Monthly Archives: March 2011

Aga Khan Hospital Nairobi, Kenya March 25th 2011 If someone tells you they are going to pray for you the reaction of most non-faith people—including this one—might typically be bemusement. But if faith is not much part of your life … Continue reading →

The Aga Khan Hospital, Nairobi Kenya March 21st 2011 When the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation put out the TV show Street Legal in 1987 as its own domestic knock-off copy of the popular American programme LA Law, it was following what … Continue reading →

The Peponi Hotel, Lamu Island Kenya, March 20th 2011 There is something cruel about upper crust English accents—it is as though the beauty of the speech is directly related to its lack of sincerity or inherent kindness. What someone says … Continue reading →

Lamu Island, Kenya March 20th 2011 A man can come to escape from many things on Lamu Island—the sea breezes and relaxed Swahili culture of this timeless town and its endless sand beaches are a feast for the eye and … Continue reading →

Nairobi March 13th 2011 To reach Nairobi Kenya direct from the DRC is to have arrived in a Metropole, the only one, by default, in East and Central Africa or anywhere else from Cairo to The Cape. Here is a … Continue reading →

On leaving the DRC for Rwanda and Kenya March 12th 2011 To cross the border from DRC into Rwanda at Gisenyi is to pass through the door to another world. Leaving behind Goma and everything that is shambolic about it … Continue reading →

Goma, DRC March 12th 2011 When the Angolan Army intervened we were quite unprepared. They, and the Zimbabweans, had tanks, heavy weaponry and aircraft. We were lightly armed. I lost many friends that day in Kitona; I saw people killed … Continue reading →

If someone were to tell you that a city was the worst in the world you could either be horrified or fascinated by it. Some people spend time compiling such lists—generally as part of a corporate HR exercise to determine … Continue reading →

A short history of a long war Goma Nord-Kivu March 6th 2011 If someone were to ask what the conflict in Congo’s Kivu region was all about it might not be possible to answer without the framework for a PhD … Continue reading →

A ramble through Goma March 4th When Quentin Tarantino released the movie Pulp Fiction in 1994 and its hyped-up sound track of Surf Rock, Funk, Soul, Rock-a-Billy and overlooked pop songs, I felt like my favourite music had been ripped-off. … Continue reading →

Goma, Nord-Kivu March 3rd With less than a week to go to Kibomango’s Fight Day the training is on in earnest and the early morning sessions now proceed to plan like a military operation. I am inside the training camp … Continue reading →

Goma, Nord-Kivu March 1st 2011 Jab-jab, droit! Jab-jab, droit! It is the day after a failed coup in the DRC but no one is paying much attention, and not here this morning either, where our boxing drills have been going … Continue reading →