Hurricane Felix, a hurricane of the strongest category, brought winds and heavy rain that blew away villages, flooded rivers, caused mudslides and killed many people. Emergency aid was sent to the regional capital of Puerto Cabezas in Nicaragua, but many isolated villages were cut off by the storm. Nicaragua was hit by Felix on Tuesday 4 September with full force, and the subsequent floods caused much damage.

September 6, 2007 - 5:43am

 (AP Photo/Ariel Leon)

On Friday the 7th of September a new parliament will be chosen in Morocco; it will govern the country for the next five years. Yet the Moroccans aren't very enthusiastic about these elections, many think that the results are in the hands of the king.

With loud horns a parade of pick-up trucks comes by through the narrow main street of Taddert, a small town along the dazzling road through the Atlas mountains. On the trucks groups of men, all dressed in white t-shirts and wearing white caps on their heads, are waving and yelling loudly. They hand out flyers to the locals, however the flyers don't draw too much attention, given the trail of leaflets behind the line of trucks. Maybe the people can't read the message or maybe they just don't care, anyway a lot of paper ends up in nature.

Africa News reports us RTL News paid attention to the mobile reporters project of Voices of Africa. The Dutch popular TV station, RTL News showed this week the work of Voices of Afrika to the Dutch public and the progress made by Voices of Africa since the launch of the project in May 2007. Evans Wafula, mobile reporter in Nairobi Kenya, was put in the picture.

Five Dutch, white girls walking on the streets in Surinam. Everywhere we went the first same question popped up: trainee? An odd question, but not so strange when you realize that the amount of Dutch trainees in Surinam has increased enormous the last couple of years. What is it that makes Surinam so attractive to Dutch students?

The climate, off course, the sun shines every day and the temperature is nicely warm. Than we have the historical ties between Surinam and the Netherlands, Surinam has been a Dutch colony for over 300 years. Surinam gained independence in 1975, but there will always remain a bond. Last but not least there is the common language, in Surinam the official language is Dutch. How easy could it be, doing your internship in a country 9000 kilometres from home, while speaking your own language? Enough reasons, for approximately 1000 Dutch students a year, to do their internship in Surinam. But what is the opinion of Surinamese students about all these foreign students doing their internship in Surinam, are there enough places left for them?

In the first week of our stay in Surinam the Xplore participants followed a "training period" at the Kangoeroeschool in Paramaribo. During this training period the Xplorers were able to prepare themselves and try out methods and different approaches for the "Leri for Life" workshops Communication and Fundraising to be given in Kajapatie and Lespantie. The Kangoeroe school has also been the training centre for "Leri for Life". A couple of ladies working with "Leri for Life" have followed a training period regarding the parent/child activities at the Kangoeroeschool. In the inland of Surinam the Xplorers will work with the adults, at the Kangoeroe school they worked with the children of classes 2 and 3.

Tazoult a tiny village in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco situated near the southern town of Taznakt. Close in distance but miles away in accessibility. The town seems to be forgotten and cut of from the world.

Together with 9 other villages Tazoult is part of Edouarda Berber tribe. These towns share a common identity and have contact with each other but life is mostly limited to the towns themselves. For the Tazoulties everyday is survival, time seemed to have stopped here. After a great lobby effort made by the elders of the community Tazoult was hooked up to the National electricity network a year and a half ago. Electricity has made life easier and brought the outside world in. However for most Tazoulties the outside world is still far away.

Is the Dutch financial support for the free press in Iran a treat for local journalist? On May 25th the Dutch daily NRC opened with the headline that the program of the Dutch government to support the freedom of the press in Iran gives the Iranian government an excuse to arrest local journalist. Worldwide the freedom of the press is under pressure, why? Why is Freedom of the Press so important?

Freevoice, Freedom House and the Radio Netherlands Worldwide organized the Day of the Freedom of the Press in the Netherlands. There where journalist and editors from many Dutch media organizations present. The main topics of the day where freedom of the press worldwide in 2007, source protection and the phenomenon that is becoming more common; journalists are held hostage by Dutch justice when they protect their source. The discussion surrounding the deterioration in freedom of the press was held in a worldwide context and a national context. The self censorship within the Dutch media organizations was up for debate.  

The World2xPress Xplorers project has started. World2xPress together with Xplore is sending twelve journalist students to Ghana, Nicaragua and Suriname. Here they will work in a development project, visit local media organisations and experience local culture. Through the project our World2xPress Xplorers will learn about development cooperation. They will experience the perspective of local journalist on local news, which topics are important to them and where do they place the emphasis.

In April the project was approved by Xplore. Xplore is a new programme that subsidizes exchanges, voluntary work and internships in developing countries. It is meant for young Dutch people from 12 to 30 years old. The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Development Co-operation) finances the Xplore programme. Xplore is executed by the International Department of the Netherlands Youth Institute in cooperation with Plan Netherlands. www.xplore.nl

Who doesn’t dream about a good and wealthy life with the possibility to support your family financially? To live in a country where you are able to find work, and where you can earn a lot. To live and work in Europe, America or Canada is the dream of many young Moroccans. Many have already applied for a visa or even tried to traverse the street of Gibraltar to Europe illegally. They know little about the chance to succeed and the life in Europe. It takes a lot of guts to return to your hometown after a failed emigration attempt.

“The people don’t ask me questions about my return. They prefer to fill in the blanks about my return for themselves. They don’t know the truth and most of them don't want to know, they make up their own version of my return.” Mohohammed is president of the organization ATED, (Amicale Tachraft pour l’Environnement et Développement) and ex-migrant. He experienced a clandestine migration to Europe, crossing the street of Gibraltar with a zodiac. Mohohammed lived in France for a while but got caught at the Belgium border. Now he is back in Zenaga, Figuig.

Nichane, TelQuel and Le Journal Hebdomadaire are the three Moroccan weeklies. Nichane is the only Arabic written weekly that targets the Arabophone population. As one of the few they try to address all the topics in the Moroccan society and dare to be critical about it.

There has been a lot of commotion about Nichane. After just two editions Prime Minister Driss Jetton has placed a ban on Nichane. They published jokes on religion, sex and politics, which according to Driss led to a national ‘crisis’. Closing down Nichane was the only way to calm down Morocco.

The borders are closed in all directions for the residents of Oujda. The border with Algeria is closed, ‘Fort Europe’ has closed its frontier to Africa and visas for the Middle East are scares. In possession of a European passport one forgets how life is limited when the borders close.

The political relationship between Algeria en Morocco worsened after a bomb attack in Marrakesh in 1994. An extremist group from Algeria was behind the attack and it became the argument for the Moroccan government to install a visa for Algerian visitors. The Algerian reaction to the visa and the dispute surrounding the Western Sahara was to close her boarders to Morocco. Politics between Rabat and Algiers have had big consequences for border towns like Oujda. Not only did it have serious economic repercussions for this busy commerce town, it has restricted the life of the inhabitants.

In the small office of the state bus company CTM Chefchaouen a western man is hopelessly mumbling, “Fez, Fez, …autobus to Fez”. His voice is drowned by Moroccans who are involved in a heavy discussion in Arab Dialect. In the mean time others are trying to squeeze in-between to buy a luggage ticket. Morocco is on strike, all the commercial bus companies and grand taxi’s dropped their work for at least 4 days. 

Tangier had us in a tight grip, on the day that we where supposed to leave for Chefchaouen it turned out to be impossible to leave the city. The wind made it impossible for ships and ferries to dock and all transport companies in the rest of the country are on strike. The parliament is discussing a new law which concerns the traffic situation in Morocco. Only the busses from CTM, the state company continue their schedules, but of course, by the time we arrive at their office, the once a day bus to Chefchaouen has already departed.

The members of Kachela are the representatives of the hiphop scene in Tanger. They are known throughout Morocco and even enjoy international fame. On their own accord they sing not to become famous, but to let the heart speak. Their music is a way to criticize the political system, the social inequalities in Morocco and they rap about the way the Islam is cornered by the international community. They rap about all their concerns.

We were already waiting for some time in a courtyard when Samir shows up. Samir is one of the ‘soldiers' of Kachela (caserne) as they call themselves. "We don't aim with guns, we shoot with words". Kachela rents the basement in an apartment complex.  Before we enter the basement Samir connects the electricity wires outside the main port. The basement is still under construction and electricity is not yet available, so for now they ‘borrow' power. One by one the members of Kachela come down into the basement. The basement is empty and the sitting room is placed around one light bulb, we are in the underground.

In our quest to find traces of Africa in Europe, we have started our journey in Andalusia, the south of Spain. Andalusia has been dominated by Moorish sultanas for centuries, which has left its marks. The Moorish heritage is to be found in the architecture of the city center of Granada. A hotel owner said “Granada is a melting pot, where the Arabic and European cultures come together. In my view this has always been a fact, this is what makes Granada.”

Walking through the ports of the Alhambra, you leave the streets of Granada behind. Underneath the overhanging branches there is peace and quiet, the only sounds are of the water and birds. As if you are in a different era, a time of kings and queens.

On the 25th of January 2007 Drs. R. Zagt from Tropenbos International gave a lecture at the CEDLA on the potential ‘impacts’ of the further development of the connection road between Georgetown, the capital of Guyana, and Boa Vista, Brazil. The road through the Guyana should be a ‘portal’ to South America, from the Caribbean it cuts trough the rainforest and the savanna to Brazil. This road could be of international importance and form a bridge between the CARICOM (Caribbean trade organization) and the South America commerce (Mercosur)

For years Drs. R. Zagt has been active in the Guyana, investigating the biodiversity of the areas surrounding the road. Zagt is skeptic about the expectation of the further development of the road. “In some areas not even 25 cars a day pass by”. In his lecture Drs. R. Zagt explains the potential ecological, social, cultural and economic impact that can be expected.

In a humorous and interesting manner Joris Luyendijk addresses the public on his new book ‘They are like people’ during the Literary Meeting of the Westerpark in Amsterdam 20th of February. Luyendijk talks about his time as Middle-East correspondent and the different mechanisms that influence world news. His book and message hit home and the audience in the Nassau church asks themselves, how can we consume news from now on?

In his book ‘They are like people’ Luyendijk describes with gripping analogies his time as Middle-East correspondent and the way that the media present a distorted image of the reality. The news that comes from the Middle-East is filtered, distorted, manipulated, biased and simplified. In this way events, that are exceptions to the rule, become the reality for the public as they don’t know the rule. In his lecture Joris Luyendijk explains these five news mechanisms.