More than six months I spent at home writing my book. Now I am finally back in Africa. Last week I arrived in Burkina Faso, the country I left
last December. First I'll spend some time in the capital of Ouagadougou, then I'm off to Bobo-Dioulasso to meet all my friends. But first of all I am here to report, amongst others for the Dutch magazine
Opzij. The book on urbanization in Africa is finished:
Gin-tonic & cholera will be published in October. But that is not a reason not to go and discover city life here in Ouaga.
All too often plans for Africa are designed on western drawing tables.
Blueprints of Paradise wants to change this with a competition in which African architects can show their ideas for the future of Africa. The Dutch
Afrika Museum and
African Architecture Matters call on architects, artists and visionaries to send in their plans for the Africa of the future. The
jury -among whom yours truly - will select several
contributions to be exhibited from April till October 2011 in the Afrika Museum in Berg en Dal in the Netherlands.
Deadline for contributions is October 15, 2010
People who know me, will chuckle. Football is not exactly one of my passions, and I'd sworn not to write even one word about the World Cup. But in spite of myself, I seem to have been bitten by the bug. During the World Cup, the
Tropentheater will transform into an African football pub. Matches on a big screen will be preceded by talks about the countries. Football plus, so to speak. This Saturday, before the match Nigeria-Argentina, one of the guests will be me. No worries, I'll steer clear of football analysis. But I will talk about every day life in Nigeria as I witnessed it while I stayed in
Ibadan, Nigeria's third city, last Summer.
Saturday, June 12, 3 PM, Tropentheater, Linneausstraat 2, Amsterdam
I am a freelance journalist from the Netherlands addicted to Africa. I write mainly about social economic issues, women and urbanisation. I travel to sub-Saharan Africa regularly to write articles. The last couple of years I spent a lot of time reporting in the Great Lakes area. Congo, Rwanda, Uganda... These and other African countries have gotten under my skin. Every trip seems to evoke a new one. I am currenty working on my second book that will be about urbanisation in Africa. For that book I've lived in six different African cities the last two years: Luanda, Maputo, Goma, Jinja, Ibadan and Bobo-Dioulasso. In October
Gin-tonic & Cholera will be published in Dutch.
People I've interviewed abroad always ask me if they can read the article, thinking I'd write it in English. When I tell them that my stories are written in Dutch, they're dissapointed. Who speaks this language anyway? This is why I decided to give my website in Dutch an English equivalent. Inevitably it will be less extensive than the Dutch blog, but I'll keep it updated with the most important developments.
mail me if you have any questions or remarks.
click here to go to the main page of this blog in English.
The Nigerian diaspora alone forms a potentially big audience for
Fela! The musical on Nigeria's most famous musician Fela Kuti will see its première in the British capital on November 16 in the National Theatre. On Broadway the musical has been a hit since last Fall. The New York Times review spoke of
'a helluva party' and people who saw it state that it is impossible to leave the theater without dancing. Apparently I am not the only fan of the sizzling
afrobeat of the Nigerian who died in 1997. I'm not into musicals, but for this one I might make an exception.
She calls her initiative 'the African version of We Are the World'. 'In spite of our limited means Africans can also show solidarity with Haiti and contribute to its reconstruction', says Senegalese singer
Coumba Gawlo. Therefore she is organizing a benefit in Dakar on March 6, called 'Africa for Haiti'. The musician, known for her cover of Miriam Makebas
Pata Pata, manages to gather big names of the African music industry like
Youssou Ndour,
Alpha Blondy and
Papa Wemba. These artists will also record a song from which the proceeds will go to the Haitians.
Granting many a request to also put the films I shot in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, on my own web site. Since I took up the videocamera - or rather, my Lumix photocamera - I seem to have struck a new audience. Fascinating how moving images give my reports a new dimension. It is a medium that I'll definitely will explore further.
To see the videos, click 'more'.(more)
During my stay in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, a musician friend asked me to film his videoclip. The song Saya Mama in the Dioula language, is about his mother who died when he was five years old. Filming and making a clip was a first for me - nevertheless
Zanké was happy with the result and it's shown on tv in Burkina on a daily basis now. Glad I could help out an African friend.
To see the clip, click on 'more'.(more)
More than six months I spent at home writing my book. Now I am finally back in Africa. Last week I arrived in Burkina Faso, the country I left last December. First I'll spend some time in the capital of Ouagadougou, then I'm off to Bobo-Dioulasso to meet all my friends. But first of all I am here to report, amongst others for the Dutch magazine Opzij. The book on urbanization in Africa is finished: Gin-tonic & cholera will be published in October. But that is not a reason not to go and discover city life here in Ouaga.
All too often plans for Africa are designed on western drawing tables. Blueprints of Paradise wants to change this with a competition in which African architects can show their ideas for the future of Africa. The Dutch Afrika Museum and African Architecture Matters call on architects, artists and visionaries to send in their plans for the Africa of the future. The jury -among whom yours truly - will select several 
People who know me, will chuckle. Football is not exactly one of my passions, and I'd sworn not to write even one word about the World Cup. But in spite of myself, I seem to have been bitten by the bug. During the World Cup, the Tropentheater will transform into an African football pub. Matches on a big screen will be preceded by talks about the countries. Football plus, so to speak. This Saturday, before the match Nigeria-Argentina, one of the guests will be me. No worries, I'll steer clear of football analysis. But I will talk about every day life in Nigeria as I witnessed it while I stayed in Ibadan, Nigeria's third city, last Summer.
I am a freelance journalist from the Netherlands addicted to Africa. I write mainly about social economic issues, women and urbanisation. I travel to sub-Saharan Africa regularly to write articles. The last couple of years I spent a lot of time reporting in the Great Lakes area. Congo, Rwanda, Uganda... These and other African countries have gotten under my skin. Every trip seems to evoke a new one. I am currenty working on my second book that will be about urbanisation in Africa. For that book I've lived in six different African cities the last two years: Luanda, Maputo, Goma, Jinja, Ibadan and Bobo-Dioulasso. In October Gin-tonic & Cholera will be published in Dutch.
The Nigerian diaspora alone forms a potentially big audience for Fela! The musical on Nigeria's most famous musician Fela Kuti will see its première in the British capital on November 16 in the National Theatre. On Broadway the musical has been a hit since last Fall. The New York Times review spoke of 'a helluva party' and people who saw it state that it is impossible to leave the theater without dancing. Apparently I am not the only fan of the sizzling afrobeat of the Nigerian who died in 1997. I'm not into musicals, but for this one I might make an exception.
She calls her initiative 'the African version of We Are the World'. 'In spite of our limited means Africans can also show solidarity with Haiti and contribute to its reconstruction', says Senegalese singer Coumba Gawlo. Therefore she is organizing a benefit in Dakar on March 6, called 'Africa for Haiti'. The musician, known for her cover of Miriam Makebas Pata Pata, manages to gather big names of the African music industry like Youssou Ndour, Alpha Blondy and Papa Wemba. These artists will also record a song from which the proceeds will go to the Haitians.
Granting many a request to also put the films I shot in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, on my own web site. Since I took up the videocamera - or rather, my Lumix photocamera - I seem to have struck a new audience. Fascinating how moving images give my reports a new dimension. It is a medium that I'll definitely will explore further.
During my stay in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, a musician friend asked me to film his videoclip. The song Saya Mama in the Dioula language, is about his mother who died when he was five years old. Filming and making a clip was a first for me - nevertheless Zanké was happy with the result and it's shown on tv in Burkina on a daily basis now. Glad I could help out an African friend.
