Text 3. Nicholas Kristof Saves Another Woman

September 16, 2011 from AFRICA IS A COUNTRY By Dan Moshenberg

He’s ba-a-a-ack! After a decade or so of “saving” South East Asian sex workers from “slavery”, sometimes by actually purchasing them, Nicholas Kristof has found Africa, Kenya, to be specific.

Kristof tells the story of Jane Ngoiri, a 38-year-old single mother of two, former slum dweller (= a person who lives in an area of a city where poor people live and the buildings are in bad condition), now “slavery-turned-businesswoman.” With the help of a group called Jamii Bora, formed initially by 50 “street beggars”, Ngoiri developed skills, learned to save, grew.

Then “catastrophe struck” (to strike = to attack, to hit suddenly). Ngoiri’s daughter was in an accident. The amount of money for medical service was large. She had to take her son out of school. Fortunately, Kristof was there! He collected money, and without having to use “street begging”, and Ngoiri’s son is now back in school.

But what is Kenya? From Kristof’s point of view, it’s just another Third World site of sadness, degradation, and fallen women waiting to be saved.

Kristof’s article couldn’t come at a more ironic moment. In Kenya, this past week has been described as “a week of tears.” A pipeline exploded, killing a lot of people. It turns out, experts had warned about this very possibility. And who dies, or better who is killed? The poor. And who is guilty? The oil and gas companies and the State do not care about safety measures.

These past couple days in Kenya have seen fires, violence against girls, drought (drought /draʊt/ = a long period of time during which there is very little or no rain). And more …

Kenyan farmers run small farms. They are at the front of African agricultural development, as they take part in the various battles to fight climate change. And who are those farmers? Women. Women like Wayua Mwanza, 36-years-old, and a mother of three. Kenyan women farmers teaching and learning from … Kenyan women farmers!

As Somali women refugees move into Kenya, and in particular Dadaab, known by some to be the largest refugee camp in the world, many of them experience clinics for pregnant women and their unborn babies for the first time. That treatment in these clinics is provided by Kenyan women, as well as by non-Kenyans. Kenyan women teaching and working with … Somali women!

refugee /rɛfjʊ’ʤi: /: someone who has been forced to leave a country because of war or for religious or political reasons ▪ Thousands of refugees have fled the area. ▪ refugee camps

Earlier this week Cecillia Ng’etich, a candidate for public office in the Rift Valley, argued actively for women’s right to return to school, and for their partners’ responsibility to support them in that attempt.

Life for the working poor, and especially for low- and no-income women, is always fragile … everywhere. And women cannot and are not waiting for some prince in shining white armor to come and rescue them. Women are organizing, at home, in the streets, in the shops, on the farms, in the refugee camps, in government, everywhere. Tell the story, but tell it right.

frajile /’fræʤajəl/ = easily broken or damaged:▪ the flower's fragile petals ▪ Her health has always been very fragile. ▪ fragile bones ▪ an artist with a fragile ego ▪ He is in an emotionally fragile state.: very delicate ▪ her fragile beauty: not strong ▪ The two countries have formed a fragile coalition.

* And, yes that is Kristof with an African tribesman. It’s from his own collection.

Text 4. Kurt Schork is a Journalist You Can Admire, and Honor

Kurt Schork (1947 – May 24, 2000) (Курт Шорк) was an American reporter and war correspondent. He was killed in an attack while being on an assignment for Reuters in Sierra Leone together with cameraman Miguel Gil Moreno de Mora of Spain, who worked for Associated Press Television. Two other Reuters journalists were injured in the attack.

(assignment = a job or duty that is given to someone, a task someone is required to do ▪ My assignment was to clean the equipment. =They gave me the assignment of cleaning the equipment. ▪ The students were given a homework assignment. ▪ The reporter's assignment is to interview the candidate. ▪ The reporter is here on an assignment. ▪ The reporter is here on assignment).

Career. Kurt Schork was born in Washington, D.C., graduated from Jamestown College in 1969, and studied at Oxford University. He had worked in government and in business before becoming a journalist.

Kurt Schork realized his dream of becoming a foreign correspondent late in his life, and at the age of 43. For much of his career he chose to be a freelance journalist.

Driven purely by a strong feeling to help other people and having no prior journalism experience, Kurt launched his reporting career in Asia. He quickly discovered that, with no contacts and limited knowledge of other languages, it was hard going. But travelling to dangerous conflict areas might, he thought, provide more freelance money. So when the Gulf War began, Kurt headed for the Middle East. He decided to concentrate on Kurdistan but, because of the large numbers of similarly-minded reporters, he initially had more success selling photos rather than stories.

His break came when he stayed on after others left. In October 1991 he was on the spot when Kurdish military groups attacked Iraqi forces bombing the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah. His reports caught Reuters attention and assignments followed.

Kurt Schork was passionate about his job. He covered numerous conflicts and wars, including in the Balkans, Iraq, Chechnya, Iraqi Kurdistan, Sri Lanka, and East Timor. When Bosnia got involved into brutal conflict, Reuters sent Kurt to Sarajevo where the power of his reporting of the military operation in that city had widespread impact, mobilizing public opinion and prompting NATO to intervene (= to prompt =to move to action; to stimulate, push, provoke, encourage).

He filed the story Romeo and Juliet in Sarajevo about two lovers, people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds, a Serb and a Moslem. The couple were natives of the former Yugoslavia. They were killed in a battle of Sarajevo and left to lie for days on a river bridge. Photographs of their dead bodies were used by numerous media outlets. The story turned to be one of Kurt’s most significant articles, an international documentary, including so many elements: the brutality of war, the intense suffering of families and the bureaucratic indifference of authorities. The two lovers became a symbol for the suffering of the people on all sides of the conflict.

In all his reports, Kurt sought (to seek-sought) to get as close to the story as possible so that he could quickly report details and show how people were affected by events. While that often meant going into the dangerous heart of a conflict zone, he was always mindful (=always thought) of the need to avoid unnecessary risk.

"War reporting is a job, a craft not a holy crucade (святой крестовый поход). The thing is to work and not get hurt. When that's no longer possible, it's time to get out”, he once wrote.

But in Sierra Leone, luck and instinct finally failed him. On May 24, 2000, Kurt Schork and cameraman Miguel Gil Moreno de Mora were attacked by surprise from a hidden place and killed.

The news shocked colleagues and friends, who quickly proclaimed their respect (to proclaim = to say publicly that sth important is true or exists) and admiration for the reporter they considered to be one of the world’s best. A website – www.ksmemorial.com – was set up to carry people’s tributes and to provide examples of his work. (tribute: something that you say, give, or do to show respect or affection for someone: Examples: ▪ The concert was a tribute to the musician. ▪ Yellow ribbons were tied on trees as a tribute to the soldiers at war. ▪ floral tributes =flowers that people send to a funeral or leave at a grave ▪ an event at which artists and musicians paid tribute to the famous composer).

Half of Kurt’s ashes were buried next to his mother in Washington D.C.; the rest were buried in Sarajevo, alongside the graves of the two lovers whose story he had told to the world.

In order to show respect for Mr. Schork and to honor him after his death Kurt Schork Street in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina was created and the Kurt Schork newsroom at Jamestown College, his alma mater, opened.

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