Category Archives: Journals

A politician resigning, even a president or prime minister, does not typically generate the sense that their departure is decisive for the future well being or survival of their country and its citizens. That was not so when South Africa’s … Continue reading →

22/10/12 Public forums are a particular kind of political debate—both a contest among professional politicians or commentators and a vox populi airing of public opinion. This evening’s discussion sponsored by a local newspaper and a German think tank and taking … Continue reading →

Chiefs Island Lake Joseph Canada August 29th 2012 In June 1939 my Father turned 17, finished the academic year at a Canadian high school and spent the summer at his family’s cottage on Chiefs Island Lake Joseph in the lakeland north of … Continue reading →

In 1884 John Matheson, the son of a shipbuilder from Caithness Scotland, sailed for Canada, eventually settling in the village of Port Carling, then a frontier wilderness settlement on the Muskoka Lakes in northern Ontario. Muskoka was then beginning the … Continue reading →

The Beyond Sport Summit, London July 2012   I’ve been skateboarding since I was six, growing up in Australia. Now we’ve brought it to Afghanistan with, “Skatestan”. We teach kids to board, to do something fun and make something of their … Continue reading →

July 21st 2012 It is hardly unusual for an elected politician to be portrayed irreverently in pop art and counter-culture and when they are, their best response is to observe the Streisand Principle and say as little as possible at … Continue reading →

July 1st 2012 Anyone who has ever hitch-hiked will know it is an activity designed to produce resentment. Watching cars zip past, their passengers traveling in comfort, a hitch hiker wishes only for one of them to stop and pull … Continue reading →

Warsaw, Poland April 3rd 2012 You hear this song? It is about a worker who is happy to be getting up at 4AM to work in a steel mill in the socialist paradise of post war Poland. At this the … Continue reading →

Warsaw Poland April 1st 2012 You like vodka? We have the best in Poland, here try this one, Potóćkí. You know the price? You don’t need to know, you are my guest, you are at my table. Here, you have … Continue reading →

North Woolwich East London, March 2012 The east London Docklands, a former industrial area that once serviced the British mercantile empire helping bring into being the modern trading world, seems to stretch endlessly on this grey day in March, a … Continue reading →

Hastings Sussex March 4th 2012 There are some things better understood outside their original context, the incongruous surroundings defining them more sharply, and the English country music scene may be one of them. It is Saturday night in Hastings, Sussex … Continue reading →

Hastings East Sussex February 2012 Ok, I will admit it now; when I was 14 I let the air out of the tyre of a parked car, dumped garbage into a mail box and threw snow balls at passing cars. … Continue reading →

Hastings Old Town East Sussex, February 2012   Dear Noel In the immortal words of Simon Van Winkle, ‘All good things must come to an end’ and so I must tell you that your stay with us will be winding … Continue reading →

Club des Amitiés boxing club, Goma, Nord-Kivu November 2011   I am an orphan and am alone in the world. I work with the mechanics here in the Kibabie market in Goma, which is what feeds me, but it is … Continue reading →

Goma, Nord-Kivu November 2011 Yes, the violence is now quite serious. They will come to your house at night, they will demand money and they will kill you. Sometimes it is by people who are carrying out an execution, where … Continue reading →

Maré favela, Rio de Janeiro October 2011 The slums—or favelas—of Brazil’s cities as seen through movies and pop culture are generally places of unspeakable brutality. From City of God—the 2002 film that tells the—mostly—true story of the short brutish lives … Continue reading →

Maré favela, Rio de Janeiro October 2011 You are crossing an invisible line, it is another drug gang’s territory from this point forward; the bullet holes you see are from the battles to enforce that, there are people in this … Continue reading →

October 2011 If things happen for a purpose then the obstacles encountered getting the staff of my child soldiers NGO from war torn eastern Congo to Brazil were a test—obstacles in our path every step of the way, from one … Continue reading →

September 14th 2011 Die Bos—“The Bush” in Afrikaans—outdoor pub is situated in a hollow under a forest of thorn trees and, with a copper moon rising above the tree line on a summer evening, is a suitable setting for gathering … Continue reading →

Free State, South Africa 2011 Uncommonly beautiful people wield power—their attractiveness being some kind of innate social capital. That beauty can command indulgences and empower much whether for good or ill. For the latter just ask anyone on the receiving … Continue reading →

Rosendal Free State South Africa, August 6th 2011 Rosendal—Rose Valley—in the eastern Free State is reached by a dirt road from over a mountain pass and when you descend down into the valley and arrive at this small but very … Continue reading →

Ficksrus Free State South Africa July 10th 2011 Hollywood movies about little league sports teams are a formula—the story line requires that a struggling team of under dogs and misfits experience early failure and disappointment before being inspired to believe … Continue reading →

Ficksrus, Free State June 19th 2011 The 1988 sports comedy film Bull Durham starring Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins put a spotlight on life in the farm teams of American minor league baseball and ultimately became a cult … Continue reading →

Ficksrus, Free State South Africa June 16th 2011 It is clear and cold with a bright winter sun on Soweto Day, a public holiday in South Africa that celebrates the 1976 Soweto riots, and I am marking it by watching … Continue reading →

Free State, May 18th 2011 When the African National Congress (ANC) mayor in the small town of Viljoenskroon in South Africa’s Free State province let an untendered sanitation contract for the local black township to a company owned by her … Continue reading →

Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo July 2011 The lives of professional boxers are inextricably linked with suffering—success tending to be fleeting and short lived, brought short by defeat, self-destructive behaviour or injustice. Hurricane Carter endured years of wrongful imprisonment, Mike … Continue reading →

April 17th 2011 Rushuru, Nord Kivu Democratic Republic of Congo Are things getting better? No, no they’re not. Something can happen at any time and you never know when. We had 20 incident reports last month—something violent enough for us … Continue reading →

Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo April 11th A late night phone call from an aggrieved professional boxer asking to see you may not be the kind of request anyone would wish to receive. But I’ve been kind of hoping for … Continue reading →

Goma April 10th 2011 Truth is a slippery commodity—we can know it only to the extent revealed and on this day when there is a near riot in the town of Goma, eastern Congo, based on half truth and rumour … Continue reading →

Goma DRC April 9th 2011 The easiest route to the public’s attention in a country without a lot of modern media is to do it the traditional way—you take your message directly to the streets. That is what is happening … Continue reading →

On boxing promoters in the Congo, Goma April 8th 2011 Fight promoter may not be the top of any list of the most reputable vocations. There is a sleazy underside to the world of boxing in whatever country it takes … Continue reading →

Stade des Volcans, Goma DRC April 5th There is a universal appeal to professional wrestling—you will find it in any corner of the world, the combination of faux combat, gymnastic ability and pure acting and theatre finding resonance for audiences … Continue reading →

Kigali, Rwanda March 31st 2011 Soldiers with guns are something a traveller will become used to in Africa. They are not exactly comforting but are easy to ignore. In Rwanda, which prides itself—with some justification—on being non-corrupt, soldiers in the … Continue reading →

Aga Khan Hospital Nairobi, Kenya March 25th 2011 If someone tells you they are going to pray for you the reaction of most non-faith people—including this one—might typically be bemusement. But if faith is not much part of your life … Continue reading →

The Aga Khan Hospital, Nairobi Kenya March 21st 2011 When the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation put out the TV show Street Legal in 1987 as its own domestic knock-off copy of the popular American programme LA Law, it was following what … Continue reading →

The Peponi Hotel, Lamu Island Kenya, March 20th 2011 There is something cruel about upper crust English accents—it is as though the beauty of the speech is directly related to its lack of sincerity or inherent kindness. What someone says … Continue reading →

Lamu Island, Kenya March 20th 2011 A man can come to escape from many things on Lamu Island—the sea breezes and relaxed Swahili culture of this timeless town and its endless sand beaches are a feast for the eye and … Continue reading →

Nairobi March 13th 2011 To reach Nairobi Kenya direct from the DRC is to have arrived in a Metropole, the only one, by default, in East and Central Africa or anywhere else from Cairo to The Cape. Here is a … Continue reading →

On leaving the DRC for Rwanda and Kenya March 12th 2011 To cross the border from DRC into Rwanda at Gisenyi is to pass through the door to another world. Leaving behind Goma and everything that is shambolic about it … Continue reading →

Goma, DRC March 12th 2011 When the Angolan Army intervened we were quite unprepared. They, and the Zimbabweans, had tanks, heavy weaponry and aircraft. We were lightly armed. I lost many friends that day in Kitona; I saw people killed … Continue reading →

If someone were to tell you that a city was the worst in the world you could either be horrified or fascinated by it. Some people spend time compiling such lists—generally as part of a corporate HR exercise to determine … Continue reading →

A short history of a long war Goma Nord-Kivu March 6th 2011 If someone were to ask what the conflict in Congo’s Kivu region was all about it might not be possible to answer without the framework for a PhD … Continue reading →

A ramble through Goma March 4th When Quentin Tarantino released the movie Pulp Fiction in 1994 and its hyped-up sound track of Surf Rock, Funk, Soul, Rock-a-Billy and overlooked pop songs, I felt like my favourite music had been ripped-off. … Continue reading →

Goma, Nord-Kivu March 3rd With less than a week to go to Kibomango’s Fight Day the training is on in earnest and the early morning sessions now proceed to plan like a military operation. I am inside the training camp … Continue reading →

Goma, Nord-Kivu March 1st 2011 Jab-jab, droit! Jab-jab, droit! It is the day after a failed coup in the DRC but no one is paying much attention, and not here this morning either, where our boxing drills have been going … Continue reading →

Goma, Nord-Kivu February 27th Most clubs and drinking establishments in eastern Congo remind you of the Star Wars Bar, or at least the Wild West: soldiers, diamond traders, Russian pilots, bar girls, aid workers. They are not necessarily threatening and … Continue reading →

Goma, Nord-Kivu February 20th 2011 Congolese videos have an endearing home made quality to them, all jerky hand held shots and awkward camera angles. But this one is something entirely different—whether inadvertent or not, it feels like film noir. I … Continue reading →

The Kivu Assistance and Reintegration Centre, Goma, Nord-Kivu February 19th 2011 The police truck must have been going pretty fast when it hit that telephone pole in Goma—it T-boned the front of the vehicle perfectly, slicing through the engine compartment … Continue reading →

The Heal Africa hospital, Goma, Nord-Kivu February 17th Hospitals are not joyful places, they underline knowledge of our own mortality and an African one can produce a range of emotions for a visitor. The main hospital in Goma, eastern Congo, … Continue reading →

Goma North-Kivu February 10th For a small city Goma does actually have traffic jams and a morning rush hour. As the traffic slows down the motorcycle taxi drivers—who are my main means for getting around town—are in their element, weaving … Continue reading →

The Kivu Assistance and Reintegration Centre Goma, Nord-Kivu February 10th One thing Bob Geldoff probably learned during his own development aid Odyssey is that no matter how slovenly or selfish someone might be in their normal life, there is nothing … Continue reading →

Goma, Nord-Kivu February 4th Goma’s central post office is a colonial era building built in a faux Norman modernist style from the 1930s with a steep pitched terra cotta tile roof, a large round turret anchoring one side and an … Continue reading →

Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo February 3rd 2011 In 1961 when US writer George Plimpton stepped into the ring and sparred three rounds with then boxing champion Sugar Ray Robinson as part of an assignment for Sports Illustrated, he both … Continue reading →

Goma, Nord-Kivu January 28th “Club des amités!” “Les combatants de Jungle!” “Club des amités!” “Les combatants de Jungle!” It is 6:30 AM with the sun beginning to light the dusty, dirty, urine smelling Stade des Volcans (Volcanos) football ground in … Continue reading →

Goma, Nord Kivu January 25th Rounding a corner in the Cirque Sportif informal settlement in Goma there is a rumble up ahead, with some kind of fight going on. A crowd has formed a circle, just like a schoolyard fight … Continue reading →

Goma, Nord Kivu January 25th Many things can pass through your mind as you walk through an informal market in Africa. They are noisy and chaotic with squawking animals, crowds and burning rubbish in the street. One can choose to … Continue reading →

Goma, Nord Kivu January 24th We haven’t walked far from the hotel before there is a huge crash up ahead followed by a thud. A moto-taxi has just been run over and the driver and passenger are in the intersection, … Continue reading →

Scaling up the Kivu Reintegration Centre.  Goma, Nord Kivu January 21st The director of the UN’s demobilisation operations, or Disarmament, Demobilisation, Repatriation Rehabilitation and Reintegration (DDRRR) in Eastern Congo, arrives late for our meeting which takes place in a porta-cabin … Continue reading →

The Kivu Reintegration Centre, Goma Nord-Kivu January 20th Once you’ve passed the dreaded accreditation process at the hands of intelligence and got yourself settled, there is actually much to appreciate in Goma. The attractively laid out colonial city, with its … Continue reading →

Goma, Nord Kivu January 18th The situation of North Kivu is definitely better now than my last visit a year and a half ago—if still violent and conflict ridden—but Goma itself has not necessarily changed for the better. The corruption … Continue reading →

Rwanda-DRC Frontier at Goma, January 16th 2011 Walking alone across the frontier into DRC I am met at the guard post by Ferdinand Benge-Luendo, my friend and counterpart. It is an emotional moment: I haven’t seen him in 18 months … Continue reading →

Kigali to Goma Jan 15th 2011 That a capital city is not the country is something to keep in mind, and once you have departed Kigali and entered the hills and mountains of rural Rwanda you are face to face … Continue reading →

Getting ahead, looking past the past, Kigali Jan 8th-15th 2011 Those getting on board the plane tell you something about the destination you are going to. The flight from Johannesburg to Kigali on Rwandair, the country’s small but oddly endearing … Continue reading →

Johannesburg, January 5th 2011 For an English speaking visitor South Africa presents all the familiar touch points of Anglo-Commonwealth culture, language, food, and sport together with obviously western service and product standards, but also the strange and unsettled feeling of … Continue reading →

It is difficult to describe the feeling you experience when crossing the Congo river from the city of Brazzaville to Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s ragged megalopolis and capital city. There is a sense of expectation and excitement and, one must admit, trepidation. It is like knowing you are entering an experience where you don’t know what is going to happen and what you will see or do. The river is so massive and deep and fast flowing here even though it is miles wide, as though it is draining a continent, which it is, and the water is a muddy red and full of clumps of green water hyacinth the size of coffins and small cars which are coming downstream. And then you reach the opposite shore and see all the river boats and barges tied up at the port, having come from far upriver. There are huge log booms rafted together with little straw huts on top of them and people living there with their cooking fires and one wonders of their journey downriver to the city. I imagine the boats and the river bank as largely unchanged since Joseph Conrad’s time, when he was a river boat captain here in 1889 and wrote Heart of Darkness. Continue reading →

Brazzaville, Republic of Congo April 28th 2009 Brazzaville was a beautiful, even romantic, city once. At the end of the 1942 Hollywood movie Casablanca Humphrey Bogart and Claude Raines announce they are leaving for here to join the Free French … Continue reading →