Two aid workers kidnapped in Somalia

By Alanna Shaikh | 3 April, 200811 November, 2011 | 0 Comments |

Two UN contract workers kidnapped in Somalia. Murray Watson and Patrick Amukhuma were kidnapped in Somalia yesterday. Patrick is Kenyan, and Murray is British. Murray Watson is an ecologist with a long history of work in Africa. I am praying for a quick release, like last time an expat was kidnapped in Somalia.

One thing I find interesting about the media coverage on this is how few outlets have gotten their jobs right. They were contractors for an Indian company which held a subcontract with FAO to do aerial survey work. Not all that unusual if you’re used to how the system works, but hard for an unfamiliar reporter to grasp.

Lolita beds?

By Alanna Shaikh | 5 February, 200811 November, 2011 | 1 Comments |

Any time I hear about the importance of making sure everything you do is culturally sensitive, I think of problems like this. We can’t even manage to be sensitive to our own culture, more often than not. (For those who read the article – I shall refrain at this point from discussing the British educational system.)