How to study a megacity: Metro Manila. Step 1: Go to a megacity. Step 2: Take public transport (and hold on tight). Jumping into a jeepney in Manila sucks the unknowing Joe into the rushing, chortling capillary system that is the transport life blood of the Philippines. Reminiscent of the Dick Tracy gangster-style automobiles, jeepneys are remnants of American occupation […]
After leaving Nyungwe, we headed to Akagera—Rwanda’s savanna park. Before mountain gorillas started making millions for Rwanda, Akagera was Rwanda’s flagship site for tourism. It better fit the traditional model for African tourism, in which people can spot large, charismatic mammals from the comfort of their land cruisers. Today, the park is overshadowed by Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park (and its […]
This blog entry doesn’t say much about the environment and relates very little to my work, but I think it’s a series of stories worth telling. They provide cultural context and a window into the mentality of the local populous. They also answer the questions I’m sure many people interested in my travels here are asking themselves: “What is it […]
June 17 he Land Rover growls and grumbles as we bounce over gullies and ditches, the hum of the engine scattering songbirds when we pass by their perches. Rounding one corner, we skirt so close to the edge of an enormous gaping hole in the ground that I involuntarily lean away from it, as if that will keep us from […]
he next time I am asked whether I can be an advocate for people and places with the least information, access to, and ability to obtain a just, healthy, and resilient future, and have a career, I can confidently answer “yes!” After my first day at Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW) in Eugene, Oregon, I knew I found the type […]
At 3 am on Sunday morning, while waiting for the 2 train to make an appearance at a crowded platform in Brooklyn, I sat down next to a group of noisy young tourists my age. Head down, music plugged in, I focused on drowning out the noise around me when yet another garbled announcement about schedule changes played overhead. I […]
After an amazing whirlwind honeymoon through Italy, my husband and I hastily parted ways at the Turkish Airways terminal of Rome’s Fiumicino Airport. Our goodbye was much too fast for my liking, but the traffic police and our driver hurried my husband back into the car to drop him off at American Airlines. He was heading home to Pennsylvania and […]
I’m writing from Gisakura, in the tea fields just outside Nyungwe National Park in Rwanda. I’m two weeks into my internship with the Wildlife Conservation Society here, where I’ve mainly been working with the education and outreach team. It has been a rich and interesting experience so far. For my next few posts, though, I’d like to write more about […]
“Why do you want to protect the elephants?” A friend of mine asked me this on Weibo after the death of Bonsai, a 26-year-old mother elephant who was shot on my seventh day in the Samburu National Reserve in Northern Kenya. My friend is a Chinese conservationist who has for years strived to protect the wildlife in his hometown. He […]
The crowds seem to converge under the massive wood and tin structure looming ahead: the Arusha market. It is here that fresh fruits and vegetables, smoked fish, dried beans and rice, and baggies of aromatic spices are brought, showcased, and sold every day. In the fresh food area, women wrapped in brightly patterned kanga sit on stools in front of […]
My days quickly molded to the local culture. I subsisted off of potatoes and coca tea and woke up and went to bed with the rise and fall of the sun (this meant 12 hours of me huddling under spider eggs and reading Game of Thrones; sleep often eluded me). People start each meal with steamed potatoes which they peel […]
June 9, 2013 Delhi Slum Neighborhoods On our second day in Delhi, the US PIRE students learned firsthand about the social and public health implications of poor urban infrastructure. Dr. Tapan Jyoti, a Peer PIRE participant sponsored by USAID, first introduced us to the director of a local office of the Gender Resource Center. The GRC supports women’s empowerment in […]