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Search Primary Menu Skip to content MENU MENU LOG IN English ( English ) Svenska ( Swedish ) Search for: India , Postcards More soldiers killed by avalanches in the Himalayas 5 December, 2019 Kristina Salgvik The Siachen Glacier is the world’s highest battleground, where Indian and Pakistani troops face each in the bitter cold, 6,000 metres above sea-level at the northern end of their border. Soldiers have died in combat there, but their common enemy – the hostile environment – is proving increasingly deadly. The two countries’ mechanised units affect the region’s vulnerable ecology, not least because of the large amount of rubbish they generate. Climate warming is adding to the problems, the biggest of which is avalanches. Avalanches killed 140 Pakistani soldiers on the lower part of the 47-mile glacier in 2012 and 10 Indian soldiers in 2016. This year, avalanches killed four soldiers and two Sherpas on 18 November and less than two weeks later another two people. Shrinking glaciers and more avalanches in the Himalayas were predicted as ”highly likely” by the UN intergovernmental panel’s 2014-5 report on climate change. A former Indian defence ministry scientist says that the frequency of avalanches has steadily increased in Siachen since 1984, when Indian troops were first stationed there and scientists began studying the area. The scientist says that temperatures fluctuate on the glacier but that both the lowest and highest winter temperatures are on an upward trend – an important factor behind the avalanches. Thukjay Lotus, a Sherpa who works in Siachen and who I met in the village of Panamik close to the base camp, says he sees avalanches as the biggest threat in the area. ”We’re always worried about avalanches. In the last 10 years a number of avalanches have occurred and many people have been killed. Two years ago, I just made it out alive.” /Athar Parvaiz, Kashmir The postcards made by journalists in our network are published on the Blankspot Project website. Colombia , Postcards How is the Colombian peace doing? 28 November, 2019 Kristina Salgvik The historical peace treaty between the Colombian government and the FARC guerrilla is at risk. Right now Colombia is at risk of being thrown back into a devastating cycle of violence, similar to the situation in the 1990s. /Gerald Bermúdez, Colombia The postcards made by journalists in our network are published on the Blankspot Project website. Kenya , Postcards A new dawn for Kenyan politics 28 November, 2019 Kristina Salgvik A commission in Kenya has made suggestions for “healing the nation” and avoiding post-election conflict. The 2017 poll was hotly disputed and President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga almost pushed the country into turmoil. But a few months later the nation watched as the two men shook hands in the corridor of the president’s office and later selected a group of people of differing political affiliations and beliefs to make proposals for bridging political tensions by avoiding the scenario in which the election winner gets everything and the loser nothing On 26 November – a year-and-a-half after the historic handshake – the Building Bridges Initiative report was released. It suggests that the main loser in the elections should be nominated to parliament as the official opposition leader with a shadow cabinet and that regional and ethnic balance should be promoted in government, as provided for in the previous constitution. It also recommends reintroducing the post of prime minister and new procedures for the selection of cabinet ministers, This week a meeting was held to inform delegates from the country’s 47 counties of the contents of the report. The recommendations will now either be voted on in parliament or put to the people for a referendum. The proposals are being widely discussed by members of the public, and have generally been warmly welcomed. But Kamire wa Wairimu, a 39-year-old businessman and wheat producer in Narok, one of the areas most affected political tension after the last election, speaks for a number of critics when he told me that while it is positive to try and mend political processes, he is worried about the possible public expense of the recommendations. ”More political posts are introduced, in a situation where regular people are fighting to make enough money to buy food, while the costs of politicians and their administrations are high,” he cautioned. /Kimani Chege, Kenya The postcards made by journalists in our network are published on the Blankspot Project website. Ethiopia , Fönstret Ethiopia – basking in Peace Prize glory 26 November, 2019 Kristina Salgvik Article published in Fönstret #4 2019 By Hiwot Abebe Ethiopians have long been proud to come from one of only two African countries never to have been colonised, writes journalist Hiwot Abebe. Now many fellow citizens are also basking in the glory of the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Alis for introducing press freedom and releasing political prisoners. Full article (in Swedish) here: https://www.fonstret.se/artikelarkivet/kulturland/etiopien–solar-sig-i-fredsprisets-glans/ Postcards , Rwanda Testing time in Rwanda after change of exam language 21 November, 2019 Kristina Salgvik The Rwandan authorities want pupils to write their end-of-year exams in the local language, Kinyarwanda, instead of English. The end of the year is exam time, when about 456,000 primary and high school students are tested before they can take the next steps on their education journey. But this year, only days before the exams were due to start across the country, the board of education announced that all elementary school students must take the exams in Kinyarwanda. Although education policy stipulates that elementary pupils are to be taught in Kinyarwanda, most schools still teach in English, with Kinyarwanda as an optional subject, because teachers and parents believe English offers the best future prospects. The change of policy was intended to harmonise teaching and exams as well as to promote children’s use of Kinyarwanda. So the Kinyarwanda-only ruling came as a shock to many. Additionally, the education board will now set the exams: previously this was done by the schools. According to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, elementary school pupils worldwide learn quicker and better when they are taught in their mother tongue. And some Rwandans support the idea of exams in Kinyarwanda, arguing that it’s a language that the children understand better. But the majority of parents do not seem convinced. “It’s unfortunate that the students have to take exams in a language they are not taught in,” says Theophile Bucyana, a teacher at a school in the capital, Kigali. He thinks the decision-makers face a struggle in making the policy change stick.. “Sure, being taught in Kinyarwanda can improve the use of their mother tongue, but most parents associate English with giving their children more possibilities, and they feel proud when their children can express themselves in a foreign language,” he says. “It’s an attitude that will be difficult to change.” /Jean-Pierre Bucyensenge, Rwanda The postcards written by journalists in our network are published on the Blankspot Project website. Bolivia , Postcards Back to everyday life in Bolivia 15 November, 2019 Kristina Salgvik After 21 days of protests and the departure from the country of the dethroned President, Evo Morales, Bolivians are trying to re-establish their normal, everyday lives. In the wake of reports of irregularities in the presidential election, people in various areas started to mobilise. The most important movement took place in Santa Cruz in eastern Bolivia, where 40-year old Luis Fernando Camacho, leader of the Civic Committee for Santa Cruz, called a civil strike on 22 October. The protest quickly spread across the country, with huge gatherings of people and violence. At least ten death...