Dossier articles from the past 3 months
Right in the middle of Eurasia, in that mass of land known as ‘The Heart of the World’, we find Kazakhstan, impervious, legendary, and fascinating – the land of fiery bloody sunsets that bewitched the passage of many merchants en route to China by way of the silk road. Its natural beauty, together with its…
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Kazakhstan achieved independence in December 1991 at a time when the dissolution of the USSR was inevitable. Nursultan Nazarbayev, the Soviet leader of Kazakhstan since 1989 and President in 1990, was reconfirmed in 1991 following the independence of the country. Nazarbayev, in taking on the leadership of the new state, was obliged to face all…
Read moreThe modernisation of the state forms part of the ‘Kazakhstan 2030 Plan’ launched by Nazarbayev in 1997 with the aim of transforming and developing the country, and now continued by his successor. The plan is based upon wise economic options, the strategy of which is not limited simply to the exploitation of the enormous energy…
Read moreFor Kazakhstan, the year 2019 may be remembered as a time of political change. President Nursultan Nazarbayev, having led the country for almost three decades, resigned as President, though retaining ample powers in accordance with a law passed in 2018 granting him the status of ‘Father of the Nation’, a law which guaranteed him judiciary…
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The Bororo culture is one of movement. There are different sorts of movement. First of all there is the perol, ‘the great movement’, mostly for political or environmental reasons. It is a real migration and happens only in exceptional cases. For example, the great perol that brought part of the Wodaabe into the territory of…
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The Gerewol is the festival of bodily beauty. The young Bororo, after spending ascetic months in the savannah, paint their faces with the most extravagant designs to accentuate their extended lines. On a pre-selected plain, the various groups set up camp with small huts made of branches and mats. The enclosure for the livestock is…
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The cult of physical beauty is most important. The rules of aesthetics are followed by the entire group. Gently but firmly, the mothers try to shape the physiognomy of the new-born child in the hope of affecting the collective appearance of the group. From birth, the head of the child is delicately squeezed between the…
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The Bororo belong to the large ethnic family of the Peul, better known as the Fulani, Fulbe, Poular, Fula, and Fellata. The origins of the Peul are still a mystery though there is no shortage of theories, some rather imaginative, in this regard. One theory, for example, says they came from Mesopotamia, having crossed the…
Read moreThere are at least eighteen countries, where children are recruited and used in armed conflicts. From regular army to rebels, from guerrilla movements to drug cartels. The phenomenon has assumed the status of a humanitarian disaster. Dahara was 15 and had never used a weapon until he arrived in Libya, together with his eighteen-year-old cousin…
Read moreIt is estimated that there are 152 million children in the world who are compelled to work with 72.1 million of these in the African continent alone. Out of these, 31.5 million are engaged in heavy and dangerous work. Covid-19 has aggravated the situation. Before sunrise, Jean Pierre sets out on the rough path that…
Read moreThey travel alone. They may fall into the hands of human traffickers. They often end up in detention centres without knowing why or for how long. The mental health repercussions may be irreparable. Maria Lourdes is just seven years old and is travelling with some people she does not know. Together with others she has…
Read moreBorn in the Caliphate and indoctrinated to believe in a ‘different world’. The images are few and taken from a distance. They show boys from 9 to 15 years old with Kalashnikovs in their hands, shooting as they run. They throw themselves to the ground and immediately rise again, shooting all the time. Behind them,…
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She played a key role in a campaign that challenged a corrupt waste trafficking scheme between Italy and Tunisia, resulting in the return of 6,000…
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The Black and white swallow flew high up in the clear, blue sky, wheeling and diving, his fast, pointed wings carrying him at a great speed. Swallow…
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Welcoming, listening and guiding. Some characteristics of Pope Leo with the youth During the years when Father Robert Francis Prevost was pastor of the church of Our…
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