Oct 3, 2020Evariste WinsI wrote a blog post earlier this year about these tenacious Catholic nuns in my old Peace Corps village in the Congo, Kamponde, who were...
Jun 8, 2020Coronavirus in Congo and #BlackLivesMatterThis post started off as an update on the Coronavirus in Congo — and I will get to that — but it's hard to ignore the other pandemic in...
Feb 18, 2020Two Chance EncountersWhen I was in Kananga and interviewing some Congolese NGO workers who were treating some of the child soldiers from the Kasai uprising,...
Feb 7, 2020Why Have There Been More Than 6,000 Measles Deaths in Congo? Where to Begin? This is a longer version of a story I wrote for Stanford Medicine, when asked to give my perspective on why the measles outbreak in Congo...
Jan 3, 2020A Holiday Tale: Catholic Nuns Getting It DoneWhen Christmas rolled around last week, perhaps some thought of Jesus or maybe the Pope, various elders and priests. All those men...
Nov 24, 2019Why She Couldn't Go I hadn’t been in Kamponde more than 10 minutes when one of my students from long ago approached, welcomed me back with a double-fisted...
Nov 10, 2019Addresses, Giggles, Old Friends and NewI'm getting back to Congo-related stuff after taking a break. I've been working on a post about the Kamwina Nsapu uprising and clashes...
Oct 16, 2019The Sun Also Accelerates: Solar Power Dominates One Corner of CongoI was among the hundreds of thousands of Northern California residents who were without power last week. I got off easy; power went out...
Oct 6, 2019Kanyi & KamulomboWithin minutes of arriving in Kamponde, there were a handful of people I immediately asked after. Among those were two of my former...
Sep 11, 2019Morning SicknessDay Four in Kinshasa. We have confirmation of our Congo Airways flight to Kananga on Friday. That is the city about 60 miles north of...
Sep 9, 2019Hurry Up and Happily Wait Day Two in Kinshasa and though we’re stuck here until Friday — we got bumped from the flight to Kananga in central Congo today — I’m...
Aug 22, 2019Origami MicroscopesOne of the handful of side projects I'll be working on when we get to Congo in two weeks (!!) is showing up at schools and helping...
Aug 16, 2019The Kindness of StrangersNick and I will be headed to SFO airport in three weeks from today for our long-awaited journey to the Democratic Republic of the...
Jul 28, 2019Five Weeks and CountingSome of you have so kindly asked what you can send along with me to the village. As I've told those of you who have asked: Your initial...
Jul 28, 2019It Took a Village: A Congo Journey This is the original page for a Kickstarter project launched in 2016 to fund my trip and potential documentary about my nearly...
Jul 10, 2019Pierre Mambele: The man behind the wheel of Congo’s newsLove this Reuters obituary for Pierre Mambele, a taxi driver in Kinshasa who worked for foreign journalists for decades. One of the many...
Jun 26, 2019Congo Visas and Tickets in HandThird Time's a Charm? Thank you dear Kickstarter Family for your patience and understanding. Things have calmed enough in the DRC,...
Jan 14, 2019This Must Be the YearWishing all of you & your loved ones a Happy New Year. It's hard to believe that this is my 23rd update since I launched this project in...
Mar 30, 2017It Is With Heavy HeartDear Kickstarter Family, It is with a heavy heart that I share the news that that UN aides, Michael Sharp and Zaida Catalan, along with...