Flemming Rothaus, called Slim or Ming: “In New York, when I was younger, broke and skinny, I would pass by this homeless guy in my block, he called me Slim as he asked for a dollar. Very soon my bass player would pick up on the name. Since then people just call me that way.(…)
This text is available in Spanish and English, Spanish La calle El Bronx ha sido el mercado de drogas por excelencia en Bogotá desde que en el 2002 “El Cartucho” fuese erradicado. Hablamos de un océano de miseria, pobreza y adicción que ha retenido en el fondo a miles de personas durante varios años, muchas(…)
During some years the people in Marmato, Department of Caldas, Colombia; live under uncertainty. Canadian multinational companies, with the support of the national Government, have appropriated mines of small miners who have been working in the mountain all their lives. People are humiliated and unemployment is everywhere. Multinationals want to create in Marmato the biggest(…)
Marta tiene 5 hijos y lleva 27 años viviendo en una casa hecha de madera y latas en el barrio los libertadores. Con 70 años, esta mujer se sienta en la cama y en pocas palabras intenta traducir lo que vivió en el Tolima: “Mi madre y yo salimos corriendo, los tiros salían por aquí(…)
“This text is available in English and Spanis” Spanish Al menos 11.000 detenidos viven en condiciones lamentables en las cárceles de Bogotá. De las cuatro cárceles que hay en la ciudad (La Modelo, El Buen Pastor, La Distrital y La Picota) La Cárcel Distrital se ha convertido en pionera del cambio y en un modelo(…)
Alex y Cristian son dos presos que tienen como estilo de vida y como cultura, el Hip Hop. Se encuentran recluidos en La Cárcel Distrital en Bogotá. En el patio donde están, muchos de sus compañeros no ahorran palabras en calificarlos de artistas, de músicos, de mensajeros “Estos manes son unos duros” señaló uno de(…)
This text is available in spanish and english. Spanish: “Hoy es mi cumpleaños” dijo ella. Patricia fue sentenciada a cinco años de prisión por tráfico de drogas en Colombia. De las cuatro cárceles que existen en Bogotá, Patricia pasó 30 meses en “La Cárcel El Buen Pastor”. En este momento se encuentra en “La Cárcel(…)
A world without colours “What? no, no, no sir. I just smoke, I do not use needles. I think most of us are used to smoke heroin. I would say that 20% of people use needles. But this is changing, NGOs come here to give us needles, they want to stop HIV transmission. More(…)
A women zoo In Mae Hong Son, Thailand, there is one of the most horrendous and inhuman places in the planet. A place created by an irresponsible tourism and one of the most corrupted governments in the world. Burmese people have been affected not only by a military government in Burma, but also by the(…)
A forgotten story Mae La refugee camp is about 3.5 kilometres from the border with Burma. From the camp to Mae Sot, a border town in Thailand, there are about 50 kilometres of distance. The camp is about 5 kilometres long and less than 1 kilometre width. Inside the camp 40.000 “register” refugees live. The(…)
Refugee Camp In Kabul Where is the innocence of children in Afghanistan? That is the first question that came into my mind when I saw those faces affected by a war that does not make sense at all. There is a refugee camp based in Nasaji Baghrami in Kabul. It is a project implemented by(…)
“Seconds and minutes, just parts of the rich world” Drink and drink and drink, was the only way to get calm. I was 19 years old and I was drinking heavily! Food did not exist for me. However, I was always a very strong man. You know… some people get a lot of money and(…)
Mae Sot is a small town in the north west of Thailand, just six kilometers from the border with Burma. Not even the best writer would be able to describe how Mae Sot is, because there is something everybody would agree on: Mae Sot is mysterious. It is a trade town, markets are all around,(…)
Tribal fights, drugs, and desert in Eastern Afghanistan Ten years after 9/11, Afghanistan remains affected by insecurity, underdevelopment and illicit drug production. In Afghanistan’s Eastern province of Nangarhar there are no Taliban, yet tribes fight for land. Traditionally, this region has been used for the cultivation of illicit drugs. Although the region has received some(…)
In eastern Java, Indonsesia, poverty, misery, exploitation, corruption and a modern form of slavery emerge from Mount Ijen, in the same uncontrolled way the sulfur spills out from it’s centre. The sulfur miners are the lead characters in an inhuman theatre. They are not only exploited as miners but also as a tourist attraction. Their(…)
“A hell disguised as paradise” “…seaweed can be smelled miles away…” said an old, short man. Nusa Lembongan is a marvelous place home to a unique marine environment, one of the most vibrant in the world and known very well amongst divers. It is also a paradise for surfers who spend their days enjoying the(…)
Agent Orange After more than thirty years, residuals from Agent Orange, which was sprayed to deny enemy troops jungle cover, remain very toxic. It is one of these legacies painted with black ink that nobody wants.The U.S. Government threw the Agent Orange upon thousand of thousand of people. Many are the places contaminated and many(…)
Enfermedad huérfana Como si de una novela de ficción se tratara, un pueblo en Colombia nace de la inexcusable ignorancia del ser humano hacia una enfermedad que hoy en día es curable. La persistente angustia de las mayorías por excluir a las minorías, la ignorancia para el tratamiento de una enfermedad, y la vergüenza que(…)
I have been traveling more than ten years so far. I have taken pictures from America to Asia. I have seen thousand of beautiful landscapes and meet extraordinary people on the road. One day someone asked me: “Is Colombia beautiful?… I was not sure if say “yes”, I am Colombian, and I could not be(…)
India If there is a place different in this world, this is India. Many travellers say: “either you hate it or you love it”. I prefer not to be so extremist. India is different. It takes time to get use to. Noises, smells, colours and people are all around.. India has other rules, its own(…)