PUBLISHED IN DARI AND PASHTO
ARTICLE BY W.H.
If you’re a woman born and raised in Afghanistan, you live in war against nearly everything in life. Too often, even from your very first breath outside the womb, you are not really welcomed by your own family—or if you’re blessed with good parents, society and certain people’s mindsets work to steal the smile from your face.
Aliakbar turned 34 years old in June 2022. He was a loving father to three boys and a devoted husband to his supportive wife, Karima. Originally from Dushi, Baghlan, he was an IT expert and CEO of his IT consultation company. Aliakbar was heavily involved in charitable and humanitarian projects throughout his adult life. He founded HikeVentures Afghanistan in 2017 to help others develop skills in mountaineering, climbing, and trekking, and to enable people to safely enjoy Afghanistan’s unparalleled natural beauty. He was at the forefront of raising funds for underprivileged communities during the COVID-19 pandemic and collected and distributed aid to victims of natural and manmade disasters.
ARTICLE BY KRISTEN VONNOH
After waves of COVID-19 and the impending effects of war in Ukraine for the upcoming winter, France has been facing a pénurie d’essence—a gas shortage—for much of October.
Strikes that began in late September continued across the country last week. France’s second largest trade union, CGT, had called for employees in all public sectors to defend “wage increases and the defense of the right to strike.”
The French government reacted with sweeping measures in mid-October as the gas crisis worsened, forcing employees of the two ExxonMobil refineries to return to work or risk fines or jail time.
STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAMI L. RICE
I spent a May afternoon rushing through the wide halls of the U.S. Senate office buildings. It wasn’t the first time I was on Capitol Hill this past spring, but this time I chanced being late for an important flight because the clock was ticking on this issue that kept me coming back to the Hill. The next morning, I learned that day’s meetings had seemingly been for naught.
ARTICLE BY BILL DIEM
Some of the Ukrainians fighting Vladimir Putin’s Russian army are also French.
When Putin’s threats toward Ukraine increased in seriousness in mid-February, France encouraged its citizens there to leave. As war damage increased after Russia’s invasion began Feb. 24, there was a second wave of emigrants, said Sen. Hélène Conway-Mouret, the senator for French citizens living in other countries. But some French, she said, usually with dual Ukrainian citizenship, “made the choice to stay … and fight.”
ARTICLE BY KAMI L. RICE
PHOTO BY JOEL CARILLET
Hours after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, Douglas Webber, emeritus professor of political science and a Europe specialist at the prestigious business school INSEAD, framed the conflict starkly.
“It’s really a decisive turning point we’re looking at here, and for me certainly I think that it’s the most dangerous moment in international politics if not since the end of World War II, at least since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962,” said Webber to an online meeting of the Anglo-American Press Association of Paris.
TEXT AND PHOTOS BY DAWN MAJORS, BILL STEBER, JOON POWELL, AND JOHN PARTIPILO
Illustrating their divergent perspectives and practices, four photographers from Nashville, Tennessee, USA, each with a solid foundation in newspapers, have prepared a pandemic-era exhibit that is slated to be presented in 2021 at the Scarritt Bennett Center and at Vanderbilt University, both in Nashville. In the months leading up to the exhibit we’re featuring their work in an ongoing Anthrow Circus series, a project that is as much a study of photographic styles as a record of the pandemic.
ARTICLE ET PHOTOGRAPHIES PAR AJ JOHNSON
TRADUCTION ANGLAISE PAR KAMI L. RICE
Au Togo, la campagne de vaccination contre la Covid-19 a commencé le 11 mars 2021, grâce à l’initiative Covax, qui a délivré un premier lot de 156.000 doses du vaccin AstraZeneca. Covax est une initiative de l’Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS) qui, parmi ses plusieurs objectifs, assure un accès équitable aux produits de diagnostic, de traitements et de vaccins contre la Covid-19.
Les doses reçues étant en nombre limité, le gouvernement togolais a mis en place un plan de vaccination en plusieurs phases. Ce plan préconise l’administration des premières doses du vaccin au personnel du corps médical, ensuite aux personnes âgées de 50 ans et plus, puis aux personnes plus jeunes souffrant d’une maladie chronique, et enfin au reste de la population de plus de 20 ans. Un site web officiel a ainsi été mis en place pour gérer la campagne de vaccination.
STORY AND PHOTOS BY AJ JOHNSON
ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY KAMI L. RICE
In Togo, thanks to the Covax Initiative, the COVID-19 vaccination campaign began on March 11, 2021, following the receipt of a first batch of 156,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine. Covax is a World Health Organization initiative that among its several objectives, ensures equitable access to diagnostic products, treatments, and vaccines against COVID-19.
Since a limited number of doses were received, the Togolese government implemented a multi-phase vaccination plan. This plan calls for the first doses to be administered to medical personnel, then to people aged 50 and older, next to people under 50 suffering from a chronic disease, and finally to anyone 20 years old and up. An official website was set up to manage the vaccination campaign
STORY AND PHOTOS BY AJ JOHNSON
ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY KRISTEN VONNOH
Covid-19, entre corruption et angoisse
J’ai récemment voyagé au Bénin, un des pays voisins, dans le cadre de mon travail. Avant de partir je me suis assuré de faire un test Covid qui s’est avéré négatif. Pour ce voyage j’avais décidé de prendre la voie terrestre puisque, de sources sûres, quoiqu’officiellement les frontières terrestres étaient fermées, il était assez bien possible de traverser la frontière sans aucun problème—à condition de payer des frais, non déclarés, aux différents postes de contrôles que ce soit du côté du Togo, mon pays de départ, que du pays d’arrivée.
COVID-19, Between corruption and anguish
I recently traveled to the neighboring country of Benin for my work. Before leaving, I made sure to take
a COVID-19 test, which was negative. I decided to take the land route for this trip since reliable sources
informed me that although land borders were officially closed, it was quite possible to cross the border without any problem, provided I paid undeclared fees at the various checkpoints on the Togo side, my country of departure, as well as on the Benin side.
TEXT AND PHOTOS BY JOON POWELL, JOHN PARTIPILLO, DAWN MAJORS, AND BILL STEBER
Illustrating their divergent perspectives and practices, four photographers from Nashville, Tennessee, USA, each with a solid foundation in newspapers, have prepared a pandemic-era exhibit that is slated to be presented in 2021 at the Scarritt Bennett Center and at Vanderbilt University, both in Nashville. In the months leading up to the exhibit we’re featuring their work in an ongoing Anthrow Circus series, a project that is as much a study of photographic styles as a record of the pandemic.
