South China, 1992 For months I had been editing stories at China Daily about how China’s moribund state-owned enterprises were being closed, disassembled, and sold off in bits. It was part of Deng Xiaoping’s ongoing push for economic reform, which he had just re-emphasized with his tour of South China. As I traveled through South China … read more The young woman in Wuhan
Category: Shelter
The structures that support us, how they protect us, and what is exposed when those give way. Travel as life experience offers dissolution of shelter, both physical and metaphysical – changes in time frames, cultural identity, architectural meaning, technology, tears in the fabric of society
So many
I didn’t know them, but I can picture them. They would have been laughing and talking, at the end of the work day, as they rode the bus from work to home in Kabul. The mix of men and women means there was flirting, too. Most of them were young, under 30, and their careers … read more So many
Re-traumatized
[Dec. 28] This morning, I had an anxiety attack from reading the description of my surgery. I had downloaded my patient record from Emory. It described the surgery step by step, in clinical detail. Four pages of detail. It was the first time that I realized what the doctors meant when they said the aneurysm was in an … read more Re-traumatized
The gorey details
The neurosurgeons had big grins on their faces when they came to see me today. Because of the aneurysm location, they didn’t know, going in, exactly how it would work – closing the hole in that major artery on the right side of my brain. But they anchored it back together with a metal clip, … read more The gorey details
Four steps of investigative journalism and other pursuits
In 2002, I was asked to give a workshop on investigative reporting for journalists in Laos. I was pretty surprised by this request. Laos was, and still is, a tightly controlled Communist country. And yet, having given up central management of the economy, the party leaders had recognized that its media needed to do a … read more Four steps of investigative journalism and other pursuits
The sabra: From Hanoi to Jerusalem
In October 1993, I had given up on men. I was still recovering from the break-up of a long and disastrously passionate relationship that spring. Summer brought a series of brief mismatches and a suicidal bout of depression. On top of Hua Shan in northern China that October, I stood exhausted from a grueling climb … read more The sabra: From Hanoi to Jerusalem
Death by hanging
Jacky Sutton’s friends don’t believe that she committed suicide. Some of them hinted that it could have been a murder committed by ISIS. Jacky was a former BBC journalist who worked in media development for many years. She spent most of her time in very rough places, including Eritrea, Afghanistan and Iraq. She helped me out … read more Death by hanging
Day 90: Still missing you
I was none too sure about you, Rob, when you sat down for the first day of orientation in Kabul. April, 2004: We were setting up Pajhwok Afghan News, the first independent news agency in Afghanistan. There were 120 staff to whip into shape. We had just two months before we’d be publishing daily content, and only … read more Day 90: Still missing you
Day 89: A place on Mars
In The Martian, Matt Damon is stuck on Mars farming potatoes. I seriously envied him. You may recognize the landscape of this movie from Lawrence of Arabia – or from other movies about Mars, as well as another movie by Ridley Scott, Prometheus. And if you’ve been there, you know that reddish rock cannot be any place other than Wadi Rum, in … read more Day 89: A place on Mars
Day 70: Nowhere to go
I’m thirsty. But I can’t drink water, because then I’ll have to urinate. And there’s nowhere nearby to do that. I’m on my period. So I can’t go to school, because there’s no safe bathroom to go and change the pad. I went outside at night to urinate because there’s no toilet in our house. I … read more Day 70: Nowhere to go