I remember sitting in a humid warehouse in Goma, staring at a spreadsheet that claimed our budget had doubled due to a favorable currency shift. …
Comparing Incomes Across Countries
Remittances Are Larger Than Aid
I remember sitting in a humid warehouse outside Goma, staring at a stack of empty crates and a spreadsheet that claimed we had “deployed” three …
Attributing an Effect to Sanctions
I spent nine years watching NGOs lose their minds over compliance spreadsheets while the actual supplies sat rotting in a customs warehouse because nobody knew …
What Gdp Misses
I remember sitting in a humid, corrugated-metal office in Juba, staring at a spreadsheet that claimed the regional economy was “trending upward” due to increased …
Covering an Election With Contested Results
Stop looking at the pundits in London or DC debating the “geopolitical implications” of the upcoming vote. If you want to understand how to cover …
Covering Talks Where Everyone Briefs You
I’ve spent enough years sitting in dusty transit hubs in South Sudan to know that most journalists get it wrong. They flock to the capital, …
What Life Expectancy Does Not Mean
I spent nine years in South Sudan and the DRC watching NGOs present glossy annual reports filled with massive, upward-trending graphs. They love to show …
Restricted Funding and What It Prevents
I once spent three days sitting in a dusty Land Cruiser outside a warehouse in Goma, waiting for a shipment of antibiotics that had been …
Aid Used to Reduce Migration
I remember sitting in a humid, windowless office in Goma, staring at a stack of signed manifests while a UN official droned on about “strategic …
Safe Third Country Agreements
I once spent three days idling on a dusty border crossing outside Goma, watching a shipment of temperature-sensitive vaccines sit under a relentless sun because …