Cape Town, South Africa

Frenzy for fish means torturous life at sea for migrant fishermen

It was after nightfall when the folded sheet of paper was slipped under the door of the Mission to Seafarers building in South Africa's Cape Town harbour.
"We are fishermen workers of the ship Fuh Sheng 11," stated the letter written by the mostly Indonesian crew. "We have a problem in our ship."
The letter helped to trigger an investigation which saw the Taiwanese trawler held in port in May. Over the following weeks, the crew showed photographs and video of squalid conditions on board - which they described as "hell".
Juba, South Sudan

Armed with poetry and rap, South Sudan's young artists battle for peace

A group of artists and musicians in South Sudan is on a mission - to mobilise young people across the country through music, graffiti and poetry to help bring peace to the war-torn nation.

Our short film from Juba: 'Art for Peace'
http://news.trust.org/item/20180605085924-wg6ye/


Gulu, Uganda

Auto repair shop jump-starts Ugandan child soldiers into new lives

As a young boy chasing chickens on his parents' farm in northern Uganda, Louis Lakor dreamed of becoming a teacher. But when he finally set foot in a local primary school, aged seven, it was as an armed killer.
Abducted in a night raid, Lakor was forced to become a child soldier with the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group, which terrorised northern Uganda for nearly two decades before being driven out of the country by a military offensive in 2005.
Our film on Louis's story: http://news.trust.org/item/20180509091724-rtlg1/
Yaounde, Cameroon

Cameroon gaming stars train new generation of business superheroes

Off a dusty path in the capital city, flanked by chickens roosting in the grass, one of Cameroon's most successful digital startups is capitalising on its success to foster a new generation of entrepreneurs.
"Our generation has the duty to bring something really new that will finally generate growth," said Olivier Madiba, founder and chief executive officer of Kiro'o.
Bangui, Central African Republic

Film shows art of survival in Central Africa airport's 'tent city'

Tens of thousands of people who fled murderous gangs and set up their own “tent city” inside Central African Republic’s main airport are the unlikely stars of an award-winning new film. Almost half the population of Bangui was forced to shelter in informal camps as gangs armed with guns, knives and machetes went on a rampage through the city.
Bangui and Bambari, Central African Republic

UN Sex Abuse Scandal

I worked as a field producer with a fantastic team of journalists on an hour long film examining the sexual abuse scandal involving UN peacekeepers. It aired in separate versions on PBS Frontline and UK's Channel 4.

You can watch the PBS film here: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/un-sex-abuse-scandal/
N'Djamena, Chad

Escaping the exorcist: Chad's 'snake children' turn carpenters and musicians

When Koutu Saimon’s son, Wheener, was born almost four months premature and “as small as a mouse”, friends and relatives in Chad turned to the new mother and, with sidelong glances and in hushed voices, whispered to her to get rid of the baby. Wheener, now a lively eight-year-old, squealed with delight upon seeing his teacher, Adoumkidjim Naiban, who founded Chad’s only school for children with learning disabilities, the CESER Centre, almost 20 years ago.
N'Djamena, Chad

Chad's survivors of torture and rape seek justice for fellow Africans

Ginette Ngarbaye, 52, rises from her seat, leans forward and glares intensely at the ghost of her tormentor.

“I gave him a long, deep look - like this,” she said, recalling how she came face to face with former Chad President Hissène Habré - the man responsible for the worst moments of her life.