Untold Stories

News Points: Teaching Iraq

The Pulitzer Center will be in St. Louis later this week, bringing one of our most remarkable projects into high school and college classrooms as part of our new Global Gateway education initiative. This marks a lot of hard work by some extraordinary people -- beginning with David Enders, the independent journalist we supported this summer while he and videographer Rick Rowley traveled through Iraq, Syria and Jordan.

David and Rick traveled the breadth of Iraq, sometimes with the U.S. military but more often with the Sunni and Shia militia groups that actually control much of the country. They produced a torrent of reporting -- video, print and radio -- that captures as vividly as anything I've seen the country's descent into factional fighting and the tragic displacement of nearly 4 million Iraqis from their homes. You can see their reports on our Iraq project page.

What makes David especially suited to bring this story to high school and college students, however, is that he is a teacher himself, in the New York City public schools.

To continue reading Jon Sawyer and News Points, click here

Afghanistan: Fort Bragg East

Forward Operating Base Salerno is still small compared with the American bases in Bagram and Kandahar. Envisioned as a lillypad where U.S. forces could stage attacks, since it was built five years ago it has slowly grown into a massive hub for eastern Afghanistan.

The 82nd Airborne Division’s 307th Engineer Battalion, built the base in 2002 near the border town of Khost. The base, surrounded by mountains, is only about 30 miles from the border with Pakistan. Several commands have been based there, including an Italian Army unit and the 82nd's 1st Brigade in 2005. The 10th Mountain Division turned over control of the base to the 82nd's 4th Brigade earlier this year...

To continue reading Kevin Maurer and Andrew Craft's blog, click here.

To read more about Fort Bragg East: Rebuilding Afghanistan, click here.

Liberia: From out of the Rubble

As the Mighty Conquerors climbed the bleachers to accept their award, Mabel was dancing. "I love that!" she repeated over and over, unable to hide her excitement. "That's Charles," she added, as if I hadn't met him several times previously. As we descended the stairs to follow the team outside she grabbed my hand -- always the caretaker, always ready to lead the way...

Continue reading "Liberia: From out of the Rubble" >>

Afghanistan: Kuwait

Okay... I know all of you have been waiting for us to finally show up in Afghanistan.

It took us a week, but we are finally here. We arrived late yesterday on a C-130 flight from Bagram to Salerno, the base just outside of Khost City on the Afghan-Pakistan border.

For those in the know, waiting for a flight in Kuwait takes monk like patience and a little luck. We had neither...

To continue reading Kevin Maurer and Andrew Craft's blog, click here.

To read more about Fort Bragg East: Rebuilding Afghanistan, click here.

India: Meeting the Mukhia

Flood victims I spoke with in some of the outerlying hamlets in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district kept complaining about the thieving “mukhias,” elected local big men responsible for doling out government aid. Given their reputation I thought it might be hard to pin one down for an interview, until he found me.

My awkward walk across a bamboo bridge linking a marooned hamlet to one of the state's main roads was interrupted by Nabin Kamar, who more or less demanded that I come back to his side for a cup of hot chai. He held court under an awning that overlooked a string of lower-caste laborers bearing 50 kg sacks of grain. Gold jewelry dripped from his neck and fingers, and he had a dagger for a left pinky nail.

Liberia: Amputee Allstars

Mabel takes my hand as we march into the Antoinette Tubman Stadium in downtown Monrovia to watch the championship game between the Amputee All Stars and the reigning champs, The Mighty Conquerors. Charles is the assistant coach of The Mighty Conquerors and as we head to our seats he proudly hands me a team t-shirt.

It's the first awards ceremony for the Amputee Football Federation's league and everyone's on the edge of their seats.

Click here to see more from Andre and Ruthie in Liberia.

Mabel takes my hand as we march into the Antoinette Tubman Stadium in downtown Monrovia to watch the championship game between the Amputee All Stars and the reigning champs, The Mighty Conquerors. Charles is the assistant coach of The Mighty Conquerors and as we head to our seats he proudly hands me a team t-shirt.

It's the first awards ceremony for the Amputee Football Federation's league and everyone's on the edge of their seats.

Click here to see more from Andre and Ruthie in Liberia.

Mabel takes my hand as we march into the Antoinette Tubman Stadium in downtown Monrovia to watch the championship game between the Amputee All Stars and the reigning champs, The Mighty Conquerors. Charles is the assistant coach of The Mighty Conquerors and as we head to our seats he proudly hands me a team t-shirt.

It's the first awards ceremony for the Amputee Football Federation's league and everyone's on the edge of their seats.

Click here to see more from Andre and Ruthie in Liberia.

Liberia: What's in a Name?

With a name like Comfort she shouldn't be crying. But her aunt died recently leaving her to fend for herself and her 5-month old baby, Varht. A family friend told her to seek help at THINK, a safe home for ex-combatants, girls in trouble with the law, runaways, and victims of violence, which provides an education and training to 25 girls over the course of nine months. But just because Comfort's doing the right thing doesn't mean it always feels right...

Continue reading "What's in a Name?"

Liberia: Michael Jackson

Meet Michael Jackson. The police brought him to a juvenile transit center run by Samaritan's Purse after his mother burnt his fingers with a candle flame because he peed in his bed.

The transit center is a a temporary home for girls who are ex-combatants or who are having trouble with the law. But it ends up being a drop off center for children like Michael Jackson who have nowhere else to go and no one else to turn to...

Continue reading "Michael Jackson."

Liberia: Joy

Savio Village, run by Don Bosco Homes, is a transit home for 25 boys who are either in conflict with the law, ex-combatants, or having trouble with their parents. On a rainy day, the loudest sound was simply their joy. Whether playing board games like ludu or lapa, or African dodge ball, the children were making the hard work of reintegration look fun.

To read more from Liberia: Scars and Stripes, click here.

Liberia: Up the Creek

Driving through Paynesville, one of Monrovia's many slums, Junior turns to me and says, "Welcome to our capitol. This is our Washington D.C." He's laughing out loud, but you can hear his heart is not. He also laughs when he talks about the $5.00, the bottle of water, and the packet of crackers the United Nations High Commission of Refugees gave to each of the refugees returning to Liberia after the war.

To continue reaading "Up a Creek," and for more photographs and posts from Liberia, click here.