Archive for 'poverty'
Regular readers might get the impression that there is only doom and gloom to emerge from Nigeria. Certainly the current violence in Jos with 100’s dead is deeply saddening. An earlier post after a visit I made to Jos between late 2008 and recent bouts of killing highlighted the underlying tensions of poverty and natural resource [...]
I arrived in Kigali at the end of August, to begin my first experience of working here in Africa. I have looked forward to this for many years. And I know I am especially fortunate to come to Rwanda and Burundi – two of the smallest, but most populous and poor countries in Africa. I had [...]
I spent Saturday afternoon with my family visiting a dance group that has been established in Mafalala bairro of Maputo. The bairro is an area of tightly packed shacks and houses on the road towards Maputo airport. The living conditions are better than those portrayed in 'Slumdog Millionaire' but the levels of poverty are similar. To access [...]
On this Blog Action Day focussing on poverty, I thought it timely to talk about access to the internet, or perhaps more importantly how the millions living in poverty access the internet.
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It is unfortunate that much of the recent debate surrounding access to the internet for many in the developing world rests on the controversial [...]
In Tanzania, as in many African countries, there is evidence of the informal economy wherever you look. As you walk through the streets of Dar Es Salaam, there are small stalls everywhere, selling fruit and veg, plants, mobile phone sim cards and all sorts of other goods. There are men selling second hand shoes out [...]
Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world. It's currently in the middle of a humanitarian crisis, its economy is slowing and it's vulnerable to climate change. It's landlocked, in a relatively unstable region that includes borders with Somalia, Sudan and Eritrea.
This is the face of Ethiopia that you're probably familiar with.
Another face [...]
Three months ago, the bazaar in Garmsir, southern Helmand, stood empty. Stalls were bare; some were shuttered, others all but derelict. Fighting between the insurgents and the Afghan and international forces meant the population had left the district centre, leaving behind a ghost town. Insecurity was limiting people's opportunities: business people couldn't trade.
Garmsir bazaar is one [...]
