Showing posts with label M23 rebels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label M23 rebels. Show all posts

9 November 2013

Weekend List!

Sarah's List:

Good Congo News! A little over a year ago these guys were threatening to terrorize the country all the way to Kinshasa. But this week the M23 says they're done. Good news, indeed.


Image from Sara Rich's blog. Read all about it here.

Speaking of Sara Rich (see image above). I think I'm about to have a friend who's really famous. Check out her organization EduCorps. It's genius, really.

It still tickles me that when you search "TASOK" this is the picture comes up. Sara Rich all packed up and ready to leave us.

Russell Feingold is becoming a Congolese household name. Here's an example: "Who is this Russell Feingold? Why is he here? What is he doing? I think I should care about him. Can you Google if he is in Kinshasa and where he is staying so I can go introduce myself to him?" Absolutely!

Here's an interesting way to capture a pirate king. Play to his ego and lure him to your country in a reverse Argo-esque scheme. Here's the story.

What did New York look like in 1939? Check out this film!



A funny thing happens when you share a name with a mayor-elect.

From the department of I Still Think 1990 was 10 Years Ago, 20 songs you can't even believe are 20 years old.




Fall makes me think of college. Here are some of the most beautiful ones (and the ugliest ones). Who knew I spent 4 years at a UNESCO World Heritage Site.



I've thought about this article since it came out 4 years ago. It's resurfacing. A good read on stick-to-it-iveness.

And one more. Fascinating, beautiful, moving.




"Fall" in Congo.


Jill's List:

The other evening, I went to the closest Vodacom shop to get some credit and Loulou and I found ourselves in the middle of a bonafide, liquored-up, parking lot dance party - with laser lights.  The reason?  The grand opening of a new Woodin shop.  Controversy is great for blogs...so, here goes:  Vlisco or Woodin? Which is better?  (I'm still partial to Vlisco, but that's just because of their incredible billboards.)

Last month's Vlisco billboard on Bouldevard de 30 Juin, Kinshasa.  I want that dress.

I live with a man who hates The Sound of Music.  I know, how does this sort of thing happen?  Turns out he's not alone.  Check out NPR's A Complete Curmudgeon's Guide to TSoM.  For example:

9. The "Lonely Goatherd" puppet show is all about coerced mountain marriages, including coerced goat marriages, which send a bad message to children and anthropomorphized goats.

And then there's this McSweeny's.  Brilliant.  Almost turned me into a curmudgeon.



My first job as a nurse was at Neighborcare Health. The doctors, medical assistants, and midwives whom I worked with had an unwavering commitment to the most disadvantaged populations of Seattle.  The patients taught me that everyone deserves health care.  Check out this shout out in the HuffPost.





Kamala Khan!

Kamala Khan.jpg
From here.

Thinking of our friends in Cairo this week.  Wondering if this article is true.

Photo by Erin Velzeboer.  Remember her?

Johan has spent all morning putting together a Saved By the Bell/Jurassic Park themed playlist.  Favorites?  Johnny Cash's The Dinosaur Song, Nirvana's School, and Les Calamitésversion of The Kids Are Alright.  Keeping it real in the Congo.



Struggling with this a little.  Especially when my three-year-old wants to listen too.

Bedtime reading.  Thank goodness for iPads.  We didn't have to pack all billion pages of Harry Potter in our luggage.


And.  Best Facebook conversation ever:





Loving Orange is the New Black, especially with the shout-out to Kinshasa as a place where there are starving people because "just saying Africa would be racist."
Like ·  ·  · about an hour ago · 
Erin VelzeboerSara Rich and Jared Shenk like this.
Jared Shenk Just wait until you get to the shoutout to Waynesboro, VA 

(That last comment courtesy of today's rainstorm, which has probably knocked out the Internet.)  Going now to get the first season.  


24 November 2012

Friday List!

Sarah's List:

Lots of buzz in Kinshasa about the M23. Here's the latest. While we're happy for our friends in the Middle East, we're wishing they could just tack DRC onto their cease fire agreement. Those things are easy to amend, right?

Phil Moore/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Looking for a distraction from violence? Then, don't look here. Unless you are interested in seeing disturbing works of art by female artists. Yikes!

Artemesia Gentileschi – Judith and her Maidservant



I love Skymall magazines. I play a game similar to his Skymall game in which I imagine showing any ad to Mama Youyou. And then her uproarious laughter. Take for example for the Mixed-Breed Dog DNA Test Kit. It's only $74.99! What Mama Youyou? You could feed your family for a month for this? But imagine the peace of mind knowing your dog's breed!




Watch what happens when you give thousands of stickers to thousands of kids. Before the first dot. And after.

A Project of Artist Yayoi Kusama


Did you know there's an interactive website letting you know where you're most and least likely to get travelers diarrhea? Oh yes. And it's called Traveltrots.

Image from HowStuffWorks


And remember as you wrap up those Thanksgiving leftovers, the best things come in Cellophane. Even babies.

From the Saturday Evening Post via Retronaut.com


Jill's List:

Look back at Sarah's first photograph.  At the photo credits. Who is this insane photographer?  Seems crazy to go around sandwiching yourself between refugees and rebels on purpose - armed with a camera in countries suspicious of documentation.  But in situations like Goma, a photo means far more than changing words and unreliable facts.  Read more about Phil here.  Or, if you want his latest, real-time, perspective try his @fil Twitter feed.

(Just realized that Phil & I are the same age.  Oh man.  Must up my game a bit.)



Images from Phil Moore's professional website.

Meanwhile, here in Kinshasa, the sisters and the mamas are having their say on the state of the country. The "Sisterhood of Bereavers" have been protesting at the gates of MONUSCO since the 21st.
"M23 bereft us of Goma. And we're here to mourn till MONUSCO restores our beloved city to us!" 
Image from JJ Bola Twitter feed

Amazing photo essay on "la Chute de Goma."  (By Phil Moore - see above.)

Image by Phil Moore for Al Jazeera.

We picked a bowlful of les haricots verts from our little garden yesterday.  Honestly, we had about zero hope of actually eating anything from our garden, as growing things in a rainforest is way harder than you would imagine.  The tomatoes look awesome for now, but I'm betting 1000FC that some scourge takes them down before we get a bite.  Then again, Mupwa is pretty amazing...even Mama YouYou says so.

It should be noted that I suffered approximately 5 black fly bites in the 30 seconds it took to snap this photo.
Oh, how I suffer for art.

Lou's getting a new dress.  Mama Vida about choked when she saw the original price of the dress I showed her an as style example...

Dress photo from Makie.

Lou has suddenly reached the age where watching movies is captivating.  Until now, I actually wished she would sit around transfixed by a screen in such circumstances such as airplane trips.  Her obsession?  Didou.



On the search for fairy lights.  Unfortunately, gaudy and unbelievably expensive are what is available here.  Think $60 for a 10 foot string of multicolored LED lights.  I was thinking something more along the lines of this to get us in the Christmas spirit:

These expensive, but far-from-gaudy, fairy lights can be found here.
Wish they were 220V...sigh.

And, in case you haven't yet visited one of our most popular posts ever...  Go here.  And check out the comments.  Yes, that's right.  Woodward's Gripe Water READS MAMA CONGO.  Folks, this is huge.


19 November 2012

Au Courage, Goma

Goma is 1,500km or almost 1,000 miles from us - here in Kinshasa.

A flight, days of driving, an impossible trek.

But, the news of escalating violence and photos of families trying to flee rebels and militaries - again - hits a little close to home.

Au courage, Goma.

Photo credit - AFP - Michele Sibiloni
Photo credit AFP - Michele Sibiloni.

Image found on radiookapi.net

Read more here, here, here, here, here, and here.  The stories are important, but a little hard to find.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...