Mbabarira, or, my heart hurts
I have a slew of things to post from Congo, but right now, indulge me, from Kigali. Mbabarira is Kinyarwanda for “Forgive me,” which…
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Of beauty queens and waterfalls
This was meant to be a post a few days ago, but I accidentally put it up as a page. I blame Congo. Two…
Read MoreOf palettes and poverty
My colleague and I could think of very few things in the world that could possibly be as interesting as the National Museum of…
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A Sierra Leonean Designer Redefines African Couture
If she were still in New York or Paris – anywhere but here, really – Adama Kargbo would be wearing striped socks that reach…
Read MoreWhat Congo has that America doesn’t
On my taxi ride to the border, my Congolese driver asked me how the Democratic Republic of Congo compares to America. The dichotomy struck…
Read MoreSweat equity
Near Kinshasa’s biggest airport, I happened to catch sight of what might be its only train. It makes the blue metal boxes clanking through…
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All Things Must Fight To Live
In Congo brutality seems to be everywhere: history, war, politics; in the landscape and the poverty and the desperate chug of locals’ day-to-day lives….
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Through the River and Over The Falls
Umwenda, the village along the Nile River where Mr. Wasige was born, is unremarkable, which is to say it has as little as most…
Read MoreStill in Africa. More soon.
I’ve been in eastern Congo for the last 3 weeks, and the internet here is terrible. This is, in fact, the first day it…
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Rwandans Opt to Redefine Beauty
BUTARE, RWANDA — Sandra Uwimbabazi knows runways – she’s modeled for years – but she stumbled on a recent Saturday here. A tall, slender…
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