Copyright 2006, Reuters AlertNet http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/rss/bloggers.xml?uid=27415 en-gb Fri, 13 Apr 2007 07:39:15 GMT 5 http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/rss/bloggers.xml?uid=27415 http://www.alertnet.org/images/rtrfndn_alertnet.gif http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/27415/2007/03/5-165811-1.htm http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/27415/2007/03/5-165811-1.htm Thu, 05 Apr 2007 16:58:00 GMT Here's a number that will knock your mittens off. I just found out that recorded remittances, or the flow money earned abroad and sent home to the developing world, hit around $204 billion last year. That's billion with a "b", and more than double what it was in 2001.

Admittedly, the number was affected by a tightening of banking rules after September 11, 2001 and the falling value of the U.S. dollar against other currencies. Still, it's mighty big.

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]]> http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/27415/2007/03/5-150950-1.htm http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/27415/2007/03/5-150950-1.htm Thu, 05 Apr 2007 15:09:00 GMT Sorry, I can't think of a better way to say it: "Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime."

A British-based charity has taken this tired truism and refreshed it. AFFORD, the African Foundation for Development, is galvanizing business-savvy members of the large African diaspora to travel to war-torn Sierra Leone and advise small business owners. And we are talking small - pharmacists, beauticians and market stall owners are among the participants.

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]]> http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/27415/2006/11/11-180312-1.htm http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/27415/2006/11/11-180312-1.htm Mon, 11 Dec 2006 18:03:00 GMT Five women were in the throes of labour at the delivery ward of Rabia Balki Women's Hospital in Kabul. From one corner a woman cried, "Allaiii! Allaiii! Allaiii!" but the rest were quiet. A couple gazed distractedly in my direction.

Not only were all but one silent, they were also completely alone - no sister or mother held their hands and wiped their faces. Even the midwives and nurses weren't touching them.  ... Full article

]]> http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/27415/2006/10/29-181645-1.htm http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/27415/2006/10/29-181645-1.htm Wed, 29 Nov 2006 18:16:00 GMT The sub-governor of Dari-noor in eastern Afghanistan looked surprised to see us. Us being a big truck packed with blankets and winter coats escorted by four Humvees complete with gunners sticking out the top.

He should have been surprised – the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) I was traveling with didn't tell anyone it was visiting. Many PRTs - military teams that try to coordinate much of the reconstruction and governance work in most of Afghanistan's 34 provinces - rarely announce their visits beforehand.  ... Full article

]]> http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/27415/2006/10/14-154538-1.htm http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/27415/2006/10/14-154538-1.htm Tue, 14 Nov 2006 15:45:00 GMT Perfunctorily I asked how her day had been. "All day I spent crying."

Seems Yasmine (not her real name), a friend of a friend, had been beaten again by her brother - something he's done pretty constantly for the last couple of years. Seems he's spouting all sorts of chauvinistic stuff like she shouldn't be leaving the house or getting an education.

This isn't the first I've heard about this. My first reaction a week or so ago was to ask if she'd told her mother. Her mother knew. Then I asked about her father, but she said he could never know.  ... Full article

]]> http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/27415/2006/10/6-190932-1.htm http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/27415/2006/10/6-190932-1.htm Mon, 06 Nov 2006 19:09:00 GMT About five minutes after arriving at the madrassa my interpreter bundled her hair into her headscarf and wrapped it tight.

It had slid back a bit and sunlight caught on her glossy black hair. This sort of thing is not unusual in relatively liberal Kabul.

"Did you hear what she said to me?!" said my interpreter, who I'll call Farida, referring to a woman in a long robe who'd just glided by.  ... Full article

]]> http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/27415/2006/10/1-172319-1.htm http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/27415/2006/10/1-172319-1.htm Wed, 01 Nov 2006 17:23:00 GMT I've been struck by how glum some in Afghanistan's aid community are five years after the Taliban was toppled. The vast majority of those I've talked to feel that their work is important and don't seem to doubt that the country is better off now than under the Taliban. Still, the pessimism is palpable.

"I see two alternatives for Afghanistan: a slow descent into hell, or a quick descent into hell," a top person at an international NGO told me recently:  ... Full article

]]> http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/27415/2006/09/24-162213-1.htm http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/27415/2006/09/24-162213-1.htm Tue, 24 Oct 2006 16:22:00 GMT Is it my imagination or are the beggars on Kabul’s streets more insistent this time around? Some have taken to pounding on the window of my car with their palms. When I was here just over a year ago their fingertips tapped gently on the glass.

“Boro, boro!” Aziz, the driver, tells the beggars. “Go, go!” Men missing limbs, small children, and women clutching babies ignore him. A blind man, his pupils turned up at odd angles, stands insistently next to the car.  ... Full article

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