She's an un-natural

Me turn tricks

2010-06-13T09:54:00.000-07:00

I cringe at other bloggers when they point out how long it's been since they updated (if anyone was even keeping track). But the blog-o-sphere Interpol are going to send out a warrant for egregious digital negligence on my part for abandoning this site. I'm way overdue for a post. And, to add to that, I feel a little like the U.S. mom who tried to "return" her Russian adopted son -- because I'm

World AIDS Day 2009

2009-12-01T06:41:00.000-08:00

It's World AIDS Day. Not so long ago celebrities shied away from AIDS awareness and society ignored the problem that was devastating many developing countries. The 1980s saw the change in perception of the disease shift from existing in gay communities to it wiping out a country's populous, infecting famous athletes, singers and women. Then came Bono and a rampage of celebrity activists

"Now that you know, you can't pretend that you don't"

2009-09-16T20:09:00.000-07:00

I grew up listening to Lisa Ling talk about the important issues in foreign countries that made me think hard about different ways of life. One of her first assignments overseas was in the heart of Afghanistan during the civil war in 1994. At the time she admits she didn't even know where Afghanistan was on the map. Her selfless and sometimes headless attitude toward getting the story has helped

Newsy.com: Africa, Aiding or abetting

2009-08-31T10:31:00.000-07:00

Breastfeeding is not dirty.

2009-08-07T08:46:00.000-07:00

At the end of Breastfeeding Awareness Week it is sad to know that less than 40 percent of infants worldwide are adequately breastfed. Since breast milk is essential in developing a baby's immune system and giving them the antibodies they need, which are not found in formula, more than 1 million infant mortalities every year could be avoided with breastfeeding. What's even worse, or disgusting to

From the old to the young

2009-08-06T16:17:00.000-07:00

She's staring at me with big, pebble-shaped brown eyes framed by baby lashes. They bounce up, down, up, down, as if she's riding a camel in the desert. Instead she's tucked into the full wrap of the woman in front of me, whose smooth face and strong arms make her appear to be in her early 20's. Her mother hasn't seen me, so it's only her baby girl who stares at me with a confused expression.

Moments in blogging territory

2009-08-06T12:00:00.000-07:00

Looking through my pocket travel journal from this summer I'm nostalgic but also frustrated that all the little stories I hoped would fill my blog didn't always come to fruition in print. I find myself wondering where that short story is about the man I met at Reggae night who declared that the U.S. was the best place for a black man. I'm searching in my journal for the passage about my first

Akwaaba OBAMA-Mania in Ghana

2009-07-11T15:14:00.001-07:00

Obama comes to Ghana today. Yet, the Obama-craze that flowed through Accra buoyed by Obama faced cloth, souvenirs and even one attention-grabbing "Hotel Obama" hit Ghana weeks ahead of his 24 hour visit. The decision to make Ghana his first stop in sub-Saharan Africa since becoming President of America is an obvious nod to Ghana's stable government and a slight to its West African neighbor,

going north for awhile

2009-06-28T14:03:00.000-07:00

I'll be away from blogging for about a week because I plan on traveling to the north near Mole national park and the Larabanga mosques and back down the west side of Ghana to the small town of Nzulezo, better known as the stilt village. Yeah! Elephants, lions, baboons, stilt villages, oh my!See ya next week!

The Hamburglars.

2009-06-28T13:20:00.000-07:00

So my roommate and I got mugged a couple blocks away from home last night. They stole our hamburgers.We had come home from a fantastic night out at a local Reggae bar that played outdoor live music and it was around 1:30 a.m. when we decided to hit up the 24 hour prostitute hang-out/all night food club a few blocks away from our residence. We even endured the hour long wait with plenty of

Health Care

2009-06-28T13:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I went to the only children’s hospital in Accra to write a story on a new surgical facility being built there. In a hospital the size of a medium apartment complex, nearly 200 to 300 young patients lined the benches and walls waiting their turn to be seen by one of only ten doctors. The emergency room is packed with children laying two to a bed severely sick with complications of

Kids grow up so fast here

2009-06-28T13:02:00.000-07:00

I went exploring along the coast until I hit a small fishing village and stumbled upon this pair of young boys looking for coconuts to sell. They were keen on having their pictures taken so I snapped a couple shots of them and recorded a video showing the incredible precision and accuracy of this little one who can cut open a coconut with a machete half the size of his body. I’ve read too many

It's nice to be nice

2009-06-11T01:44:00.000-07:00

OK, I know. I promise to start blogging much more often after this weekend, but I'm heading to Takoradi, which is about a five hour drive and I'll be staying there all weekend with no access to power and minimum cell phone coverage. Green Turtle Beach is located west of Accra and I'm spending the weekend there with about 9 other intern/volunteers. I can't wait - those who have been there

Mary's Hello

2009-06-07T05:03:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjedLmI_wmM

Akwaaba Obruni!

2009-06-07T04:19:00.000-07:00

Hello! I am living in the colorful, lively city of Accra in Ghana for the next month and so I’ll be taking my blog hostage with photos and videos of my life during this time. I’ve been here a few days and I’m still struggling with how best to describe this place. The heat always comes to mind first, but there’s more to Ghana than sweltering heat and buzzing insects. The

Two steps back

2009-02-20T10:20:00.000-08:00

The Columbia Missourian wasn't the only one to publish a recent "oddities" of the news story about a woman from Ohio who killed her husband by "exercising him to death". It's a wire story I would argue deserves a place in the Tabloid scraps I hope people only buy at the grocery store for bird nesting or cheap gift wrapping, but instead it played it's absurdity in the pages of our local newspaper

That thing that happened today.

2009-01-20T14:29:00.000-08:00

From the Ragtag Cinema websiteIt couldn't have just been the chill of Columbia's brisk weather that left shivers down my back as I sat watching the Inauguration of President Barack Obama. It ran up and down the streets as people asked each other if they would be watching the swearing in, it lingered around the journalism school at the university and it reverberated in the theatre seats of the

Just add origami

2009-01-19T21:00:00.000-08:00

Alysha and Beck at Art DayArt days have to be among the most stereotypical white, college student things I can plan, albeit dinner parties are up there, or at least worthy of a post on another of my favorite blogs "stuffwhitepeoplelike.com", but I'm a sucker for a good afternoon with nice friends and paint. And if by calling it what it is "arts and crafts day for young adults"

The woes of wayward channel surfing: conservative christian talk radio

2009-01-17T14:45:00.000-08:00

A Christianusaurus-Rex of the conservativus talk radio hostus species lurking for prey on the airwaves. *almost extinct*I was radio surfing. Okay, there was a long list of errors leading up to my final twitch of the digits that left my dial fatefully on FM 90.7 on my way through Missouri. Here so you can grasp my mistake medley, a list:1. Not properly charging my iPod.2. Failing to fill

Resolving to revolve around the sun once more

2009-01-13T11:52:00.000-08:00

Photo by Lorenzo D. ComolliAnother orbit and what have we done? New Year's resolutions have done for tedious weight loss programs what Valentine's Day did for Hallmark. Growing up, January was feared as the month when mom and dad vowed to stick with their cabbage soup diet *insert your own, Atkins, liver detox...etc.* and forced the rest of the clan to suck down cabbage

Why I write

2009-01-12T17:54:00.000-08:00

Hark back to your basic 10th grade science class (for those fortunate enough to escape an evangelical-lead PTA education), remembering the part about two possible responses to danger: fight or flight, I've recognized from a few split decisions in my life the third option and opted for the more clandestine approach: observe. I like to hover on the outside, in the corner or just on the edge of