Why this rocks: J. Lester Feder on same-sex marriage in South Africa
First and foremost, it’s about South Africa. There’s no universalizing paragraph linking the issue in South Africa to the rest of the continent; where there is that link, it’s subtle and sensical, connecting the South African story to other stories because they are actually connected, not because the piece, to exist, has to say something [...]
Sunday in a South African township
Oops! Having a technical glitch with my slideshow. Hope to fix it soon! I came to Tshepisong to meet Olga. When she had only two children herself, and she was only 30 years old, Olga began her life as a foster mother to AIDS orphans — four children of her sister’s, and later two children [...]
Sunday in Olga’s Shack
At least, it’s what my Sunday looked like, when I visited Olga and her family in Tshepisong, not far from Johannesburg. If you look closely, you’ll see this is a tin shack. But you have to look closely, because nine-year-old Bokamoso and his three-year-old brother, Neo, are having so much fun with each other, they’ll [...]
Boss me around in Africa!
I’ve just landed back in Rwanda, which loyal readers who’ve forgiven years of mostly silence on this blog will recall as my favorite place on Earth, and I’m gearing up for some really exciting work with the International Reporting Project, as one of their six New Media Fellows this year. By the way, this crop [...]
Orchid lessons
When the seasons change, people in New York are electric. They waltz across basketball courts and gun engines at red lights and dance in the street to car stereos. They pet each other’s dogs and chat across fences and look each other in the eyes as they pass each other on the street. Sometimes total [...]
Happy International Women’s Day!
I wish I was in Bukavu today, where I’ve met so many strong, amazing women fighting against not only the horrors (rape) we often hear about but against gender-based discrimination and violence, and fighting for a new way of imagining women in the world — with their own voices, strongly and clearly sharing their own [...]
I am a freelance journalist and multimedia producer who covers human rights, Africa and foreign affairs. [