Sans Frontières

Introduction to Arabic Poetry: Poet Nizar Qabbani

VIDEO PRODUCTION AND PHOTO BY ZAHER AL ZAHER
POEM RECITED BY ZAHER AL ZAHER
ARTICLE TEXT BY HEATHER M. SURLS

Today’s poem, recited by Syrian photojournalist Zaher Al Zaher, tells of a man’s love for a beautiful woman who is blind. After insisting that she cannot marry without her sight, the man says he will find someone to donate a pair of eyes for her. Then, when she wakes up able to see, the woman realizes her lover is himself blind and refuses to marry him. Saddened, he releases her with a parting request: that she promise to care for his eyes.

View From a Pandemic: Togo’s Informal Laborers’ Hope for Survival

PHOTOS AND TEXT BY/PHOTOGRAPHIES ET TEXTE PAR A.J. JOHNSON
FRENCH PROOFREADING BY/RELECTURE FRANÇAISE PAR CAROLINE BERNARD-GILBERT
ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY/TRADUCTION ANGLAISE PAR KAMI L. RICE

While the horns of two taxis blare, further noise rattles the Lomé intersection of Sagbado. “Olé yia, Olé yia?” (“Do you need a ride?”) cry out the drivers of motorcycle-taxis as they rush toward the car taxis that have just stopped in front of the Sanol gas station. The motorcycle drivers hope to attract the attention of passengers exiting the larger taxis and gain another fare by taking them to the passengers’ final destination. The scene is nothing new. It takes place over and over again all day long, from the rising to the setting of the sun. However, for the past few months, since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis and especially since the government decreed a curfew and state of emergency, a new group of venders has joined the motorcycle-taxis at this intersection.

Georgia, a Country of Impressions

GEORGIAN TEXT BY NINO REVAZISHVILI
ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY LIKA MAMASAXLISI
PHOTOS BY JOEL CARILLET AND LIKA MAMASAXLISI

We’re excited to expand our Sans Frontières series of stories with yet another script, Georgian script, that reminds us that the Latin alphabet and script are not the only way of reading and recording the world’s life. We hope you will enjoy this heartwarming introduction to the country of Georgia from one of her expats living abroad.

Allons au cirque ! (Let’s Go to the Circus!)

PHOTOGRAPHIES ET TEXTE PAR FRANCK ETCHEVERRY
PHOTOS AND TEXT BY FRANCK ETCHEVERRY

TRADUCTION ANGLAISE PAR KAMI L. RICE
ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY KAMI L. RICE

Depuis tout petit le Cirque a été le premier lieu où j’ai pu observer et approcher des animaux issus de la faune sauvage. Fasciné par leur beauté, j’ai commencé à leur vouer une véritable passion et c’est en grande partie grâce à ces premiers contacts que j’ai décidé d’en faire mon métier et de me mettre au service de la faune sauvage et de sa protection (Technicien supérieur en Gestion et Protection de la Nature, spécialisé dans la gestion de la Faune Sauvage).

As a little boy, it was at the circus that I was first able to see and get near to animals that came from the wild. I was fascinated by their beauty. They became a true passion and it’s largely thanks to these early contacts with circus animals that I decided to center my career around wildlife and put myself at the service of these animals and their protection, earning a diploma in environmental management and protection, specializing in wildlife management.

View From a Pandemic: Les Voisins d’Abord

FILM, TEXT, & PHOTO BY CATHERINE RICOUL

“Les voisins d’abord” est un film joyeux tourné alors que nous, voisins de fenêtres, nous essayions de vivre à l’heure du confinement.

“Les Voisins d’Abord” is a happy film shot as we window-neighbors tried to live during the time of confinement.

View From a Pandemic: Seaside Promenade, Marseille, France

ECRITURE ET PHOTOGRAPHE PAR CATHERINE RICOUL
TRADUCTION ANGLAISE PAR KAMI L. RICE

STORY AND PHOTO BY CATHERINE RICOUL
ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY KAMI L. RICE

11 mai, le premier jour du déconfinement et sa première sortie depuis plus de deux mois au bord de sa mer bien-aimée …

MicroView: Mahboob’s Afghanistan

STORY AND PHOTOS BY MAHBOOB F.

In the newest installment in our roving View From Here series Mahboob takes us to a quiet spot near Kabul, Afghanistan. With this article, we’re excited to add a new language in our Sans Frontières series of articles published in multiple languages. Mahboob has written for us in both English and Dari, which is the version of Persian spoken in Afghanistan.

La Luna

POEM BY E. AMATO
TRANSLATED TO GERMAN BY ZISKA KILLAT
IMAGE BY JOANNA WINOGRAD.

E. Amato once overheard two people conversing in Spanish on the Tube in London, and the musical quality of their exchange captured her attention. So she listened in, though she is not a Spanish speaker.

Following the Coffee Trail to La Sierra

STORY AND PHOTOS BY MEGAN FINCK AND MIKE PLUNKETT

La caminata de Megan Finck y Mike Plunkett a una finca de café en Colombia nos sumerge en la historia de las alianzas que han ayudado a una comunidad a transformar su pasado sórdido en un presente floreciente que marca un futuro lleno de esperanza.

Megan Finck and Mike Plunkett’s hike to a Colombian coffee farm plunges us into a story of the partnerships that have helped a community transform its sordid past into a flourishing present that marks out a hopeful future.

La dignité dans l’exil (Dignity in Exile)

STORY BY HÉLÈNE SCHWITZER-BORGIALLO
ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY KAMI L. RICE

French academic Hélène Schwitzer-Borgiallo reports for us this week on innovative projects undertaken by a duo of English playwrights who are bringing together groups of people who don’t normally get to meet each other.

Mettre sa créativité au service de la rencontre des cultures : voilà l’objectif du duo de dramaturges anglais dont nous parle cette semaine Hélène Schwitzer-Borgiallo, enseignante à l’Université Paris 8.