Archives for November 2010

For the Pulitzer Center, Abyei, Sudan Published on November 2, 2010 Abyei has always been a special case. In a united Sudan its borderland position led writers to infuse it with a somewhat romanticized notion of a bridge between two cultures. But with southerners pressing for autonomy since Sudanese independence, there has been ever-increasing pressure […]

For the Pulitzer Center, Abyei, Sudan Published on October 27, 2010 Scheduling was such that I did not reach Abyei until the weekend, and while I have press accreditation from the government of southern Sudan in Juba, telling me I am free to work as a journalist anywhere in the south, Abyei is a unique […]

For the Pulitzer Center, Agok, Sudan Published on October 25, 2010 As I write, high-pitched chanting from the girls of the Agok primary school fills the air. They are cheering on their male classmates in the school’s soccer match. It’s a still evening. The sunset has just reached that special moment when it transforms the […]

For the Pulitzer Center, Juba, Sudan Published on October 20, 2010 Flying into Juba last week was surreal. I haven’t been back here since 2005 and it is the most remarkable five-year transformation I have ever witnessed. As our plane circled in towards the runway, the bird’s eye view showed Juba no longer to be […]

For the Pulitzer Center, Khartoum, Sudan Published on August 17, 2010 Last week I met the parents of one of the Girifna activists, who I will call Nahid. It was a couple of the best hours of this trip. They have been studiously apolitical for years – the same tack taken by many Sudanese who […]

For the Pulitzer Center, Khartoum, Sudan Published on July 29, 2010 Edward Lino, an SPLM member from Abyei, was sent to administer to the disputed area shortly before the May 2008 fighting which displaced some 50,000 people. He is now based in Khartoum, where I interviewed him last week. Although the interview was about Abyei, […]