Tag Archives: kapuscinski

Read this today

Posted on September 6, 2015 by msmarguerite

You’ve almost certainly seen the shocking images of a 3-year-old boy’s lifeless body washed up on a Turkish beach. That one image managed to do what more than three years of steady, empathetic media coverage by reputable organizations didn’t– give … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The 10-day good news challenge

Posted on January 21, 2015 by msmarguerite

It doesn’t take a depressive episode these days to realize that the world is screwed up. If I was writing this post in French I would use the words bâclé, foiré, mêlé, magané, fucké, bousillé, à l’envers. Economic inequality at its highest … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Failure of the European-Style State and “Development” in Africa

Posted on March 20, 2014 by msmarguerite

Originally posted on Advokat Dyavola:
“We had escaped a place where evil stared right at you from the sockets of a child’s skull on a battlefield, only to arrive in London, where office workers led lives of such tedium and…

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The road is life…

Posted on January 7, 2014 by msmarguerite

Haiti was on my travel bucket list for years. So were Morocco and Ethiopia. And if you had told me last October that by the end of 2013 I would have been to all of those places…I wouldn’t have believed … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Foreigner

Posted on September 26, 2013 by msmarguerite

Originally posted on Advokat Dyavola:
“So here is our little family-tribe going along searching for nourishment, when it suddenly comes across another family-tribe. What a significant movement in the history of the world, what a momentous discovery! The discovery that…

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Re-entry

Posted on September 2, 2013 by msmarguerite

So…I’m back. Back in Quebec City, on Labour Day, with an event to cover in three hours and a production meeting tomorrow at 8:30 for a — *gulp* — TV show. Re-entry. Africa was a film that kept playing, an … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Is it possible to do any real work in this country?

Posted on June 29, 2013 by msmarguerite

When you reach a place where you find out that you have white skin…this is a discovery, a sensation, a shock. I had lived for twenty-five years without knowing about that skin. A hundred children play in the courtyard of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Saints and sinners, or, my hero’s life.

Posted on May 6, 2013 by msmarguerite

I just finished reading a biography of Ryszard Kapuscinski, by Artur Domoslawski, a Polish journalist. Having known next to nothing about Kapuscinski the human being except what he himself saw fit to reveal in his books (not that much) it … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Travels with Kapuscinski

Posted on January 22, 2013 by msmarguerite

In my flat, four days away from saying goodbye to the girls, who have been nothing but patient and sweet with me. Not for the first time, I am sitting in front of my computer surrounded by the works of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Words of Wisdom from Ryszard Kapucsinski, post 3

Posted on September 21, 2012 by msmarguerite

From Ethiopia and Angola (The Negus and Another Day of Life–books which I no longer have because Félicie and Pierre have devoured them! On foreign correspondence: All those who could were fleeing Angola. I was bent on going there. (Another … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment