Damas Dame

While I sip my tea in the local Starbucks, wishing I had something better to do, a man in CAR is being congratulated by his neighbours for burning his enemy and eating his flesh. This man is supposedly a Christian. The man he killed and ate, supposedly a Muslim, supposedly killed his wife and children. I can't suppose anything. The media is reporting on this story with horror. And fascination. I too am fascinated. The story of the Uruguayan football players whose plane crashed in the Andes, and who survived by eating their dead comrades, has haunted me ever since i heard it. I sided with those who made the decision, because of how they made the decision, jointly and democratically, and how they honoured the remains of those they cannibalized. It was more a celebration ... read more

I've been to Al Badia three times now on field trips to our worksites, to visit some stakeholders, and to visit some of the communities nearby. I've had many cups of tea and strong arabic coffee. Al Badia is technically not a desert. It's "almost desert" with low mountains and vast rocky plains, where Bediouin chase sparse areas of greenery to graze their sheep, and villages huddle around oases with precious water. When the rains come, plants spring out of nowhere and the landscape abruptly changes. But Al Badia is becoming more desert-like every year because of the lack of rain. Desert is taking over the Middle east and Africa. The Syrian government is so concerned about the drought that they are now mapping the communities most impacted and adding them to a growing list of ... read more

Apologies to all my Canadian friends, especially those in Alberta who are suffering through -30C and a winter that feels like it will never end. Please turn the sound up nice and loud when you listen to the video. That's the sound I wake up to every morning, and every day it sounds sweeter (last weekend we enjoyed a BBQ in +23). My driver also loves to garden, so while I was out touring the countryside with a busload of locals last Friday, he planted flowers in all my pots and cleaned up the garden! Such a sweetheart. He also has the magic touch with the TV and the computer, and he takes out the garbage. Who needs a man about the house when you have a driver? Also included in this blog are photos of ... read more

Thursday, February 17, 2011, 10:30 p.m. Inside my new home, Al Jazeera is running “The Stream”, a news documentary followed by a panel discussion about the role of facebook and twitter in the Tunisia and Egypt revolutions. They’ve coined a new phrase with a lovely twist - weapons of mass mobilization. It’s fascinating. The “mobilizers” had a level of expertise that surpassed the ability of the most advanced security systems, using modes of communications that surpass traditional media by far in terms of speed and reach. It’s as if the true potential of the internet has been realized, after most of us in North America were duped into thinking it was just another shallow advertising tool that had been taken over by mainstream media. It may be as important to democracy and people’s ability to participate ... read more

Images are still swirling around in my brain, like the tiny pieces of a Damascene mosaic, waiting for an experienced craftsman to warm up a pot of glue and arrange them in an intricate pattern that makes sense. Setting the Scene: It reminds me a little of Canada's north. When you focus on the details it can appear barren and ugly. You have to take your focus back a ways and take in the larger picture. The city is surrounded by low mountains, the most prominent being Jebel Quassioun (see photos). The mountains look bleak-- brownish bare rock with no vegetation, until you notice how they constantly change in colour throughout the day, with soft hues of pink, blue, orange. They're most beautiful in the morning and evening light. The buildings are mostly dull brown-grey concrete ... read more