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| Sudan |
| Reality is for people who lack imagination What began in 1999 as a chronicle of crisis-chasing travels has now become a rather long story, one that has led me through Albania, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Congo, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Nepal and Sudan, and since last August back to Rome, where I am again working with my old team at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. The use of personal web pages has in the meantime become anachronistic, to the point where it is almost cooly retro'. Yes, I also have stuff on Facebook and other sites, but this remains something of an anchor, especially as I don't update it often. Almost a museum that I myself can look back at. Starting from an early mid-life crisis at the age of 37 I've now been chasing wars and famines for nine years as an aid worker in the Balkans, Africa and Asia. I've worked for many NGOs and the UN, and made a lot of amazing friends along the way. I am still not entirely sure of what I am doing, and walk a narrow line between enthusiasm for my work and burned out cynicism. Knowing that our affluent western society is politically and economically a major cause of misery in developing countries makes it hard to run aid programs without occasional guilt trips. Not a recommendation to wallow in guilt, but to do something about it, while recognizing that whatever you do will never be enough. Before criticising developing countries for being lazy and unproductive, it is worth learning that US and European agricultural subsidy policies and trade barriers are a major reason why so many developing countries remain poor. No need for lectures, there is enough material out there for anybody who wants to find out about these things. Most people don't of course, it's a lot more fun to complain about the 15% of humanity who are richer than you than to wonder why 85% are poorer than you. If you truly want to find out more about these countries and how the majority of the world lives, some good starting points are the Overseas Development Institute , the home page of UN humanitarian coordination, Reliefweb, or even a good Reuters website to see some real news of the world: Alertnet. I've kept the early pages of the website in their original format as a matter of historical realism. Last update 5 November 08 - ALJ |