ICFJ Knight Fellowships

In Malawi, the battle over trees pits the poor population against the government

Editor note: Knight Fellow Edem Djokotoe discusses contrasting philosophies between a government bent on prosecuting the charcoal industry and a rural population dependent on its profits.

Two weeks after he returned from the UN climate change conference in December, Malawi’s energy minister, Grain Malunga, made a controversial public pronouncement: “Arrest all charcoal sellers.”

Prosecuting them, he argued, would save the country from the devastating effects of deforestation and deter others from chopping down trees for charcoal.

At Long Last, Recruitment Begins at Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation

The radio notices started in early spring. The constant television scroll made the announcement amidst reports about Libya and the Salone Stars football team. On Wednesday, March 23rd, three of the 30-odd daily newspapers in Freetown ran center spot, double-page spreads. Pages were stapled to notice boards within the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC). The new SLBC web site lists the jobs available and has a PDF of the application form. And, the media sector in Sierra Leone is abuzz… with the news of the SLBC recruitment campaign.

In Mozambique, Surgery Helps Women Recover Both Health and Dignity

There is nothing like interviewing women with fistula to realize, in your heart and in your bones, what fistula does to women: the humiliation, marginalization, loss of self-esteem, and depression. Fistula is an orifice resulting from ruptured tissue between bladder, rectum and vagina that provokes permanent incontinence. Feces and urine flow through the vagina.

Obstetric fistula is caused by early and repeated pregnancies, long and complicated deliveries without proper medical care, delays in reaching hospital, clandestine abortion and violent rape.

Mobile News Service Breaks Story Alleging Police Crackdown in India

Himanshu Kumar runs a non-governmental organization in Chhattisgarh district, where Knight International Fellow Shubhranshu Choudhary has created a mobile phone news network called CGnet Swara. When Kumar heard from colleagues who described a brutal police attack on several villages, he filed a report using his cell phone. He alleged the police had killed two people and raped five women.