writing travel

Sandra Basgall: Settling into Kinshasa

Kinshasa street scene, originally uploaded by Irene2005.

Guest post by Sandra Basgall, Catholic Relief Services for Central Africa

I have been here a week now. I went from 16 hours plane sitting to 3 days of regional meeting sitting and so was really glad when the weekend came. One of the last tips I received before I left the States was to see if anywhere they served a fish called capitaine. This was someone who had eaten it 40 years ago as a Peace Corps volunteer in Togo and still remembered it with fondness. Imagine my surprise at the Thursday evening dinner during the regional meetings that the restaurant served capitaine. I, of course, ordered it. It was cooked in a banana leaf pouch with a lovely sauce and it was truly wonderful. I will have it again, many times.

At CRS CARO (Central African Regional Office), most of the major management positions are held by women. I think it sets a very interesting flavor and there seems to be a lot of collaboration and support. The regional director is an African-American woman who was three years in the Peace Corps in the Gabon and is married to a Senegalese. She has been RD for the last five years. Although we service seven other countries, the DRC is the largest in terms of program dollars, and they have the largest country program, also directed by a woman, an American. There is a real hodgepodge of other nationalities here, and it is interesting to learn where long-term Congolese CRS people have served.

Guest blogger: writer & photographer Sandra Basgall reports from Central Africa

Through the miracle of social networking, I've reconnected with Sandra Basgall, a valued friend of more than 30 years' duration. Once upon a time, as single parents in a university town, Sandra and I and another friend, Anne Kaplan, shared an after-school caregiver for our children, beginning when the kids were in kindergarten. We lost track of each other a good while ago as we pursued our separate adventures. Then, last June, we found each other on Facebook and renewed our friendship.

Sandra has just launched yet another huge adventure. Since December, she has been in Kinshasa in a new position with Catholic Relief Services, where she is based as the Regional Director of Monitoring and Evaluation for Central Africa. With responsibility for nine countries, Sandra will be traveling extensively, expecting to be on the move 30 percent of the time during her assignment.

Not one to miss an opportunity, Sandra asked me for advice on publishing a blog documenting her stay in Africa. Although she's begun posting on a WordPress.com blog, her new duties are taking up much of her time. So I leapt at the opportunity to feature Sandra's weekly posts from Central Africa here on Writing Travel to help her build an audience.

Most popular posts of 2009: a map for travel blogging in 2010

Yes, this blog has been stagnant over the last few weeks. Like its author, it never really decided what it wanted to become when it grew up.

I'm letting my readers help decide where I should take this blog in 2010. How? By reviewing the posts that garnered most attention during the last year.

Here are last year's top ten posts:

1. Navigo like the natives through the Paris Métro: Navigo Découverte pass a must for bargain-seeking travelers
2. To Schmap or not to Schmap, a strategic question for travel photographers
3. Eight places where you can eat for free in Paris
4. Wednesday Window ~ Hotel Baker 1928 stained glass peacock fanlight, St. Charles, IL
5. Wednesday Window ~ View of Union Station from Frist Center, Nashville
   
6. Corpse Bride and Victor Van Dort figures in the window of Album, Boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris
   
7. Rare sight in Paris: snow!
8. "Grits is good" and other useful facts about Alabama
9. New Year's Day on the town in Paris and onward: jazz, gravity, and an exposé
10. Photo Friday ~ Find your marbles at Moon Marble Company, Bonner Springs, Kansas

You may notice a good half of these are content driven rather than simply photographs. Perhaps that should serve as a clue for the blog's fresh direction and a hint for ramping up activity on my photography sites, Lanora Mueller Photography and Photographing Travel.

Gifts for people who have everything made easy with Kiva and Passports with Purpose

  

This morning I received a couple of emails from a long-time friend who has just started a new job with Catholic Relief Services in the Congo. One of them contained a link to the website of the micro-loan project Kiva, with a note: "This is an idea for a Christmas present for someone who has everything. It was given to me and I love it."

Last week, I celebrated my 4000th Twitter follower with a promise to award a prize "suitable only to that person."

This was a bit risky, as my follower number 4000 could easily have been a spambot pushing whiter teeth. Luckily, that wasn't a problem. I was overjoyed when I saw that my 4000th follower was @JoeDiazAFAR, co-founder of AFAR Media and experiential travel expert. I can't think of a more suitable prize to award Joe than a contribution to Kiva in his honor.

Thanks for the follow, Joe! I enjoy reading AFAR and love that it takes me places I can only dream of experiencing.

As you finish your holiday shopping, don't forget Passports with Purpose as another end-of-year gift idea. They have met the initial target of $13,000 toward building a school in rural Cambodia with American Assistance for Cambodia and have doubled that target to include health services for the school. So far, there's enough money to build the school and hire a nurse. Additional funds are needed to create a garden and hire a gardener and cook to improve the students' nutrition.

Please consider donating. It's easy, in increments of $10 through Paypal, and every $10 buys a chance to win a great prize. See the list of donated prizes here.