This is my new post about environment. This time, I talk about the fishing grounds in west African coast. Check it out on my own blog:

http://camilalmeida.wordpress.com/2012/04/10/fishing-grounds-in-african-coast/

Thousands of million of dollars used to buy weapons, kill the enemy - whoever he is - and get the power - wherever it is too. Now and again, the world watches another proof of abandon, after years - even decades - of richness from land in Africa`s countries. Again, the scene of that sad, sick and poor Africa. Habitants needing the essential to live: food and medical service. The world comes back to the stage to be shocked to understand how urgently they need help.

Food rising prices, climate change and political instability have, as a result, refugees desperate for aid, with diseases and dying people. In recently weeks, Horn of Africa has been living with food problems, what has caused million of people displaced to other countries to receive health care and food. The climate change caused drought in countries in Horn of Africa: Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. Somalia is the country that has been suffering the most. Farms don't have grains for food, what rises the dependency from aid agencies.

But, even with the will to assist Somalians, the nation suffers with the lack of function of central government for years. Part of the country - South and Central Somalia - is controlled by al-Shabab, named as the Somali Al Qaeda linked insurgent movement, because they call the situation as a battle between the West and Islam.

Citizens have been displaces, initially to transit camps, close to border with Ethiopia, to try to get any aid before living their home country. In Ethiopia, thousands of refugees try to live with their families in other camps, wherer there's no food anymore with a rising number of refugees arriving. Mothers need to garantee at least one meal per day for them and their children. Unfortunately, some of them loses their children to starvation.

Aid agencies can’t give assistance in all areas of Somalia and not even hav an idea about the number of people that are still waiting in the country during political conflicts. Meanwhile, medication, food and water are most needed items. Recently, the UN chief Ban Ki-moon plead for member estates with money to stop this humanitarian disaster. However, only half of the amount of 1.6 billion dollars needed has been obtained.

This current scene explains the abandon of the African continent from developed countries. While the West spends in war, wastes food and water, for years, those countries from Horn of Africa must live in this extreme situation to receive more atention. Now, UN has two important responsabilities: act fast attending the urgency with necessary assistance and, later, help those countries to “reborn”, specially Somalia, to avoid future disasters like this one.

I graduated in 2006. I used to be much more sure about what I intended to be as a journalist. Things are very different for me right now, but not for bad reasons. Good changes happened to me and I am sure about who I don't  want to be, where I don't want to work. I just know about what I want to write. Still as a journalist, but with a social appeal, distant from politics and close to policy. 

I just read a text wrote for students from Berkeley Journalism School's Class of 2011. Now journalists. It says what is journalism now. It opened my eyes. Until now I just have known good examples of extraordinary journalists that enjoyed their moment, their opportunity. I loved their history, but I need to understand what to do now. Now that we have millions of websites and interest blogs written by no-journalists, but people who know their area and share it. And I love it too. That's why I'm in the moment to go find my second love.

Journalism was the first one. But isn't enough nowadays. And I don't complain about it right now...

So I share the speech from journalist Robert Krulwich to the Berkeley Journalism School's Class of 2011. He describe an examples from the past and open our eyes to transform this to our reality. Just perfect.

Now... excuse me, 'cause I'm going find my second love. See ya!

Read the speech!!

I don't care if she is black or white, rich or poor, American or African. She has feelings and sensibility. The increase number of rape of women around the world is scary. Be forced to do something against your will must be one of the worst memories that a woman can have in her life. Besides taking care of a hurt woman, the world has the obligation to put an end to this behavior and to educate people to prevent injuries like these.

I read a news about an study that will be published next month. This is about the increase number of women that suffer rape in Congo. The study was carried by researchers from the International Food Policy Research Institute at Stony Brook University in New York, EUA.

Unfortunately, the research got the scary number of 48 women raped per hour in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in Africa. During one day, the rate is 1.152 women raped. Its a terrible statistic for a country that already suffers with economic, politics, healthy and basic problems. We can’t discover the reason for each rape. Why they did it? Does the reality of their country influence men behavior?

It seems like if this Congolese women were blame for all the rapists problems. Is that? Whatever excuse will not recover the pain of this nightmare. Is ridiculous even try to justify this cold and selfish act.

I hope and pray to another statistic about a fall in the number of women raped. Better if it ends definitely.

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Four days after the big news of the year, we see divided opinions about a crucial prove to people to be convinced that the leader of Al-Qaeda organization, Osama bin Laden, was dead. American government don`t intend to release the photo of the corpse of the terrorist, but curious people instigate press and specialists about the credibility of the military operation. Besides this discussion, there`s a question about how much attention counter terrorism deserves for the next years.

Reading about the work through media, the announcement from president of United States Barack Obama was an event. An article from Elisa Doucette, a columnist from Forbes, describes interesting numbers from what should be a typical Sunday night. She sad that her routine started to change when she saw a strange movement on Internet. She discovered on Twitter that Obama was going to give a speech on TV that night, but the subject wasn't announced. There she read rumors that president would say that bin Laden was dead.

Then she describes the anxiety  caused by this news. Only Twitter counted a record of three thousand status updates per second during almost three hours. And on that Sunday night, there were one million searches on Google for the name “bin Laden”. But only in front of TV Americans could be sure. Obama’s speech was saw by 56 million viewers, the most watched presidential speech in ten years.

The next days was served to understand how the operation happened, but not with details. The question now is about release or not photos from bin Laden’s body. Obama has sad that this isn’t a good idea for two reasons: the image can provoke revenge by his allies and because of their reaction – people crying the terrorist death – already proves they killed Al-Qaeda’s leader. Other articles on Internet say that release photos would prove military work. A text from Good website says that show a picture of a man who was shot wasn’t the problem, but shooting in the face was.

In my opinion, there’s no necessity to show this. Its too cruel show this images that we know someday will be published. And when this happen, everyone will see. Not because everybody wants to, but because press thinks it is necessary, thinks this will give money for them, audience, advertisement, and worse, credibility. In Brazil we know this insistence to talk to casualties and describe a tragedy so many times. But this lets us worried, sad and negatives. Obama’s told the work wont stop, but annual millions dollars to war could be reduced for next years, be spent on American people and to stop poverty in African countries.