Post Tagged with: "streets"

Chaos & Calm

Whether you’re in a rickshaw or a limousine, in a city of fourteen million no one is immune to the horrors of traffic. India’s third-largest city, Kolkata (otherwise known as Calcutta, or কলকাতা), was my base for the last two weeks during dual video assignments for Lutheran World Relief and ChildFund. During journeys in and out of the city and on not-so-leisurely strolls, I spent a great deal of time in a teeming, chaotic muddle and thought I’d share some of it with you. Hit play below for 28 seconds of the city’s hustle and bustle. While the videos are still on my editing table, I’ll share some select stills from Kolkata’s streets, as well as shots from Lutheran World Relief’s agriculture projects in the State of Bihar, where smiles are plentiful and life goes at a much slower pace. Below I give a sneak preview of footage to LWR‘s[…]

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Andean High

I’m back in Latin America for the first time in several years.  Actually, by the time I publish this I’ll be in India, but anyway.   As I work to film and produce a series of videos on the organization’s Early Childhood Development Programs world-wide, recent assignments with ChildFund took me first to Honduras, then to on Ecuador. I also spent a day on the outskirts of Quito, Ecuador’s lofty colonial capital, visiting gardens, schools, and communities supported by ChildFund.  I was able to take some time to nab a few stills in the old town too.

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Meandering the Moroccan Medina

For at least part of my recent assignment for the Millennium Challenge Corporation in Morocco, I had the opportunity to be a tourist.  Well, kind of.  Tourism is one of this North African country’s major industries, but also one that has not reached its full potential.  In the medinas (old quarters) of Fez and Marrakech, MCC has helped bolster tourism with the installation of cultural walks through the ancient winding alleyways.  It’s also provided training and improved workshops for some of the cities’ artisans, whose workshops can be seen farther below.  These projects are in step with the organization’s principle of reducing poverty through economic growth.  MCC also has other programs in the fisheries and agriculture sectors. Also, some of my earlier work for MCC was just published in the Guardian today.

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Streets Heating Up | Kampala, Uganda

Uganda’s opposition parties are rallying the faithful ahead of Friday’s presidential and parliamentary voting. Today, presidential candidate Dr. Kizza Besigye campaigned in downtown Kampala to enthusiastic support. Dr. Besigye is the front runner of all the Presidential challengers to Uganda’s incumbent President Yoweri Museveni. Along with supporters of his IPC party (Interparty Cooperation), he took to the streets of Kampala today for a last-minute push of campaigning ahead of Friday’s presidential vote. The crowd was raucous, taking on almost a militant tone. One vehicle in his caravan was decorated to resemble an army tank. Many voters are frustrated that President Museveni has yet to stand down from office after more than 25 years. Dr. Besigye, speaking from the roof of an SUV, had a message for those politicians clinging to power: look to the streets of Egypt and Tunisia. There was indeed a lot of energy on the streets today.[…]

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Zooming ’round Hanoi

It’s my first assignment outside Africa this year, and my first time ever to travel to Vietnam. I had some free time to explore the streets of Hanoi this afternoon, which were supposedly sleepy compared to a weekday. I’ll have the next few days to draw comparisons. While the word chaotic comes to mind, the roadways and motorbike taxis are actually a bit more civil than what I’m used to in Uganda. After several hours of meandering I gave up trying to find the Hanoi Hilton and Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum, instead making it my goal to reach it to the city’s waterfront.

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