Back to the Future: Sudan

Some weeks ago I received a special permission to work with some digital photos taken by Tom Gething who lives and works in Khartoum, Sudan. I am very appreciative to Tom for the opportunity to display and comment in my own words (and sometimes in his words) about a body of work that has captured my attention for months. I am very proud to be able to share these beautiful images with you my readers. I hope that I can do his work and the people in Tom's photos justice.

There has also been an increase in “behind the scenes” communication with fellow bloggers from Africa and people interested in Africa. It’s encouraging to know that so many people are trying to find ways to work together around the world to help solve Africa’s many problems and move the continent forward. I am so very thankful for that communications everyone.

Jewels in the Jungle started out as an experiment with what we technologists call a “web-based application” to see if weblogs can be a viable, reliable, secure, inexpensive and an easy-to-use communication tool for people who share similar interests. Blogs are also used to help people easily collaborate with one another, a type of grassroots information and knowledge-sharing platform. The technology behind weblogs is actually more than 12 years old but blogging still is in the cradle stage right now and the "Baby is on steroids!".

I do read the work of a number of other blog authors regularly and am amazed at the wealth of human talent and ability out there in the Blogoshpere. I am equally amazed at how fast blogging is growing at the rate of about ½ million blogs a month. There are a number of professionals in various fields following weblogs closely and notably among them are people who write and publish for a living: journalists, publishers, media companies. So do visit my blogroll “Hot Blogs & Sites To Go” and use it as a launch pad off into the Blogoshpere to discover what other people around the world are thinking and writing.

One of my favorite bloggers on Africa is Owukori of Black Looks who has just returned from a visit to the States (she hates America but we’re trying to work this problem out somehow). Anyway, I really like her work and her style when I’m not pissed-off at her comments about my country. Owukori has been doing some excellent writing on Nigeria and especially on the crisis with Big Bad Oil vs. the People of the Niger River Delta. Do visit her weblog and help educate yourself about Owukori's views on Africa and the world.

I’d also like to thank Owukori for the hot tip on an excellent article about Sudan from Mahmood Mamdani, the Herbert Lehman Professor of Government and Director of the Institute of African Studies, Columbia University, New York. Professor Mamdani’s article will serve as a solid foundation for a new series of postings I'm doing on Sudan together with Tom’s photos.

So, here we go, through the open doors of Al Khartum and into the Land of the Sudan.