Editorial jobs in China

This could be an editorial challenge ... check your ideas about objectivity and freedom of the press at the door??

The China Daily newspaper group is looking for English-language copy editors and writers to beef up its international team. We offer a competitive salary package, free accommodation with utilities paid for, medical coverage, and annual ticket to country of residence.

Senior copy editors
You will assist the editors of the National, Business, International, Features and Sports departments in setting goals and working on achieving them.

You should be an excellent team person who can generate ideas and think creatively, be able to rewrite totally if needed and mentor junior staff.

Ideally, you are working, or have worked, in a position of responsibility and understand what leadership entails.

You should be familiar with computer programs used in the industry.

Copy editors
You’ll work on shifts in different departments and usually have the last word before the page is sent to print.

You have to edit or rewrite copy and give snappy headlines and captions.

You would have had at least two year’s editing experience working on editing desks and be familiar with industry software.

Writers
You would have been a writer/reporter in a newspaper for at least two years and, depending on your skills, you will be assigned to one of the major departments.

If you’re interested and think you fit the bill, write to job@chinadaily.com.cn, and send your CV and samples of your work.

More adventures in Web 2.0

I just got back from Ottawa where I did a workshop on podcasting and was able to talk to others who might be interested in hosting this workshop in the future.

My suitcase is still packed, it's a snowy day and I need to get to work. Since I'm not really geared up to get working yet, and thinking about the results of the last couple of days. It's a good time to collect some of my thoughts about the work I'm doing and the results of the last couple of days.

The Ottawa experience was a great way to find out why people are interested in these new technologies, and also why maybe they're not. My meetings were full of people both supportive and skeptical ... some very good questions were asked, which helps me understand what people know and don't know, where they're receptive and not.

a) who's listening to podcasts? Stats are needed. Those of us in the business know that this medium is growing, but hard information is needed for those who aren't in the loop. So I, and anybody else working in this field, need to do a lot more work on looking at the numbers. Who is listening, where are the areas of growth in terms of distinct sections of the population? More research. I'm working on it.

b) There are so many fads on the internet ... things come and go all the time. So how do we know this has staying power? I was more prepared for this one .. it is true that individual things come and go .. ie. last year it was Facebook and Youtube. No doubt its effect will diminish in the new year when the next big thing comes along. Likewise with all the individual services and applications.

Regardless of which applications come and go, it is clear that the internet will be increasingly used for moving images and sound. What we know as TV and Radio is going to be changing and a lot of the things we go to TV and radio for now are going to be moving over to the internet. Podcasting and vodcasting as we know it now may not be "the thing" in a couple of years. But people will still be listening and watching things on the internet in increasing numbers, regardless of what we call it.

What I am teaching is production skills ... and a good grounding in media production is becoming more and more necessary for people in the communications business.

c) Why should I, as a communications director, spend my money on internet multimedia production? I'll follow up later today with the stats once I crunch them. Overall, though, I would say it's because that's the way communications is moving. More and more is moving over to the internet. From a cost perspective, it's cheaper than spending money on traditional media and print. And anybody working in media relations these days knows it's getting more and more difficult to grab the ear of editors and producers in traditional media. Organizations and businesses will do well to take charge of their own message and bypass the gatekeepers. For a whole bunch of reasons ... you can send out WHAT you want to send out WHEN you want to send it out.

All good questions. For those of you who asked them, thanks for keeping me on my toes. I'll get back to you .. and you'll want to book a workshop .. it's a good time to start your journey on the learning curve.

Amazing Small World ...

I am constantly amazed when people from my past pop up in surprising places. It happens all the time. And these days, not just in my own hometown. This morning, I reconnected with someone in Africa who I had met in the Netherlands.

I was trying to set up an account with an organization called One World Radio

One World Radio is an international radio exchange where producers can post material to have other stations use it. I emailed the Editor, whose name is Kelvin Chibomba to ask him some questions.

I got an email back from him this morning saying "Do you realize that you are talking to someone you tutored in The Netherlands 2001? I am kelvin Chibomba guy from Zambia. This is a small world indeed. I owe you a lot, you and Bruce Girard. I have since moved from Maz Community Radio to OneWorld Africa as Radio Editor."

When I first saw Kelvin's name and the fact that I was sending an email to him in Zambia, the thought briefly crossed my mind. But it was a quick thought because .. after all, Africa is a very big place.

The course that I facilitated was a three day intensive training for community radio station managers in the developing world. It was at the Radio Netherlands Training Centre, a division of Radio Netherlands which focusses specifically on training media people in the developing world.

Out of the ten people in the class, I have heard from/about three of the participants .. Kelvin; Fernando who moved to Toronto a couple of years after the workshop; and Diana who works with a women's radio station in Ghana (Ghana has amazing community radio).

I just love it when this happens ... and this also reminds me I should send off another CV to Radio Netherlands because I would love to do this again ...

"The People Formerly Known as the Audience"

"The people formerly known as the audience wish to inform media people of our existence, and of a shift in power that goes with the platform shift you’ve all heard about.

Think of passengers on your ship who got a boat of their own. The writing readers. The viewers who picked up a camera. The formerly atomized listeners who with modest effort can connect with each other and gain the means to speak— to the world, as it were."

An excerpt from an excellent article on a website called Pressthink
I think the writer was Jay Rosen, but it said "posted by" .. not sure if that meant "written by" as well. Whoever wrote it, brilliant!

It's one of many compelling articles about the changes in journalism that are happening .. despite the protestations of the traditional media machine. Well worth a read if you're doing any thinking about the changes that are taking place in our industry.

More things to think about from the article:

The people formerly known as the audience are those who were on the receiving end of a media system that ran one way, in a broadcasting pattern, with high entry fees and a few firms competing to speak very loudly while the rest of the population listened in isolation from one another— and who today are not in a situation like that at all.

* Once they were your printing presses; now that humble device, the blog, has given the press to us. That’s why blogs have been called little First Amendment machines. They extend freedom of the press to more actors.

* Once it was your radio station, broadcasting on your frequency. Now that brilliant invention, podcasting, gives radio to us. And we have found more uses for it than you did.

* Shooting, editing and distributing video once belonged to you, Big Media. Only you could afford to reach a TV audience built in your own image. Now video is coming into the user’s hands, and audience-building by former members of the audience is alive and well on the Web.

* You were once (exclusively) the editors of the news, choosing what ran on the front page. Now we can edit the news, and our choices send items to our own front pages.

* A highly centralized media system had connected people “up” to big social agencies and centers of power but not “across” to each other. Now the horizontal flow, citizen-to-citizen, is as real and consequential as the vertical one.


Amen to that!

All about You

I spent 20 minutes last night doing one of the most enjoyable on-line personality tests that I've ever seen.

After being bombarded with too many TV ads, I went to www.eharmony.com to see what it was all about. (I often sign up to these things just to see if I have the nerve to do it and then ditch out after I get two or three "matches" and it then seems too weird.) I don't think internet dating will work for me but I did find this really handy quiz.

Here's the thing ... if you put down anything other than 'single' or 'divorced', they'll tell you, sorry no, they won't match you with anybody. But this is AFTER they let you do the quiz, which takes about 20 minutes.

I was truly surprised by how much they told me that I already knew .. but maybe hadn't phrased in quite the same way to myself. They tell you the positives and the negatives and even the negatives didn't seem too bad.

A few of the things I learned/rediscovered/reconfirmed about myself:
a) Holy heck, am I ever a Libra. And need to balance everything. That makes me come across as warm and friendly much of the time but sometimes cool and aloof when I'm weighing the options.
b) my emotions and intellect are pretty well balanced (after several years of working on it, I must add ...)
c) my extraversion and adventurous spirit is very appealing and some people want to be like me. At the same time, I can also scare people with my over-the-top exuberance and non-conservative perspectives.
d) the best thing was the overall description of me "TAKING CARE OF OTHERS AND TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF - You are important. So are other people, especially if they are in trouble. You have a tender heart, but you know how to establish and keep personal boundaries. You are empathetic and compassionate, but you also believe that it's best if people solve their own problems and learn to take care of themselves, if they are able." I don't think that's always true, but it's something I strive for. With a lot more success in recent years because I've been more aware of the need for boundaries and also to take care of myself.

I also it was really curious that I came out so high on the extraversion scale .. tell you a secret .. I'm really an introvert by nature. Used to hide behind chairs a lot when I was a kid. But a radio producer I once worked with said "radio people are all introverts pretending to be extraverts". Ya, what else can you say about people who go into little rooms to talk to themselves for four hours at a time ...

The link to eharmoney is here. A tip to those of you who are in committed relationships and are worried that it might look to your partner like you're on the prowl ... you can always do it together ... (although don't look over each other's shoulder while you're answering. It would distort the results).

type in 'separated' and they'll let you do the test without getting matched up. The first few questions are all about what kind of partner you're looking for ... there are only five or six of them and you can pretend. It doesn't take long to do that part ... so bear with it until you get past it into the "rate yourself" questions.

I copied all my results and saved them in Word for future reference .. because I don't know if they'll let you come back if you're not.

Have fun with it ... and tell me all about it ...

Flight from Darkness

I just got an email from my friend Percy Paul, who pops up from time to time.

I have never met Percy in person. I met him over email when I was working at Outfront at CBC Radio. Percy sent in a story pitch to do an Outfront piece. At the time, he was proposing that he do a story about what it's like being a brilliant, addicted, bipolar physicist living on a rez in Northern Saskatchewan.

Our first instincts were to say "sure you are, buddy", but the rest of the group said, hey well, maybe there's something to it. And they gave it to me to fill in the details.

We never did Percy's story. Somebody else finally did, and it's going to be broadcast on CBC next week -- next Tuesday and again on Dec. 1 on The Lens. Check it out here.

I don't hear from Percy very much but each time I am glad because it means he's still alive. It's a tough life -- I don't think he's ever gotten his illness or his addiction under control. I did a google search on his name a while back ... and he is what he says he is. Brilliant and in an incredible amount of pain.

He occasionally sends me chapters of the novel that he's working on. It's a combination of confusion and randomness with occasional flashes of perception and beautiful writing.

Much like his life, I suspect. I'm really looking forward to seeing Flight from Darkness and seeing more about this enigmatic person who I've only been able to experience through his novel and his emails.

A Jewel from the Archives

I have finally been getting around to unpacking most of my boxes and settling in. I ran across this, which is wonderful and well worth sharing.

For every girl who is tired of acting weak when she is strong, there is a boy tired of feeling strong when he feels vulnerable.

For every boy who is burdened with the constant expectation of knowing everything, there is a girl tired of people not trusting her intelligence.

For every girl who is tired of being called over-sensitive, there is a boy who fears to be gentle, to weep.

For every boy for whom competition is the only way to prove his masculinity, there is a girl who is called unfeminine when she competes.

For every girl who throws out her Easybake oven, there is a boy who wishes to find one.

For every boy struggling not to let advertising dictate his desires, there is a girl facing the ad industry's attacks on her self-esteem.

For every girl who takes a step toward her liberation, there is a boy who finds the way to freedom a little easier.

- adapted from a poem by Nancy R. Smith. Distributed by Crimethinc, a dynamic organization not as scary as it sounds. Great work in a wholesome anarchistic kind of way. Check them out.

Writing about Africa

Animals can always be counted on for a good story

I am listening to a sad and funny (dark funny) interview on The Current. Today it's being hosted by Stephanie Nolan, the Globe and Mail reporter based in Africa. She just released a book called "28 Days", about her experience of AIDS.

Her guest was Binyavanga Wainaina, a Kenyan writer now living in Texas. The subject of the interview is "how to do really bad journalism about Africa".

His first tips -- write about poor people. Better still, write about animals. "an elephant provides a really well rounded story line". And "lions have good family values. See how they take care of their children"

I need to listen now to hear what I'm doing wrong ...

* when you need a dark story about human tragedy, look to Africa. Lots to be had.
* saying "I went to Africa ... I care about Africa" -- who cares? Lots of people come to Africa. Big deal.
* many non-functional people end up in Africa because they want to make themselves feel like they're compassionate people
* even literature in Africa was donor-funded literature for a long time ... want to get a grant to write a book? ... apply to western donors for a grant to write a book about AIDS eg. papa, papa, can you tell me about how my aunt tragically got AIDS and how I can make sure I don't?
* interest in Africa isn't always interest in Africa .. it's about interest in markets
* Africa is very fashionable right now, but that doesn't mean that being "fashionable" will translate into economic benefits for African people
* ignore stories like the economy is doing better, there are free elections, tourism is up
* ignore people who are making a positive change and only write about those who are desperate and dying countries

A couple of other points, not necessarily related to Africa:

* being an African living in Texas isn't so bad .. except for the scary insects like tarantulas and obnoxious animals like skunks
* he is commissioning three plays about perceptions of Africa which will be staged in Toronto in 2010 -- but he isn't going to work with the standard theme of "good, good Africa, bad, bad West"
* to be a writer means to be independent. He was nominated for the World Economic Forum's "Young Global Leader" award and he declined because he thought his credibility as a writer will be diminished. His reason, in a letter to

He subsequently declined the award. In his own words:

"I assume that most, like me, are tempted to go anyway because we will get to be ‘validated’ and glow with the kind of self-congratulation that can only be bestowed by very globally visible and significant people,” he wrote. “And we are also tempted to go and talk to spectacularly bright and accomplished people – our “peers.” We will achieve Global Institutional Credibility for our work, as we have been anointed by an institution that many countries and presidents bow down to.

“The problem here is that I am a writer. And although, like many, I go to sleep at night fantasizing about fame, fortune and credibility, the thing that is most valuable in my trade is to try, all the time, to keep myself loose, independent and creative…it would be an act of great fraudulence for me to accept the trite idea that I am “going to significantly impact world affairs." (quote from Wikipedia)

You can read an entire article "How to Write About Africa" here. It's brilliant.

So how many of his points I am I guilty of? Probably all of them to some degree. But I try hard not to. And I tend to spell African names wrong. But I doublecheck.

A couple of excerpts from Binyavanga Wainaina's web story: (because it's too good not to quote:

"Africa is big: fifty-four countries, 900 million people who are too busy starving and dying and warring and emigrating to read your book. The continent is full of deserts, jungles, highlands, savannahs and many other things, but your reader doesn't care about all that, so keep your descriptions romantic and evocative and unparticular."

And my favourite:

"If you are a man, thrust yourself into her warm virgin forests. If you are a woman, treat Africa as a man who wears a bush jacket and disappears off into the sunset. Africa is to be pitied, worshipped or dominated. Whichever angle you take, be sure to leave the strong impression that without your intervention and your important book, Africa is doomed."

Where I've lived

My friend Flora just did a tally of all the places she's lived. I'll bet I've lived more places than you, Flora! Here's my list:

Hamilton Ontario - Queen St. S.
out of my suitcase - Vancouver, south Asia
Hamilton Ontario - Victoria Ave. S.
Wise, Virginia in the Appalachian Mountains
Ottawa - side street in Nepean
Ottawa - Fisher Avenue
Hamilton - Stinson St.
Toronto - Indian Grove
Sharon Ontario - Mount Pleasant Rd.
Mount Albert Ont - Centre Rd.
Toronto - 109 Niagara St (artist warehouse in an old coffin factory)
Toronto - 144 Eileen Ave.
Vancouver - W. 12th Ave.
Vancouver - another apartment on west 12th
Vancouver - a co-op house on w. 12th
Vancouver - a co-op house on West 16th.
Windsor - Sandwich St.
Windsor - further down Sandwich St.
Windsor - Indian Road with the Atkinsons
travelled to England
Windsor - Partington Ave.
Windsor - Pitt St. W.
Windsor - another apartment on Pitt St. W.
Essex - Kelly St.
Windsor - Laurier Hall University of Windsor
Essex - Talbot St. E.
Harrow Ontario - 7th Concession
Ruscom Ontario - tiny farming village where my ancestors settled.

So there you go. Twenty nine places in half a century. I don't think I have lived more places than Flora. Of course, if I counted the number of couches I've slept on, especially in the last three years, I win!

The Future is Radio 2.0

I have been looking for a way to describe the convergence which is happening between radio and the internet. There is a big shift underway which is somewhat about radio, somewhat about the internet ... the bottom line being that something is changing and I couldn't define what it is.

Today I got a post from an international development radio colleague of mine called Local Radio 2.0. And finally I got the description/term I was looking for.

It comes from the term Web 2.0, which is the phrase referring to the new interactive capabilities of the internet as demonstrated by sites like Facebook, myspace and other social networking sites. It refers to a more general phenomena -- as Internet guru Wayne MacPhail so aptly puts it "the internet is now a conversation". And the internet allows all of us to contribute to the dialogue about the ongoing progress of the world ... we are not just passive consumers of information. We are producers.

The internet is also turning radio into a conversation. The biggest thing is that we can all create our own radio stations, and our own audio content. We can do podcasts, we can have shoutcasts, we can post sounds and images of ourselves. The internet is our transmitter.

How this will affect the transmitters we have come to know ... and the radio stations that use them ... remains to be seen. If you turn on the radio right now, you won't hear that it's significantly different than it was fifteen years ago. That is going to change, though. I don't have my crystal ball (or my crystal transmitter) handy so I am not yet hearing what that's going to mean. But it will mean something, and that something will be huge. The change may be quick, it may take place over a long time.

All I know is that we in traditional radio have to start thinking laterally and start to think of radio as the conversation that the internet is becoming.

If you want more food for thought about this, there is a conference in Kuala Lumpur in December addressing some of these issues. You can find the information on the site of the World Electronic Media Forum.

Needless to say I would LOVE to go. But I can't go anywhere for a bit .. meanwhile, I just got an invitation to speak in Norway in March ... Malaysia will have to wait for now.

Want to be an Independent Producer?

People frequently ask me "how can I do what you do?" Here is a list of qualifications to be an independent producer -- by Catherine Vibert, an independent producer in the United States, from the Association of Independents in Radio listserve.

I would only add one more: for those who don't have the luxury of someone in the household with a good income -- keep the expenses low. (Easier to remember if you remind yourself frequently that this isn't just your job .. it's your life ...)

Skill Set for a Media Indie:
by Catherine Vibert, independent producer

The required skillset for independent contributors to the current media marketplace is manifold. For radio submissions alone, an indie must be skilled as:

An audio technician.
A computer junkie.
A great interviewer.
A bitchin writer.
A persistant journalist.
A brutal editor.
An awesome storyteller.
A narrator with "the voice".
A sociologist or anthropologist and/or extremely well read.
Sensitive and compassionate about inequities.
A musician (Actually, not necessary but it seems so many are, indeed one wonders how many came to public radio due to their involvement in music.)
A thorough researcher.
A good marketer.
Excellent at sales and followup.
Able to create extra time out of nowhere to listen regularly to every episode of all the programs on all public and foreign outlet radio so they are thoroughly prepared to pitch to that show�s exact style and flare.
Able to drink 10 cups of coffee in a single shot, 10 times a day.
Fearless
Rich, or married to someone who can support them.

Keeping current with contemporary media options, (and one must or they may be left behind, because as one knows, this is The Way of Progress) add photography, videography, web design, blogging, web presence management, video editing, creative slideshow creation, hours spent on researching solicitation opportunities online, oh, and the ability to pull money out of nowhere to pay for the endless supply of equipment and updates needed. If one can master all of the above, one finds they have themselves a skill set to reckon with!

And truly, once one has mastered a skill set such as that, should one really have to ask for fair remuneration for their efforts? Yes, methinks, to ask, perchance, to eat

More questions ...

From my journal .. a continuation of the last entry of October 9th, about journalism, honesty and compassion ...

Here is one of the questions I've been asking myself:

How do we blend compassion and love with clarity and truthfulness in the stories we write? How do we tell the truth without sacrificing the dignity of the person about whom I am telling the truth?

How do I tell the truth about Leah's life in the slum in a way that empowers her and doesn't hold her up to people's feelings of pity? Or cause her to feel embarrassed about her poverty? Or treat her story as a commodity?

As I reflect on this, my quandry isn't so great in this case. Because Leah is a journalist who knows that we have to bring things to people's attention if they are ever going to change. She invited me to Korogocho willingly.

A week or so before I went into Korogocho, a couple of women from the conference and I went to the Kibera slum, the largest in Nairobi. In this case, we were not invited. And of course, I wanted to write about what I saw. But I didn't. I did take pictures, though. So what made this experience different than the visit to Korogocho with Leah?

The difference was that I was invited to go to Korogocho by someone who lives there. There is a new kind of tourism evolving ... it's called "pro-poor tourism". It's also known as "dark tourism", where people are wanting to see the darker sides of life. For what purpose .. I guess it depends on who you ask. For me, the objective is to learn. And to empathize.

I didn't feel good about being in Kibera. It felt like I was capturing their images without a way to understand the context.

An important moment happened in Korogocho, which summarized the difference for me. We were taking pictures, Frieda and I. With Leah's permission, always deferring to her for direction about when it was alright and when it wasn't. Whenever Leah said "yes, it's fine to take a picture" we would. So I thought we were being sensitive.

Nonetheless, a man stopped us and asked "how does your picture taking help the people who live here?"

This is a critical question -- for journalists, and for everyone who captures another person's image. How does this picture help this person> Or how does this story I am telling help this person?

It was an uncomfortable moment, but I am glad he asked.

A postscript on the "pro-poor" tourism angle --I asked Leah, what is the difference between her taking us into the slum, and somebody else? She said it all depends on the motivation. They are very sensitive about other people making money when the community doesn't benefit. They take a dim view of companies who are doing this, even when they are employing local people who live there to show tourists around. The benefits don't come to the community. I suspect it also sets up issues of jealousy and envy, which is bound to happen in places where everyone is scrambling to get by.

The tourist guidebooks say that any tourist who goes into a slum in Africa is putting themselves in danger and setting themselves up to be robbed. I didn't feel unsafe at all. Then again, I was with someone who lived there, and who is known and respected. That's what makes the difference.

I don't think I'll post a picture with this entry ...

Flying out of Africa

I am going back to my journal to the thoughts I wrote while I was in Africa. This entry was written on October 9th on the plane, about 15,000 feet over Kenya.

For the first time (or maybe the second) I am feeling a small rush of emotion. Throughout this trip my emotions have felt damped down a bit. Which is good. I've been able to feel exhiliration but not fear (except a couple of minor times .. like riding on the matatus yesterday ... these crazy overpacked busses that get people around the city. And almost getting lost in a crowd of 50,000 at a presidential rally in Nakuru.)

I am doing much better at travelling -- the culture shock wasn't as great as it was in India last year. And overall, I was much more relaxed.

I was able to do more this time ... last year I never would have had the emotional strength to go into a place like Korogocho. And I don't think I would have been as free and relaxed as I was with the kids at the orphanage.

I also look at how I've changed as a journalist. I'm not as rigid as I used to be, both in my approach to my stories and also how I deal with the people who are in muy stories. I'm much more relaxed about pulling out my mike, and because of this, I've come back with a wider range of material.

This has been a goal of mine for the last 3 years -- to merge the things I've learned about compassion and justice which I've (slowly) learned to apply to myself .. and place my work within that same compassionate framework. Simply put, to get to the point where I am approaching every story from a place of love, passion, equality and fairness. Rather than frustration and anger.

I am sad to see how many journalists approach their work from fear. Which is why we get stories that are often so angry. And how the traditional journalistic method of "objectivity" often serves to distance us from ourselves.

My goal is to integrate the inner self with the outer world in a ways that reflects connection with the world outside of ourselves. Rather than distance and disconnection, which is the state of much contemporary journalism.

Not sure how I am going to do this yet .... not even sure what my new working definitions are. All I know is that there is a different way to write about the world than the one I've be taught ....

Korogocho

It always takes me a long time to process what I've seen and experienced when I've been away.

Of all the places I went during my Africa trip, Korogocho is the one which is occupying most of my thoughts.

I met a wonderful young woman named Leah Murugi at the conference I was at .. The International Association of Women in Radio and Television. Leah was invited to speak because she works at Koch FM, a tiny radio station deep in the heart of the Korogocho Slum. Korogocho is the third largest slum in Nairobi, with half a million people living in a space the size of six city blocks.

We connected because I did a workshop on listening and collecting sounds, and she wanted to use some of my ideas to work with children. I was really happy about this ...

Then she invited me, and my friend Frieda (also from Canada) to visit the radio station and her home. I felt very honoured and privileged ... it must have taken some kind of trust for Leah to have the confidence to say "this is where I live ..." and not be worried about being judged or getting a bad reaction from us.

Also, Leah is a journalist. She understands that things never change unless people are shown the things that need changing. As her bright red Radio Koch T-shirt says:





Since returning home, I have read some articles on the internet by other people who have visited Korogocho. Many of these articles focus on the despair, the filth, the poverty, the City of Nairobi garbage dump that is so close to the slum that it's part of the slum.

I didn't feel this sense of despair, and as I thought about it on the plane (and when I gave myself the space to shed a tear or two), I asked myself why. And I think the reason is that Leah doesn't feel despair. She is a woman who is working to make a difference.

She sings a song, the words of which are "It was not my wish to be born in Korogocho, but God help me to do good while I am here".

She's lived there for all twenty of her young years, but the vision of her life doesn't include living there for the rest of her life. She has a plan .. to go to journalism school and get a job to move her, her mother and her sister out of the slum. I believe she will do it.

That's why I didn't feel hopeless. Though I do feel sadness for the children without adequate health care who are fighting worse germs than any of us ever will. For the friendly boys we met who Leah told us were high on glue ... for the people who don't have the hope they will ever get out of there.

But it's too much to think about all at once. Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness, they say. And Leah is one bright little candle ...

And here's the front side of Leah's T-shirt, and Leah's smiling, beautiful face:

Safari Trips and Tricks

Can you see the leopard?

It's 4:15 am and I am slowly getting over jetlag. Awake again but I am starting to believe I am in Canada and that it's really 4:15 am.

So, while I sit here awake, I thought I would add a few notes about the FUN part of being in Africa. Because I did take some time to play tourist in the midst of all the hard work of discovering some of the more weighty issues.

Tip #1 - Kenya is incredible safari-land. You can see all the "big six" animals here -- lion, rhino, elephant, water buffalo, giraffe and wildebeest (great name, wildebeest, isn't it?).

Tip #2 - bring a camera with a good zoom. That's why you might be having a hard time seeing that there really is a leopard in the tree in the photo above. He's there really -- draped out across the top of the branch like a rug.

Tip #3 - if you want to see lions, you have to get up very early in the morning. The only lion I saw when I was there was bronze and on the front lawn of the hotel. But I saw every other major African animal (except elephants because I was in the north where elephants are not indigenous. They could import them but they will wreck the forest because they'll eat everything in sight. So you have to go south of Nairobi if you want to see elephants too.)

Tip #4 - Go to Masaii Mara. Especially September, because that's the month when the migration of hundreds of thousands of zebras and wildebeests migrate. The big cats follow them in search of lunch. I didn't get to Masaii Mara but will the next time.

Tip #5 - hire a tour company. Don't do it yourself. Hiring a tour company can result in overall savings and you will have a knowledgeable guide to tell you what you're looking at.

Tip #6 - book with Planet Safari Adventures. This company is owned by James and Lucy, who are the friends I met when I was over there. In addition to providing good trips that are on the lower end of the cost scale, they own their own camp in Masaii Mara. And they need the business -- they feed, clothe, house and educate 74 orphans. And they have 4 kids of their own. That's a lot of kids. They are good, good people and will show you an amazing time. You can also ask them to visit the children's home for an African experience that will transform your soul. Their website is www.planetkenyasafaris.com

Tip #7 - If you want to see Mount Kilimanjaro, go to Amboseli National Park, southeast of Nairobi. Kilimanjaro is in Tanzania, but it is a stunning backdrop to Amboseli.

Tip #8 - You can also book trips to neighbouring Uganda and Tanzania from Nairobi. You won't want to go to the other neighbouring countries .. or if you do, it's likely not a good idea. Bordering Kenya to the north are Somalia -- many refugee camps on the border -- the only way to get in is to fly. Ethiopia -- I think Ethiopia is more politically stable than it was a few years ago. But still not a good idea. And Sudan .. and we all know about the problems there right now. Hopefully this will clear up in upcoming years so that it's a safer tourist option.

Tip #9 - you can also go to Mombasa, which is on the sea. Didn't make it there but since it's right on the equator I am sure the seascapes are quite wonderful.

Kenya isn't one of the cheapest African countries (South Africa is cheaper) but what's good about it is that they know how the tourist business works. You will be well provided for -- I stayed in five star hotels, people's homes and also a budget hotel. All were very good experiences, so there are lots of ways to have a vacation that doesn't cost a lot.

Community-based tourism (which is mostly what I do when I'm on vacation) is also a growing trend. That's where you stay in people's homes. There are companies that organize these kinds of trips .. the advantage of this method is that the money goes directly back into communities. And you get to be up close and personal with the people and the lifestyle.

I'd suggest combining a few days of community-based tourism with days in a resort or western hotel. That's what I did ... because all that learning and socializing can be exhausting. It's a good balance between comfort and education.


And I almost forgot .. most people will be very happy if you take your picture. The Masaii, on the other hand, expect to be paid. Not unreasonable ... after all, we should all be entitled to own our own image ...

Journal Reflections -- Child's Hope Home Saturday Oct. 6th

The kindergarten class at the Child's Hope Home

Over the next couple of weeks I am going to be posting some of my reflections that I captured in my journal -- this is one of them

I am in a monk's cell of a hotel room in Nakuru, after a long day at a political rally for the president of Kenya. Much more about elections and the electoral process in one of my next journal entries. For now, I'm thinking about the children at the Njaaga's Hope Child Home, an orphanage for 74 children, funded by my Kenyan friends James (Njaaga) and Lucy. I've been spending the last few days there, and it has been truly memorable.

First thing this morning the children knocked on my door. Constantly from 7 am on with letters to bring back to their sponsors back home, and my two nieces Emily and Elizabeth who sent money over to buy the kids some things that they need. I have been reading through the large stack ... they are sweet, sweet, sweet. What is amazing about these kids is that they are happy, well adjusted and don't carry the kinds of scars and wounds that you often see in children who live in poverty and deprivation.

I am sure they have their sadness too, but their joy is there in much greater measure.

Yesterday I went for a walk to gather water with them. What a job! I still can't understand how they can carry 50(!) pounds of water on their heads! Even the little ones have to go fetch water every day. The home has plumbing but no running water yet, so they have to go to the river and haul it up a steep hill. Even the four year olds do their bit. (I am going to suggest to the people here in Canada who are helping the orphanage financially that our next project should be to raise money to dig the well deeper -- there is a 60 foot well but it's not deep enough to get enough water for all these kids. The plumbing is in, but the well needs to go down another 60 feet. It's attainable ... it will only be $1000 to do it).

I've been spending my time at the home recording the children to do a story for the donors back here. I have captured some great stuff -- first of all, the kids are great singers and they sing all the time. One of the songs they sing the most contains the refrain "Happy, happy, we should be happy". This is the theme I want to use as the central theme.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about that statement. They are living in poverty. Their parents have died. A lot of them will be living a life of poverty that their families have lived. So why SHOULD they be happy?

Not a question they ask themselves. Because they ARE happy, though to Western sensibilities there doesn't seem to be much reason. Washing clothes in the pond (and a dirty pond at that). Having to carry 50 pounds of water .. some of them carry two buckets at a time. No toys. Having to wear the same clothes day after day.

For most of us, this would be a recipe for unhappiness.

But they are happy. So maybe these things don't have much to do with human happiness?

I've been thinking a lot about the difference between "want" and "need". When it comes right down to it, we need only four things -- food, shelter, water and love.

Even health care isn't necessary if all the other three are provided. The need for health care mostly stems from a life out of balance. I realize that this is a broad statement, stemming from my current thinking that a) suffering is inevitable and b) life and death should be allowed to take its own course.

There are many yes-buts to this position, which I even argue with myself over .. for example, it may be "natural" for a certain percentage of woment to die in childbirth. but shouldn't we do everything we can to prevent it? Yes. And I'm sure glad I got a typhoid vaccination before I left Canada.

Even a life in perfect balance won't help you if you're bitten by a malaria-carrying mosquito. A life in balance will help you fend it off better, though.

So okay, my list of needs is now up to five -- food, water, shelter, love and health care.

And what about education? Necessary or not? Back before the world intermingled to the extent it does now, people were well served through traditional education, passed on down through the family and the tribe.

I look at the kids at the Hope Home -- some of them will go on to higher education. Others will stay in the village. So what good is a western-style education to people who never leave the village?

Here, my answer to myself is clear. They wouldn't need "education" in the western sense of the word if they were living in closed situations. But they're not. Even if they have no desire to live anywhere else, the rest of the world will come to them. And they'll be exploited just as they have been in the past. Not just by European interests anymore as in colonial times, but by the economic powers of their own central governments and corporations.

If the people in the villages are not educated, they will not be able to deal with incoming change from a position of empowerment. If these children are educated, they will be able to lead their communities from a position of strength. So I hope some of these children stay in their traditional villages. Because their leadership is needed right here.

No more answers this morning, sad to say. Back later with many more questions.


The traditional village of Kirengiro, near the children's home. Most of the children come from this village and would be raised by their grandmothers if they weren't in the home.

Jambo, Mzungi!

That means "hi, white folks!"

I landed in Toronto about two hours ago and I'm now at my sister Marianne's place in Toronto. The clock says it's 12:45 and my body says it's 9 in the morning. My way of dealing with jet lag is to let whatever time my body says it is be that time. So I have no idea when I am going to sleep and when I am going to wake up.

I am exhaling a huge breath right now, partly from relief that the flight was uneventful and that I'm back home. Also, it's a big sigh of contentment and thankfulness for the absolutely incredible time I had.

(Also a bit of delirium because I feel like I've entered a parallel universe. I am glad to be back in the land of high speed internet and water you can drink straight from the tap).

I will be posting my pictures when I get back to Hamilton tomorrow morning. I am fading fast .. I was going to be philosophical and share all kinds of insights but my confused body is now telling me it is time to go to bed (likely partially because I've had two glasses of wine .. it's also asking me what the hell I'm doing having wine for breakfast!)

So much more to come ... goodnight, good morning or whatever the hell time it is!

Everything I know about Kenya ...

Now that the first rush of activity is subsiding (visas applied for, plane tickets book
ed etc), I can get down to the business of figuring out just where I am going.

Here's what I know about Kenya/Nairobi:
- it's on the east coast of Africa
- it was colonized by the British (they were the main ones, I'm sure there were others)
- Nairobi is a major United Nations centre
- Nairobi is in the centre of the country
- Kenya is not a great place if you're a vegetarian -- the diet is major carnivorous
- there are giraffes, elephants and lions there (though not in the middle of the city, one would hope)
- it's a major transportation hub in Africa -- but Air Canada doesn't fly there. So Sir Richard Branson is getting me there (Virgin Atlantic)
- I will be staying at either the Hotel La Mada or the Kenya Institute of Monetary Studies
- both places have a pool
- the temperature is around 20 degrees this time of year, so it will be nice but not hot

After doing a little bit of surfing, here's what I now know:
- Kenya has roughly the same population as Canada, but is about the size of .. (I'm guessing) New Brunswick ... (Kenya is 583,000 square kms, Canada is 9 MILLION)
- it's a nice time of the year to go .. not too hot, not too rainy
- main languages are English and Swahili

More later as I learn more ...

Last minute craziness

Well, this looks like the start of another whole travel journal section of my blog. (Blogs are great, BTW, for filling in large numbers of people who want to hear from you as your trip progresses. Saves sending out large numbers of emails. And being able to post pictures is a bonus).

Right now, it's 6:43 am and way too early.

It's been a crazy 18 hours. The conference I am going to is less than two weeks away. And Kenya is one of those countries which require a visa. And it takes 7 business days to process a visa app, not counting in-transit time to get the paperwork from point A to Point B.

So I am up getting the last bits of my application together and calling Fedex. Thank god the paperwork only has to go to Ottawa and not all the way to Nairobi.

So it was a whole day of scrambling, booking plane tickets, getting passport pictures, money order to pay for the visa, arranging expensive one day FedEx delivery on both ends ... I could have saved myself about 50 bucks if I had been able to get it all off yesterday but I couldn't. So it goes today, along with many prayers that it will get there and back in time.

Haven't even had a minute to think about the workshop I'm going to be doing -- fortunately I've done similar workshops before so it won't be a great deal of work to figure it out. Next week will be fine. Heck, I'll have seven hours at Heathrow while waiting to change planes to do it since I'm taking my laptop.

That reminds me of another thing to do ... check on the power standards so I can bring the right adapters.

Travel is fun .. travel is fun ... travel is fun .... I repeat to myself. Or, at least it will be when I'm more organized and less overwhelmed.

Nairobi Bound!

I am sitting here typing and burning off excess energy while I wait on hold to book my ticket to Nairobi.

I just found out today (!) that the Canada Council is funding my trip, which has to begin on September 26 (!!!). That's like ... the middle of next week.

My head is spinning .... I thought there was a chance my application would be approved but I never took it as a given. So I've been just going ahead doing my work as though I was going to be here in Hamilton in my little apartment for the forseeable future.

I have been invited to do a presentation on creative ways to present audio documentaries . The organization which invited me is the International Association of Women in Radio and Television (www.iawrt.org)

I am still waiting to see how much my ticket is going to cost ...

I am getting boggled. Happily boggled but I am hyperventilatng.

Update -- got a good price. I will be spending 7 hours at Heathrow while I make a connection, but it's good!