Anthrow Circus

Channeling Hemingway One Autumn Night

CREATIVE PROJECT CURATED BY KAMI L. RICE

One fall night last year, we created a project for ourselves. The American students were studying abroad in Paris, and I was a mentor in their program. Two artists and three writers, we assigned ourselves homework. We’d spend an evening all together at one of Ernest Hemingway’s famous haunts. The writers had to choose someone, or someones, from among the clientele as their inspiration for a short story. The artists’ drawings would be similarly inspired by someone who was there that night. We’d package the works together and discover what we’d jointly created

Togo : La vaccination contre le Covid-19, un mal nécessaire ?

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

View From a Pandemic: Feeling Symptoms in Togo

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.

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: 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.

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.

The Secret Garden of Marseille

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

Last year the Belle de Mai neighborhood of Marseille, France, gained a garden. Residents are working together to cultivate new life in ground that had lost its former glory. Thanks to our contributor Catherine Ricoul, one of forces behind the garden, we get to meander through the Jardin Levat as it dissolves (think film editing terms) from one season to the next.

MicroView: Port de Toulon, France

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

In this new series, we’re offering you a little window onto life in one corner of the world or another. Enjoy peeking through the curtains with us!