Dateline: Africa
Timothy Sullivan
in Writing, Non-fiction, Media, Journalism, Darfur
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This has happened before; just when I'm considering letting my subscription to National Geographic lapse, a new issue shows up with a startling piece of work, the kind of journalism that reminds me why I love this craft, and why I respect the people who really do it well. I'm talking about the cover story for the April '08 issue, "Lost in the Sahel," by Paul Salopek.
The Sahel is an arrid zone at the southern edge of the Sahara desert, a strip of land that runs the entire width of Africa. During his journey through the Sahel for NatGeo, Salopek ran into several horrendous situations, including finding himself, his driver and his interpreter arrested in Darfur, thrown into jail for five weeks, and beaten for having illegally crossed the border from Chad into Sudan. That part of the story is harrowing enough, but the strength of the piece relies chiefly on the quality of Salopek's writing and attention to detail. The Sudanese guerillas who capture our correspondent (and trade him to government soldiers for a carton of uniforms) proudly show off their mobile phones, which display photos of the burning towers of the World Trade Center. When he goes on a hunger strike, his captors threaten to force feed him "like Guantanamo." Then there's the refugee he meets from Darfur, a Muslim himself, whose fervent hope is that his infant son will grow up to be a killer of Arabs.
Salopek also tells stories of gentle, generous people in the Sahel, and there's a wealth of surprising information, such as the fact that global warming has resulted in more rainfall in the region, meaning more vegetation and a welcome revival of local agriculture. This is a fine piece of reporting.
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