Al Shabaab bombs Kampala threatens Bujumbura, which now feels like my second home. Journalists and political candidates are turning up dead in Rwanda. New fighting by the same old freaking people in eastern Congo sent 70,000 more people running. Meanwhile, Burundi apparently still can't get its act together, and it's dragged the East African Community into things. And when I turn north to Darfur for breath of fresh air, I find that American foreign policy on Sudan is a bundle of contradictions, at best, and at worst a set of rewards to government that's recently gone all aerial bombardment again, and that "Mr. Yes We Can -- Prevent Genocide!" turns out to be Mr. Just Like Every Other Damned President...
So you’ll forgive the anomie that’s preoccupied me, I hope. And you’ll understand if I spend the next few days regaling you with funny pickup lines from Sierra Leone.
I am a freelance journalist and multimedia producer who covers human rights, Africa and foreign affairs. [
Things are definitely looking grim. The bombings in Kampala are an especially bitter pill to swallow. I know other parts of the country are a different story and that Kampala has had it's own share of misery over the years, but for at least the last few years always it always felt so safe.
Not to make it seem worse, but you might as well add South Sudan to your list. Things are tense here as well. The outcome of the referendum could go either way and there is still much to be settled before there can even be a vote.
If I've learned anything being around Africa it's that Africans tend to be quite resilient. Here's hoping.