Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting

Crocodiles

I had been in the Gorongosa National Park for about a week when Carlos Lopes Pereira, director of conservation, told me that his rangers had found the crocodile.

“We are going to shoot it,” he said. “It’s near Vinho.”

Vinho is the village across the muddy Pungue River – the closest community to park headquarters. People wade through the river to get to work; they also play, wash clothes, and bathe there. And one of the last times I was here, a crocodile attacked a woman cleaning corn in the river – she survived after her brother chased the animal away with spears, but people told me she would lose her leg.

The day after that attack, I had waded through the Pungue myself (very nervously) to report more about what had happened. Locals here say attacks aren’t natural, but the result of spells cast by witch doctors at the behest of jealous or angry or jilted neighbors.

I wasn’t so sure. But since then I’ve been fascinated – in a kind of paranoid, fearful way – by crocodiles.

Answers to your questions about the video...

What were some of the technical and logistical limitations concerned with filming in Gorongosa?

Good question.  There weren’t any major technical or logistical limitations. On the technical side, we ran all our equipment on battery power. There was only a limited amount of electricity at the park everyday – so we had to make sure that we recharged the batteries of our equipment when the power was on.  As for logistics, I guess not dropping the camera gear into the water while crossing the river to the village of Vinho. Also, driving in Mozambique was pretty rough on the rural roads – and they drive on the other side of the road there -- so it took some getting used to -- especially using the stick shift – but then again that was kinda fun.

Considering you have such a huge story to tell in such a small amount of time, how do you decide which video clips to use?  Are photos for printed articles picked through the same process, or are different things considered when choosing photos? 

Sorry - I can’t help with the photo selection question – that’s out of my job description - what I mean is I wasn't involved in that aspect of the project. 

As for tackling a huge story with a little amount of time -- we obviously had to make tough choices about what to include and what to leave out.  I think we were really trying to just give viewers a feel for some of the impending changes and issues at the park.  With such a short video you’ve got to keep things simple.  So rather than get into Greg Carr’s background we chose to focus on Carr’s vision for the park, the history of the park, and how the local communities are reacting to the changes at the park. So for such a short piece we had to weigh the benefits of devoting too much time on Carr’s background versus the communities and lives that will be impacted by his donations. Obviously, there is a lot more to this story and I hope we get an opportunity to present the story in a longer format in the future. 
 
In the video that we recently watched about the situation in Mozambique, many topics and stories intrigued me, while other things left me with questions. Since the project is relying so heavily on Carr's donations, why did you decide to not include more information about Carr's background in the video?

This is a question similar to the one above – please refer to the answer above – thanks.  I will add that the video was designed to compliment Stephanie’s print article on Gorongosa – so she gets into more of Carr’s interesting background and philanthropic endeavors in her Smithsonian Magazine article – check it out.

In the video clip on Mozambique, why did you choose to only portray one village?

There were actually two separate villages in the video – maybe identifying both villages on screen would have made this more evident – my apologies. The first village is one directly benefiting from the park – it just received a new school and health clinic paid for and built by the park.  The second community hasn’t received any benefits from the park as of yet.  So we felt it was important to show the relations between the park and the two different communities.

--- Thank you all for your interest
Steve

How to Help - some thoughts from Greg Carr

Hi all.  I think I mentioned that I asked people at Gorongosa Park what they thought about the whole "how to help" question. Here's what Greg Carr wrote in response...

How can a small group of people change the world:

First,  an individual needs to have a big dream.  Then,  she or he needs to encourage others to share the vision and improve it with their own ideas.

Post your video questions for Steve

Steve Sapienza will be answering your questions about his work as a filmmaker in Gorongosa.

Post your questions for him here.

How to Help 2

Ok, now I'm going to try to write about this question.

It would be really easy for someone to say: “Oh, you want to help?  Send $29.95 to Gorongosa Park and you will!”   Do they still have those very maudlin “Save an African Child For Only a Dollar a Day” ads on television?  Same thing.

But it’s more complex than that.  There is a lot of debate about how much – or whether – non profit groups help in Africa.  There is a lot of wasted money, a lot of community disruption, and often, very few long-lasting impacts.  A lot of people think that giving aid creates dependency, and actually adds to Africa's problems.

I don't think it's so straight forward. I don't think all aid is bad, the same way I don't think all aid is good. Either way, the complications shouldn't be an excuse to do nothing.

(Ok, click on the link if you have any interest in my slightly long and rambling thoughts on this.)

How to Help

This is a really important – and difficult – question.  But I think it’s an essential one to ask, and I hope you guys take some time thinking about it and maybe even debating it in class.  I know my friends and colleagues do a lot of that here.

I'll post my thoughts on this, but I also asked Vasco, at Gorongosa, what he thought about this. Click to see his answer...

another q and a...

What is the most vital issue that needs help in restoring the park? (ie land mines, animals, plant life)

The biggest gap in the park’s ecosystem is large mammals. They were all poached out during and after the war.  So restoring those animals is going to be huge.

But the plant life and general ecosystem is pretty in tact – it’s one of the reasons they think they can fix up this park. Land mines really aren’t much of an issue (although the Carr Foundation is definitely spending a lot of money on that just to be extra sure.)

I think another big issue is deforestation around the park.  You might know all about this from science classes, but trees play a huge role in ecosystems – they impact the weather, rivers, rain, soil quality, etc.   And there’s a lot of deforestation around the park, because villagers clear trees to plant fields. Or sometimes to make charcoal.  So I’d put that up there in terms of vital issues.

Security

Hi all - here's another one of your questions, and my attempt at a response... (hopefully not too long winded!)

What are the security concerns presently in Mozambique, and what measures have been taken to promote a safer environment, specifically around the park?

Security is an interesting issue. You know, it comes down to what you want to call “security.”  If you’re talking about armies or guerilla fighters or that sort of thing, there really aren’t all that many concerns. Mozambique is a stable democracy these days.  The civil war that decimated the country ended in 1992, and nobody talks about going back to that awful time.  The rebel group, Renamo, is now a legitimate opposition party.

But these days, across the world, I think we’re going to have to start looking at the question of “security” in a broader sense.   What does it mean when you have a region or a country that does not have food security?  Or the other “securities” that we take for granted in the U.S. – basic things like laws and housing and an education system and a relatively functional police force?

I think that in the U.S. it’s sometimes easy for us to hear these horrible stories from Africa – you know, the “Another Famine in Africa” news piece – and feel bad, but not really see how this affects us.  But we’re now seeing the dangers of having these unstable areas around the world. There has been a lot of news recently, for instance, about terrorist networks setting up in countries that are lacking these basic security structures – African countries included.

More later!

Ok, you guys really have some great questions.  I know I've only answered two so far... but it's getting late here in South Africa and I've got to pack for the U.S.!   More info soon...
Stephanie

And another response...

What changes have you noticed since the start for the project until the present time?

Well, I didn’t see the park at the very beginning of the project.  But I can talk about some of the differences between April/May last year and when Steve and I were up there a couple of weeks ago.

I'd say there’s a lot more going on now. There’s more staff, more construction, more community projects. They’ve done a lot of renovation in the main camp, called Chitengo.  (Actually, Steve thought I was a total wimp because I had been telling him that it could be a rough place to stay, and then he walked into this freshly painted bungalow with a pretty bedspread and things like that.)  They’re building a new kitchen, they’ve got some offices set up, they’re building new chalets, etc.