
Revolution was quelled in the tiny west African nation of Burkina Faso. But there’s bubbling resentment towards its 24-year president Blaise Compaoré and the conditions under which people live, writes Clair MacDougall from Ouagadougou.
Letter from … Nauru — the worst place in the world?
Not many people go to Nauru unless they absolutely have to, writes Tony Wheeler, founder of Lonely Planet.
Letter from… the DMZ
For South Koreans, a visit to the DMZ is a visit to a near-mythical place, where relatives may still live out their lives unknown. For tourists like me, it’s a chance to see the last front line between 20th century ideologies, seemingly frozen in time and space, the last physical barrier between capitalism and communism, writes freelance writer Doug Hendrie.
Letter from: Belize, beating the drum for Garifuna culture
While legendary Garifuna drum maker Austin Rodriguez has all but retired, the heart of Garifuna culture is still beating strong in his thatched-roof workshop in southern Belize. Inga Ting reports from southern Belize.
Letter from: Togo, a forgotten nation trying to forget its past
Liberation Day in the forgotten African nation of Togo celebrates a coup led by a solider who four years earlier was involved in the assassination of the nation’s first democratically-elected president. Clair MacDougall reports from Lomé on the simmering tensions.
Letter from: Uganda, where the party goes on despite a terror threat
A specific terrorist threat had been made against Kampala for New Year’s Eve and there was an element of tension in the air, writes Rafiq Copeland in northern Africa.
Letter from: Nairobi, where crimes against humanity set the mood
It is understandable that the mood in Nairobi was tense. It is not every day that a country’s political elite is accused of crimes against humanity, writes Rafiq Copeland from Nairobi.
Letter from: San Francisco, and Bill Clinton on instability, sustainability … and WikiLeaks
“The great thing about being a former President is you can say whatever you want. The sad thing is, nobody cares anymore,” said Bill Clinton to Stilgherrian and 15,000 others in San Francisco last night.
Letter from … Ghana, home of bright lights and deep-water dreams
The sea breeze swept in as we drew closer to the southern-most tip of Ghana and the closest point on land to the Jubilee oilfield, which holds an estimated 1.6 billion barrels in oil reserves, writes freelance journalist Clair MacDougall.
World Cup: Qatar, their Cup runneth over
When the World Cup bid win announcement was made, the Qatar crowd erupted, as did several strategically placed glitter cannons loaded with little plastic Qatari flags. Parents hugged children, men hugged men, and ex-pats shook locals’ hands.
Cuba, on the hunt for Hemingway
Grounded by a hurricane in Habana, Cuba, we fuel up on mojitos and go in search of Ernest Hemingway and his own slice of history.
Letter from … Argentina, and a death that stopped the nation
Néstor Kirchner opened up an avenue of hope for Argentina, a country that has suffered so much, like all of its Latin American neighbours, writes Leo Codutti from Buenos Aires.
North Korea and a cult of the Kims personality
Things in North Korea are a lot better than they have been in the very recent memories of most of its citizens, writes Colin Jacobs after a recent visit to Pyongyang.
Hong Kong, where democracy has stalled
As well as being a base for international finance and banking giants who want proximity to mainland China, Hong Kong has its own business interests to facilitate, writes freelance journalist Simon Roughneen.
Letter from Greece: life not travelling too well … unless you have olives, sheep and can fish
Tourism is the third biggest export earner for Greece, but this year has been, well almost, a catastrophe, writes Crikey reader Tony Barrell.
Letter from: Las Vegas, land of blue-collar plenty a symbol of US decline
Las Vegas is no longer the exception to the rule and is now a symbol of the broader social and economic problems the United States now faces, writes Crikey reader Clair MacDougall.
Letter from Warsaw: a cross for all sides of politics to bear
At first glance the scenes from the Polish capital Warsaw in recent days resembles those iconic images from the 1980s of a country under martial law, writes Vince Chadwick from Warsaw.
Tel Aviv: I feel safer here than in Melbourne
Despite the presence of guns, Tel Aviv feels peaceful, like most cosmopolitan cities although some reminders of danger exist — bags are searched before entering shopping centres and train stations, writes Ben Iaquinto.
Letter from Iran: nuts and riots aside, extreme kindness lives here
Over 30 days I interacted with the people of Iran like I’ve never interacted with the people of a foreign country before. Nowhere have I encountered a people so universally kind, friendly and generous.
