[Montréal, Québec, Canada 13°C] Political dissent could be a dangerous activity, depending on where you live and how your government treats dissenting voices. In Sudan, reaction to dissent in Darfur by the Sudanese government led to mass displacement of its population into refugee camps in Chad or into displacement camps within Darfur. Reaction to dissent [...]
Posts under ‘opinion’
Lost Boys Hopeful to Rebuild South Sudan
[Montréal, Québec, Canada -2°C] I can imagine the emotional depth and confused sense of belonging/alienation that must come from a return visit to one’s homeland ofter a very long and forced exile. At least I think I can. The documentary film by Jen Marlowe, Rebuilding Hope, offers a glimpse of estrangement as it collides with [...]
Southern Sudan: Oil Exploitation vs Wildlife Protection
[Montréal, Québec, Canada -2°C] Before the last civil war started in Sudan in 1983, the country’s protected areas, according to the Wildlife Conservaton Society, “supported some of the most spectacular and important wildlife populations in Africa, and hosted the second largest wildlife migration in the world.” According to their website, “During an aerial survey, more [...]
After Sudan's Civil War: Where the Wild Things Are. NPR's WBUR Radio: Play Now | Play in Popup
Two Million Southern Sudanese Returned Home Since 2005
[Montréal, Québec, Canada 23°C — même article en français] On June 15, Le Devoir included an Agence France-Presse article: “Sudan: Rebels Attack a Humanitarian Convoy“. The article wrote that Jikany Nuer tribesmen attacked a United Nations World Food Program convoy of 31 barges as it was transporting 700 tons of food aid. The humanitarian aid [...]
Seven-Weeks in Southern Sudan Beckons a Return Visit
[Montréal, Québec, Canada 13°C] It has been just over three weeks since I returned to Montréal from ten weeks in East Africa, most of which were spent in Southern Sudan. I’ve been back long enough to discard the lag that fogs the spirit after flying between continents. Sufficient time has passed to deplete the novelty [...]
Departure for Nairobi, Kenya is set. Juba, Sudan will follow
[MONTRÉAL] Today, I bought my airline ticket, leaving me with two weeks, two days, 22 hours and two minutes before departure time. Actually, the accurate time is constantly changing in the Countdown columnn to the right, which will benchmark various phases of the trip. Arrivals, departures, events. Something to string you along. On February 16, [...]
24 hours in Ottawa
[OTTAWA] Up at 6h30, I managed to get out the door by 7h15 to catch the 8h00 bus to Ottawa. I have 4 meetings scheduled with people I’ve only spoken with over the phone and a dinner and sleepover with Rory and Ronaye, friends of mine who live nicely snug between the Rideau Canal and [...]
Montréal fireworks are not always a pleasure of mine
[MONTRÉAL] I sit in my living room reading David Eggers’ What is the What, a fictionalized biography about Valentino Achak Deng, one of the Lost Boys from Sudan’s 21-year civil war. The war ended tenuously in 2005 with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the Sudanese army in the north and the [...]
