Tuesday, October 12, 2021

WAR  IN THE CONGO
In Pictures

Bambari: A mirror of the crisis in the Central African Republic

A perpetual cycle of violence has led to a catastrophic
 humanitarian situation for the CAR’s civilian population.

In August, 17-year-old Sallet Abdoulay returned from herding cows outside the town when an armed man on a motorbike suddenly stopped and fired shots at him, leaving him bleeding on the floor. A friend later managed to get the young man to the MSF-supported hospital in Bambari, where doctors were able to remove a bullet from his abdomen and stabilise him. But the damage to Sallet’s spine was so severe that MSF had to transfer him by plane to the capital, Bangui, to get specialist treatment. 
[Lys Arango/MSF]

5 Oct 2021

Bambari, Central African Republic – Civilians who have been repeatedly forced to flee attacks; health facilities that are regularly targeted; war orphans surviving in the streets and women who are forced to deliver babies in extreme conditions.

The town of Bambari has been hugely marked by the effect of violence that has long plagued the Central African Republic (CAR).

Renewed fighting swept over CAR after a December 2020 presidential election once again brought the country to a breaking point. Clashes between non-state armed groups and government forces backed by foreign troops restarted, leading to the highest level of displacement since 2014. Violence against civilians is widespread, and access for humanitarian organisations has shrunk in many areas, exacerbating the already extreme vulnerability of hundreds of thousands of people.

In the summer of 2021, photojournalist Lys Arango visited the country to document the suffering of ordinary people caught up in the conflict. She accompanied teams from the medical humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres or MSF) in Bambari, CAR’s fourth largest city and one of the areas hit hardest by the latest wave of violence.


The conflict in CAR has forced more than 1.4 million people of a population of less than five million to flee their homes, while essential health services are extremely limited
[Lys Arango/MSF]



Amina braids her granddaughter's hair in the compound of the central mosque in Bambari, while her daughter prepares food a few metres away.
 [Lys Arango/MSF]


'I am 10 years old and I live in the centre of Bambari with my mother and my little brother, who is five. When my father was killed my mother fell into deep sadness. She spent the day crying, she doesn't do anything else. So, it was my turn to get out and work,' said Iddrisa Adraman. 'I sell a fruit called cola on the street. I walk all day, from seven in the morning until seven in the afternoon. I can earn between 150 CFA ($0.27) up to 1,500 CFA ($2.7) on a good day, like on weekends. The best place to sell is near the bars, where the men drink beer. Until last year I was attending school at the École communautaire de la paix, but it has closed. All the teachers have left Bambari because of the conflict and it makes me sad because I know that if I don't learn I won't be able to become a great man in life. I would like to become a doctor, to be able to heal people. War means blood, means death.' 
[Lys Arango/MSF]


Sale Shaoudou: 'I am 12 years old and have seven siblings. One of them is Adamou and we work together on the street selling cola. Our father was a tall and strong man, he was the leader of the Peul [Falani] community, so he was respected by everyone. He worked as a teacher in the Quranic school and I remember that when he lived, we did not lack anything. We ate every day and never went barefoot. The rebels murdered him in Liwa, our town, which is 10km (six miles) from Bambari. They arrived and started shooting. I was with him when a bullet went through his head. I went to his aid and tried to make him wake up, but my mother grabbed my arm and we ran to take refuge in the forest. 'I never saw him again, neither my village. Those men set fire to the houses, even an entire family died charred inside. It was a massacre. Those of us who were able to save ourselves came walking through the forest to Bambari. It took us about 10 or 12 hours. 'We first settled in with a Peul family from Bambari, but they were very poor and did not have enough to feed us all. So my brother Adamou and I went to work and with the money we earn, we support our family. 'I hate this job because we spend the day in the sun. I would also like to study. My dream is to become the president of the Central African Republic, but for that I have to read a lot. If I became president, I would give money to poor people so that they could earn a living from trade and not from arms. 'What is war? Hell.'
 [Lys Arango/MSF]

Aisatou Abdoulay, 46: 'We came to Elevage camp in 2016 and for the time it lasted we were very happy. Now my husband is sick and it is increasingly difficult for me to find the strength to get up every day. I'm getting older and living in these conditions, with so many people in the school classroom, is very hard. We thought at first that we would only be here two or three days, until we could be relocated elsewhere. But the days have turned into weeks and the weeks into months. Before, the relationship with the local population was good, but now there is more tension every day. They want their mosque and school back for their children. We are occupying it to live and we feel bad. We understand their claims, but we have nowhere else to go.' [Lys Arango/MSF]

Forty-year-old Hawa has nine children and they all sleep together in a corner of the classroom inside a mosque in Bambari. There are two other families with whom they share the space. 'We were shepherds and had 30 cows. In 2016, an armed group surrounded our town and when the shooting started, we grabbed a saucepan, a mat and a blanket and we ran away with the children and my husband. We walked to the centre of Dimby, but we soon realised that we weren't safe there either, so with the little money we had left we paid the transport to get to Bambari. We spent five years in the Elevage camp and finally in 2020 we were given land to farm. We were happy, we worked, the children went to school. It was a simple life and we thought we had achieved stability. But when they burned the camp in June, our dream collapsed. Neither my husband nor I have gone out of the mosque in the last two months. We are afraid of being arrested for not having an identity card. So, our children are the ones in charged to go out to find firewood and food. Something that worries me is that, of my nine children, only one is a boy, the rest are girls and almost all of them are minors. When they leave the mosque, I think a lot and worry. I think that something could happen to them, that maybe they won't come back, that someone steals them from me ... We have heard stories like this and I'm afraid that something will happen to them too.' [Lys Arango/MSF]
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Youmusa Aguida, 55: 'This is the fifth time we had to migrate and only the first one was voluntary. I was born in Boali in a family of shepherds, but I wanted to improve the lives of my children and my wife, so we decided to move to Bangui. In the capital it was easy to find work. I worked in stores, in markets and the most stable job and the last one I had was as a guardian. In 2013, with the war between the armed groups, life got complicated. We lived in fear because we heard about massacres against Muslims, destruction of mosques. But the turning point was when we saw our neighbours being killed. We fled to Kuango, where we managed to settle in a camp for some time, but after a year the conflict escalated in this area, so we fled again. This time to Ippi, where we lasted two years until things got bad again and in 2016, we finally made it to Bambari to live at the IDP camp Elevage. It´s been five years and now, after the burning of the camp we have to start from zero once again. But where? How? I still don't have the answers. These days I am very sad. My mother died. She has not been able to take one more change. Since we got kicked out from Elevage, she refused to eat, she didn't sleep and hardly spoke. She died last week and we buried her in the Bambari cemetery, a long way from her homeland.'
 [Lys Arango/MSF]

During the rainy season the displaced people living in the compound of the central mosque in Bambari cannot sleep, as they only have mats in the floor. The women cannot even cook because the firewood gets wet. [Lys Arango/MSF]
K-pop fans vs Duterte’s Philippines: Why young voters want change

Purple Romero
10 Oct 2021
Just as Filipino K-pop fans mobilise to vote in contests for their favourite artists, they have organised for typhoon relief efforts and can mobilise for voter education
 [File: AFP/Ted Aljibe]

Filipino K-pop fans are more politically discerning than you might think.

Our capacity to mobilise, strategise and mount campaigns are crucial for sparking voter education and triggering discussions to help young people realise how much power they hold in influencing not just the outcome of the 2022 presidential election, but also the future of the Philippines.

Just as K-pop stans (super fans) like myself mobilise to vote for our favourite idols – be they solo artists or members of a group – to win music contests, we can also marshal other stans to register and vote.

As one 22-year-old Filipino graphic artist and K-pop fan tweeted in early September: “If you can vote for your idols, you should also vote for your country too.”

She had participated in an online voter education session which I co-organised to discuss with young people why they should vote and convince others to vote in the May 2022 election.

Mayora, my co-organiser, and I call these sessions #Eleksyonisms, a term which combines the Filipino word for elections (eleksyon) and the suffix -isms, used by Filipino millennials as a playful way to describe a state of mind, circumstance or situation.

We believe that it makes sense to enlist fans in voter education. Today, more than half of registered voters are young and K-pop stans tend to be young.

The online presence of Filipino stans is significant – the Philippines ranked fifth for unique users discussing K-pop on Twitter in 2020 and fourth when it came to tweet volume, after Indonesia, South Korea, Japan and the United States, where K-pop stans claimed to have hijacked a Donald Trump campaign rally in 2020 to engineer a low turnout.

If fans in the US were able to do that, then in the Philippines, fury and discontent with the poor response of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s government to the coronavirus pandemic and the brutal crackdown against his critics in different sectors should push K-pop fans and young people to vote.

It was in November last year when I first saw the potential of K-pop fandoms to generate real change on the ground.

At that time, Typhoon Vamco had wreaked havoc in the Philippines. As a journalist who reports on natural and man-made disasters as well as climate change, I was glued to Twitter for updates – I monitored the number of casualties, the extent of the damage, announcements by government officials.

But then something unusual on my timeline caught my eye.

It was a callout by Reveluvs, fans of the K-pop girl group Red Velvet, for donations. It wasn’t only Reveluvs who were doing this – other K-pop fan communities such as ARMY, fans of the most famous K-pop group BTS, and Blinks, Blackpink stans, were also doing their own donation drives.

More recently, in April, K-pop fandoms organised community pantries to help people who lost their sources of income during the pandemic.

They did this even as they risked being red-tagged – suspected by the authorities as well as Duterte’s supporters of being members of the New People’s Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

These displays of civic mobilisation made me see K-pop fandoms in a different light – as communities aware of society’s problems and doing something about them. K-pop fans in different parts of the world have conducted similar activities, but for Filipino stans, there is a common, general sentiment that in the absence of government support, they must step in instead.

Seeing how they were able to translate online callouts to assistance on the ground, with money and donations collected and delivered, made me realise the capacity of fandoms to move in a very strategic manner for causes they believe in. It showed their potential to catalyse voter education for the 2022 elections.

When Twitter Spaces for live conversations started and became a hit this May among K-pop fans, I floated the idea to other stan accounts. That is how I met Mayora, a pseudonym, which means female mayor in Filipino.

She got the name among stans because she conducted online activities for Sones, fans of the group Girls’ Generation.

But Mayora, who requested anonymity for safety reasons, is also an angry Filipina. She is on a mission – she wants a government that will uphold the rule of law.

Unlike other stans I’ve interacted with in our voter discussions, close friends of hers were killed during Oplan Tokhang, Duterte’s state-funded “war on drugs” that led to the killing of more than 6,000 people, according to the numbers provided by the government, although human rights groups say the deaths could be closer to 30,000. This crackdown is now the subject of an investigation authorised by the International Criminal Court into alleged crimes against humanity.

I, on the other hand, have experienced how journalists have been dismissed as enemies of the state. Reports, including mine, that were critical of the current government have been labelled by online netizens as “fake news,” a term that authoritarians have bandied around, contributing to an environment of distrust towards mainstream media.

My search for other ways to inform the Filipino audience – especially young people – about political issues, and Mayora’s anger at the Tokhang operations, led us to start #Eleksyonisms.

On September 12, Mayora and I held the first #Eleksyonisms. The discussion, which lasted for more than two hours, centred on the importance of registering as a voter and concerns about the election itself – how can it be conducted when COVID-19 cases continue to be high in the Philippines and social distancing should be observed? There are also fears that cheating could take place. Some also asked what qualities they should look for in candidates.

One listener told us they needed discussions like this especially because of the shrinking sources of information on mainstream media following the decision of Congress in July 2020 not to renew the franchise of ABS-CBN and force the closure of the country’s biggest broadcast network.

Different K-pop fan Twitter accounts have also started their own voter education campaigns.

ARMY BAYANIHAN⁷, for example, which has more than 6,000 followers, first posted a campaign earlier this year on voter registration in partnership with iUplift Philippines, a student-led humanitarian response initiative. Project 0613PH, which helps ARMYs understand or navigate the mobile voter registration app, started in June.

Both accounts share details about voter registration and help fellow ARMYs who need guidance about the process. They plan to conduct online discussions.

Neither will endorse any particular candidate or political group. The same goes for Mayora and me.

The filing of candidacies ran until October 8, and Duterte, who retracted an earlier statement that he will run for vice president, is now retiring from politics. His longtime personal assistant, Christopher “Bong” Go, filed his candidacy for the same post instead.

Mayora and I want to help voters know more about the weight of their vote. We will help them understand how the government works – the president’s powers, the lawmaking processes, and the priorities for fund allocation in relation to the pandemic response.

While we do not plan to hijack campaign rallies, spurring Filipino K-pop stans to go out and vote is our way of disrupting the status quo and empowering voters. Our anger counts – and we can turn our anger into action.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.



Purple Romero is a Filipina multimedia journalist who has written about climate change, gender issues, foreign affairs and labour rights for local and international news organisations.
FREE PALESTINE
Beita residents reach lands for first time since settler takeover

Hundreds of fearful Palestinians reached their land on Jabal Sabih, which was taken over by settlers and then the Israeli army, to harvest their olive trees.

Aisha Khader, 62, works on her family's olive tree farm in the Palestinian village of Beita near Nablus 
[Al Jazeera]

By Al Jazeera Staff
11 Oct 2021

Beita, Occupied West Bank – For the first time since it was taken over by Israeli settlers, hundreds of Palestinians from this besieged village managed to reach their confiscated land.

With the start of the olive harvest season in Palestine, residents and landowners of Beita headed to the peak of Jabal Sabih (Mount Sabih) on Sunday to pick their crops, expecting to be blocked by the Israeli army.

The area has been the site of the illegal Israeli outpost of Evyatar, where earlier this year dozens of settlers set up caravans under the protection of the Israeli military.

“We were all afraid that we wouldn’t be able to reach our lands,” said Aisha Khader, 62, whose family owns plots on Jabal Sabih.

“I couldn’t sleep last night out of fear. We were very apprehensive. I was afraid for my children and their kids, fearing any attacks from settlers or [the army] throwing gas bombs at us,” Khader told Al Jazeera.

The Palestinian families made it to the edges of their land – some 60 metres (200 feet) away from the settler outpost – as Israeli soldiers stood guard.

Palestinians harvest their olive trees on Jabal Sabih, site of an evacuated illegal Israeli outpost, on Sunday 
[Al Jazeera]

Land under threat

Jabal Sabih in Beita, a Palestinian village on the southern outskirts of Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank, has been the site of intense confrontations this year after numerous attempts by Israeli settlers to take over Palestinian areas.

In May 2021, about 50 Israeli settler families moved in after they erected a set of caravans on Jabal Sabih, spanning about 35 dunams (3.5 hectares). Their presence, along with the army to protect them, meant Palestinians could not access their areas.

Following Beita’s daily protests, confrontations, and “night confusion” resistance activities that began in March, the settlers evacuated in early July. But the army remains stationed there, guarding the caravans and preventing Palestinians from reaching their land.

The Israeli occupation army has killed seven Palestinians with live ammunition since the beginning of confrontations in Beita, with the latest shooting on September 24. Hundreds have also been wounded by rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas canisters.

Israeli occupation soldiers remain stationed at the site of the illegal settlement of Evyatar, built on Palestinian land near Nablus 
[Al Jazeera]

The area is under threat of formal confiscation by the Israeli army, who may declare it “state land” or turn it into a military base.

With the start of the olive harvest season, Palestinian residents of Beita said they decided to come collectively and work their lands despite the presence of the Israeli army on their lands.

“We cannot give up any of these trees. They are like our souls and more,” said Khader. “The Palestinian farmer cannot live without his oil. We depend on olive oil in all aspects of our lives.”

Linah Maazouz al-Deir, 30, another resident of Beita, told Al Jazeera she went to Jabal Sabih to help her uncle’s family harvest their olive trees despite the fear of potential attacks by the Israeli army.

“Olive harvest day is a beautiful, special and tiring day. But it is marred by fear of the Israeli occupation,” she said.


“We cannot abandon our land. My father and uncle inherited it from my grandfather, and they all worked in it very hard. Many young men were martyred on this land. I hope that it will remain ours forever.”

Linah Maazouz al-Deir picks olives on Jabal Sabih on Sunday 
[Al Jazeera]

Another farmer, Hilal Ahmad Khader Budair, 72, told Al Jazeera he owns a four-dunam (0.5-hectare) plot of land on Jabal Sabih, with some 65 olive trees he planted on it.

“We were afraid to come because we know this is an enemy that has no mercy,” said Budair, “but we had some hope that the army would step aside.”

The retired schoolteacher said he inherited his land from his father and grandfather. “This land was formed with the blood of martyrs, with the sweat and tears of our families, so how can we abandon it?

“We used to come here and not have to worry about Israelis in the whole area. This is our soil, our land, and our olives. We are the rightful inheritors of this land.”

Hilal Ahmad Khader Budair, 72, said he would never abandon his plot of land on Jabal Sabih 
[Al Jazeera]

Budair said while olive trees are the primary source of livelihood for Palestinian farmers in general, this reality is even more specific to Beita.

“There is not one centimetre in Beita’s lands that is not planted with olive trees. We did not grow any other trees because it is a mountainous area, and in the past, it was difficult to get to this area and difficult to transport water here,” he explained.

“We depended primarily on this blessed tree – it does not require much care, like other trees,” said Budair.

Beita’s residents have pledged to continue their protests until the Israeli military leaves the outpost.

Mounir Mohammad Khdeir said he came “to help people pick olives and to support their presence on this land”.

Khdeir told Al Jazeera he found the presence of many Palestinians on Sunday “very important”.

“Everyone came today to participate in the olive harvest – this is an indication of the priceless value of the land.”

Mounir Mohammad Khdeir sits in front of the illegal settlement outpost of Evyatar 
[Al Jazeera]

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
Ukrainian soldiers bear the invisible scars of war

How widespread traumatic brain injuries, once the hidden wounds of the seven-year conflict, are now coming to light.

Commander Hrishak at the front line in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine. In a protracted conflict, soldiers and veterans are starting to learn about the hidden effects of drawn-out exposure to blasts 
[Nils Adler/Al Jazeera]

LONG READ
Al Jazeera
10 Oct 2021

Kyiv, Ukraine – Volodymyr*, a 49-year-old contract soldier, is sitting between two raucous tables of young people in a trendy Kyiv pub. It is his day off; the late afternoon sun streams through the windows and across his hulking frame as he orders a juice from the menu. He is a man of few words, but when he does speak, he does so with intensity, staring directly at you with his close-set light blue eyes.

Volodymyr is teetotal, just one example of the self-control he developed during a life of hardship, including a brutal Soviet military service in his youth that saw him routinely physically and verbally assaulted for being Ukrainian. Later, as a professional boxer, he honed the art of physical and mental discipline.

In 2014, when Russian-backed separatists invaded his hometown of Donetsk, in eastern Ukraine, he felt as if his soul was tearing apart. But rather than join the rioters on the streets, seeing that the city would fall, he decided to leave and return as a soldier.

A building in Sloviansk, eastern Ukraine, that was destroyed during fighting in 2014
 [Nils Adler/Al Jazeera]

Then, a few years ago, he was on the front line when a 152mm artillery shell landed near to him, sending a shockwave through his skull, tearing through fluids and matter at the speed of sound. For more than six months after the blast, Volodymyr felt overwhelming dizziness. “Sitting down, getting up, any movement would make me feel nauseous,” he says. “It was really, really scary. I felt like it would never end.”

Volodymyr had suffered what is known as a traumatic brain injury (TBI), which can cause dizziness, partial deafness and, in severe cases, disability or death but can also develop into mental health conditions including depression and anxiety disorders.

Volodymyr is no longer his calm former self. His injury and years at war have made him prone to uncharacteristic outbursts, especially when he leaves the front line. “When I come back to civilian life I feel like a wild man. I don’t notice, but I am yelling at everyone for which I get a lot of reprimands,” he says.

Volodymyr had no physical injuries, so he decided to keep his symptoms to himself, in line with what he says is the army’s culture of silence. “My problems are mine alone, I don’t want to burden someone else.”

The Ukrainian military was woefully unprepared and underfunded when the war against Russian-backed separatists erupted in April 2014. As a result, hastily formed volunteer regiments led by inexperienced commanders joined the fight in eastern Ukraine. On the front line, soldiers and volunteers were exposed to weeks or even months of battlefield explosions, leading to TBIs and other invisible wounds.

Seven years later, in a protracted conflict that to date has killed more than 14,000 people, the true effect of these injuries is only now coming to light.
Fighting continues today in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine 
[Nils Adler/Al Jazeera]

Constant blasts and gunfire


At a small park in Popasna, a city located in the Luhansk region, veterans apply the finishing touches to a skate park they have built for local youth as part of a community outreach programme.

In 2014, the city was a flashpoint between Russian-backed separatists and a unit of Ukrainian volunteer fighters. Now, the front line is more than two kilometres away, but the sound of sporadic gunfire and shelling is still audible throughout the night.

Valery Chobotar, a tall, wiry 45-year-old former volunteer commander turned therapist, is working to raise awareness about the physical and mental health effect of the conflict on Ukrainian veterans.

“The biggest problem [among veterans] is brain injuries caused by non-stop shooting and explosions,” he says, speaking at the skate park. “And before there were no competent specialists who could explain the consequences.”

Valery Chobotar, a veteran and therapist, works with veterans to manage the effects of traumatic brain injuries 
[Nils Adler/Al Jazeera]

He learned about the prevalence of these injuries in recent years as he sought to address mental health issues faced by veterans and found that patients described having initially sustained symptoms such as confusion and dizziness associated with trauma to the head.

Chobotar, a martial arts coach before the war, participated in the long and violent battle for Donetsk airport, an experience he describes as comparable to getting hit in boxing for days on end. The constant gunfire and shelling damaged his hearing and led to chronic insomnia and nervous breakdowns. “A person should not spend more than a week under heavy fire, but no one knew that and so there was no rotation,” he says. “We remained under fire for a few months.”

With only “invisible wounds” such as severe nausea, dizziness or vomiting, soldiers could often return to the front line only a few days after being subjected to a heavy blast. In addition, doctors unaware of TBI could even misdiagnose it as sclerosis or a hypertensive crisis, according to Dr Kseniia Voznitsyna, a neurologist researching the effects of TBIs on Ukrainian veterans.

This lack of diagnosis and treatment left soldiers to suffer in silence for years with many developing post-concussion syndrome, which is what Voznytsina is focusing on. This is a common follow-up to TBI with somatic, cognitive and emotional symptoms including brain fog, memory loss, blurry vision, headaches, anxiety and depression.

Breaking the stigma

As part of his training to become an Olympic sports coach before the conflict, Chobotar studied a psychology course that helped him identify certain changes to his mental health when he returned to civil life in 2015 after his wife became pregnant. To better understand these changes, he enrolled in an educational programme to learn Bodynamic, a form of body-orientated psychotherapy developed in Denmark to treat veteran shock and trauma.

The training helped him understand the effects of the conflict. “You understand that it’s not you who’s an idiot. You have just had a physiological and psychological reaction, deep inside, that surfaces in certain situations, but that can be worked with,” he says.

Chobotar decided to start a community called “equal to equal” where veterans could meet, share their traumatic wartime experiences, and discuss how they were dealing with them. During these meetups, he found that their shared background helped build trust and break the stigma that prevented many soldiers like Volodymyr from speaking out.

A bus stop called ‘veteran’ sits just outside the militarised zone in the Donetsk region [Nils Adler/Al Jazeera]

Chobotar now holds regular sessions with veterans. To help them open up, he says he starts by talking about his own experiences, rather than asking the veterans about what happened to them. “Some of them think they are the only ones to experience these things, and so that barrier is immediately gone, and they feel comfortable around me.”

He also believes that when veterans hear experiences that resonate with their own, it allows them to be kinder to themselves. “You start to realise that these are just normal reactions to abnormal circumstances.”

Centre for mental health, effects of TBI

In recent years, many privately funded Ukrainian initiatives have emerged to raise awareness about veterans’ mental health struggles and provide psychological support.

Situated in a leafy Kyiv suburb is the Lisova Poliana War Veterans Hospital, the first medical treatment centre for mental health conditions and the effects of TBI among veterans in Ukraine. Opened in late 2019 by Voznytsina and a team of psychologists, doctors and lawyers, the building is a sprawling grey complex with large open spaces, leisure facilities, and an abundance of plants. In these tranquil surroundings, veterans attend a range of individual and group therapy sessions as well as receive legal support to help with securing government benefits.

Dr Kseniia Voznitsyna is a neurologist and founder of the first mental health rehabilitation centre for veterans in Ukraine
 [Nils Adler/Al Jazeera]

Voznitsyna runs a tight ship at the centre with a strict no-smoking policy and a busy schedule. She has worked with soldiers returning from the front line since 2014 and foresaw the issues caused by overexposure to gunfire and heavy artillery. “In 2014-2016, we had lots of traumatic brain injuries, but there were no programmes that told us how to work with this and what to do with these people,” she says.

At the time, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was the primary health concern. This condition had blighted an early generation of Ukrainian veterans who had fought in the Soviet-Afghan war (1979-1989), many of whom found it difficult to find employment on their return and fell into a life of crime.

Chobotar believes the media has created a national fear around soldiers returning with PTSD, something that has affected today’s veterans. “They are terrified of being the ones with this condition, that’s often why they don’t ask for help,” he says.
Widespread TBIs

Voznitsyna has seen many cases of PTSD among veterans, and while the symptoms can overlap, she sees a higher prevalence of post-concussion syndrome as a consequence of TBI.

Research conducted by the Lisova Poliana hospital started to officially record incidents of traumatic brain injuries in 2019 and found that in 2020, among 1,470 veterans at the centre, more than 56 percent suffered a TBI.

Since 2014, the Ukrainian army has grown from 140,000 to 255,000 active-duty personnel in 2021. The presence of volunteer battalions during the early years when the fighting was the heaviest make it very difficult to know exactly how many soldiers were exposed to blast explosions. However, recent data from the Special Monitoring Mission for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe shows the potential scale of the issue, with more than 80,000 explosions recorded in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions during 2018 when monitoring began.

According to Voznitsyna, doctors dismissed many of the early cases. “Soldiers would say, ‘I am OK. I puked, I lay at home for three days and then I went back [to the front line]’.”

Some soldiers could feel fine for one or two years after their initial symptoms, Voznitsyna explains, but left untreated, they risk facing a serious setback which can be terrifying if they are not aware of what is happening. Voznitsyna is now working with her team to educate doctors on how to detect TBI symptoms.

At the Lisova Poliana hospital, canine therapy allows veterans to form a connection with a creature that gives them unconditional love and does not judge them and helps prepare them to open up to psychologists 
[Nils Adler/Al Jazeera]

Still, persuading battle-hardened veterans and current soldiers to open up remains a challenge for Voznitsyna and her team, so they enlisted the help of Hero’s Companion, a Canadian-Ukrainian non-for-profit project that offers canine therapy.

The veterans are invited to connect with the dogs through play. “It doesn’t matter if you only have one leg, one eye, you are grumpy or you are stupid, the dog just loves you,” says Elen Musichuk, a psychologist at the medical centre. It is a vital first step in preparing the clients to meet with a psychologist. Once they realise that “a small furry creature” can provide unconditional love, “they no longer see the world as black and white, and that’s when we can start our work,” she says.

Iron and steelworks dominate the local economy of Mariupol, which is also a rich cultural hub 
[Nils Adler/Al Jazeera]


Stuck between two worlds


Mariupol, a vital economic and industrial hub located by the Sea of Azov in southeastern Ukraine, is a city of contrasts. Surrounded by a major seaport and two gargantuan metallurgical plants, the city is also a rich cultural centre, while popular resorts line its scenic seafront.

At a popular café in the city centre, Yulia Pajevska, a paramedic with seven years of front line experience, reflects on how the transition between military and civilian life can be difficult for soldiers and veterans. Rules, designed to keep you alive, govern life on the front line, but there is less of a plan in civilian life, and this spontaneity can be disorientating, she says.

Yulia Pajevska is a paramedic responsible for hundreds of medical evacuations from the frontline. She is also a successful para-athlete but wonders if she can ever return to civilian life
 [Nils Adler/Al Jazeera]

Pajevska gives the example of a veteran who wants to buy a beer: they open a map, look for the nearest bar or shop and head directly there, whereas their civilian friends might prefer to take a walk and stumble upon somewhere.

This can cause distress for a person used to the strict regime of military life. “Their goal is to drink beer and not to wander around and get into trouble,” she says. “But civilians do not care about being organised.”

Many soldiers returning from the front line have a personal decompression strategy to help cope with the confusion of normal life. Roman Hrishak, a commander currently serving in the trenches around the village of Pisky in the Donetsk region, says that when he comes home, he does not speak to anyone but his wife and children for the first three days. Hrishak’s wife is a veteran who can relate to his experience. For others, it is more difficult, he says. “They tell their families fairytales about their life on the front line, that it is a wonderful time filled with gardening.”

Commander Hrishak stands in the trenches, only 600 metres from positions controlled by Russian-backed separatists. When he is not on duty, he speaks only to his family for three days as part of his personal decompression strategy 
[Nils Adler/Al Jazeera]

Some soldiers, like Hrishak, may only need a few days to adapt, but for those who have had a TBI or with conditions such as PTSD, this disorientation can result in further trauma and isolation from society.

Chobotar recalls the shock he experienced when he returned to civilian life. “My brain would always look for danger such as hidden snipers, if I saw smoke, I would immediately try to analyse what weapon was used.”

Pajevska, who still works as a medic on the front line, questions whether it will ever be possible to return to ordinary life. “I feel like I am between two worlds, watching from the side.”

This kiosk is part of a larger franchise called the Veterano Group, founded by Leonid Ostaltsev and owned entirely by veterans. The group’s vision is to change society’s perception that veterans are unable to integrate back into society and find it difficult to hold down a job 
[Nils Adler/Al Jazeera]

Bridge to civilian life

In recent years, some have sought to challenge the stigma attached to veterans by highlighting the attributes of people with combat experience.

One of these is Leonid Ostaltsev, a fast-talking, no-nonsense entrepreneur who founded Pizza Veterano, a pizzeria and the first public enterprise in Ukraine created by war veterans. “I always encourage veterans to open a business because it is the perfect opportunity to use your war experience,” he says. “It’s similar rules – planning, teamwork, risk analysis, leadership.”

Chobotar believes there is a strength to many veterans which the Ukrainian media chooses to ignore. “It is often said that veterans or soldiers get divorced, do not keep in touch with their family and become aggressive, but I can’t help but notice that many veterans, including me, grow fonder of their families. You love your country even more.”

Most experts, like Voznitsyna, agree that the first step to help soldiers like Volodymyr heal and re-enter civilian life is for there to be a support network.

Veteran Hub in Kyiv is a space where veterans can seek free psychological and legal support 
[Nils Adler/Al Jazeera]

The Veteran Hub is one such network with coworking spaces and hangout spots in Kyiv, Dnipro and Vinnytsia where veterans and their relatives can seek free legal and psychological support.

Artem Denysov, CEO of the Veteran Hub, recalls an incident where a veteran with a prosthetic leg came to the Kyiv branch and spent the day drinking coffee. On his way out he passed reception and said, “Thank you for not caring.” Concerned, Denysov asked what they had done wrong. “No, I am thankful,” he recalls was the man’s response. “You ignored my prosthetic leg and received me as a normal person.”

Denysov wants the Hub to provide a bridge between veterans’ military and civilian identities. “When you are serving, you know who you are,” he says. “You are in the second platoon, the third brigade, for example, but no one explains what your identity is as a veteran. You have to find it and build it.”

Today, the Ukrainian military is better trained and equipped, and the fighting is much lower intensity than during the early years of the war. But regular skirmishes still occur along the front line as do daily bomb blasts, and the conflict still takes a physical and mental toll on the soldiers serving.

The creation of the Ministry for Veterans Affairs in 2018 demonstrated that the government was finally aiming to address the issues facing this generation of soldiers. It recently developed services for treating the long-term effects of mine blast trauma as well as for medical and psychological rehabilitation. But many believe healing will be a long process.

Volodymyr believes he is ready to seek psychological help but says that it is not possible to speak about his problems with his fellow soldiers. He points to his chest and explains why: “We keep it all inside.”

*Volodymyr’s surname has not been used to protect his identity.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

'Days without eating': Madagascar sees world's first 'climate change famine'

Madgascar is experiencing what the UN has called the world's first "climate change famine", with food shortages a direct result of global warming. This is the fourth year in a row that the country's Grand Sud region has been hit by drought and more than one million people are in need of emergency food aid.

PENTECOSTAL COLONIALISM
Botswana top court hears homosexuality appeal
Homosexuality is widely criminalised in sub-Saharan Africa 
Sandy Huffaker AFP/File

Issued on: 12/10/2021 

Gaborone (Botswana) (AFP)

Botswana's Court of Appeal on Tuesday started hearing a government attempt to overturn a landmark ruling that decriminalised homosexuality.

The country's High Court in 2019 ruled in favour of campaigners seeking to strike down prison sentences for same-sex relationships, declaring them unconstitutional.

The judgement was hailed internationally as a major victory for gay rights in the conservative Botswana.

But government wants the ruling overturned because it believes that courts have no jurisdiction to decriminaliase homosexuality.

"The court is not in a position to make such a finding," Sidney Pilane appearing for the government said.

"This is a policy matter. This can only be assessed by parliament."

Pilane bluntly told the court sitting in the capital Gaborone that "if gay rights were unconstitutional in the past they remain unconstitutional today".

Under the southern African country's 1965 penal code, homosexuality was punishable by a jail term of up to seven years.

But on June 11 2019, High Court Judge Michael Elburu declared "the time has come that private, same sexuality must be decriminalised."

Botswana is among a handful of countries in Africa, where social codes are often conservative, to have decriminalised homosexuality.

Others are Lesotho, Mozambique, Angola and the Seychelles.

South Africa is the sole nation on the African continent to allow gay marriage, which it legalised in 2006.

The Court of Appeal is expected to issue in a ruling in a matter of weeks after it wraps up the hearing.

© 2021 AFP

  • AFRICA S NEW BIG MAN RULE? PENTECOSTALISM AND …

    https://gvpt.umd.edu/sites/gvpt.umd.edu/files/pubs/McCauley_Africa… · PDF file

    pre-colonial norms, post-colonial institutions, and weak states created *John F. McCauley (mccauley@umd.edu) is Assistant Professor of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, USA. An earlier version of the article was presented at the Nigeria Centre for Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies (NCPCS) Conference, Abuja, Nigeria, 2012.

  • Pentecostalism in Africa | David Duncombe

    https://daveduncombe.wordpress.com/2012/12/12/pentecostalism-in-africa

    2012-12-12 · Pentecostalism was in many ways a natural fit for the African culture. The pneumatological emphasis of Pentecostalism spoke to the spiritual holism of the African worldview. Africans expected a religion to heal the sick, offer protection from evil spirits, and provide help to the weak. Pentecostal Christianity offered to fulfill those expectations.


    • DROP IN A LEAKY BUCKET
      China pledges $230 million to protect biodiversity in developing countries at UN summit


      Media staff members watch a live image of China's President Xi Jinping speaking at the media centre of the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) in Kunming, in China's Yunnan province on October 12, 2021.
       © AFP

      Text by: NEWS WIRES

      Issued on: 12/10/2021 -

      China on Tuesday pledged to inject $233 million into a new fund to protect biodiversity in developing countries during a key UN conservation summit, despite disagreements among major donors on the initiative.

      Beijing -- the world's biggest polluter -- has sought to play a more prominent role internationally on biodiversity conservation in recent years.

      Its pledge came as delegates from about 195 countries gathered in the southern Chinese city of Kunming for the first of a two-part summit on safeguarding plants, animals and ecosystems.

      The summit aims to establish a new accord setting out targets for 2030 and 2050.

      "China will take the lead in establishing the Kunming biodiversity fund with a capital contribution of 1.5 billion yuan ($233 million) to support the cause of biodiversity conservation in developing countries," Chinese President Xi Jinping said during a speech delivered via video link at the COP15 leaders' summit.

      "China calls on... all parties to contribute to the fund."

      A key proposal being debated at the conference is the "30 by 30" agenda that would afford 30 percent of the Earth's land and oceans protected status by 2030.

      Global spending to protect and restore nature needs to triple this decade to about $350 billion annually by 2030 and $536 billion by 2050 to meet this target, a UN report said in May.

      But some rich country donors say a new fund for conservation is unnecessary because the United Nations' Global Environment Facility already helps developing nations finance green projects.

      "It is... important to mobilise all sources, including existing funds such as the global environment facility and the climate fund, to protect... and restore biodiversity," French President Emmanuel Macron said.

      The funding issue will be taken up at negotiations in Geneva in January 2022 and then later at the second part of the summit in April and May next year.

      China's pledge is far below the $4 billion committed by Britain for global conservation projects over the next five years or France's commitment to spend 30 percent of its climate finance on biodiversity.

      "China's announcement... is the start not the end of the race," said Georgina Chandler, senior international policy officer at the UK-based Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

      "We now need to... see other countries stepping up between now and spring next year... Without tangible actions on the table, the world will agree on yet another set of targets with no commitment to delivering them."

      'Suicidal war'


      The UN Convention on Biological Diversity has been ratified by 195 countries and the European Union -- although not the United States, the world's biggest polluter historically -- with the parties meeting every two years.

      UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the world's poorest nations will be worst affected by biodiversity loss.

      "We are losing our suicidal war against nature," he said.

      "Ecosystem collapse could cost almost $3 trillion annually by 2030 -- its greatest impact will be on some of the poorest and highly indebted countries."

      The biodiversity discussions at COP15 are separate from the weightier COP26 summit set to begin next month in Glasgow, where world leaders are under pressure to act on the climate crisis.

      (AFP)
      Mexico promotes indigenous people as it erases memory of Columbus


      A statue in honor of "Women who fight" has been placed on a plinth in Mexico City where once stood the figure of Christopher Columbus 
      PEDRO PARDO AFP

      Issued on: 12/10/2021 
      Mexico City (AFP)

      Mexico is erasing symbols of Christopher Columbus as it works to give indigenous people who suffered during the Spanish colonial era a bigger say in today's world.

      Tuesday is a national holiday in Spain marking the anniversary of the "discovery" of the Americas by Columbus in 1492.

      But in Mexico, authorities talk about the "Day of the Pluricultural Nation."

      Columbus, and a statue of him, are at the heart of a national debate in Mexico over state "indigenismo" -- the policy of promoting a more prominent role for indigenous people in society.

      It has been a year since the statue of the Genovese admiral was removed from its plinth on the Mexico City square that bears his name.

      In its place, feminists have erected the figure of a woman with her clenched fist pointing towards the glass and steel skyscrapers of Paseo de la Reforma, the wide avenue that exemplifies Mexican capitalism.

      They have rechristened the square: "the place of women who fight."

      Columbus will not return to his plinth.

      In due course, he will be replaced by an indigenous woman from the Olmec civilization that flourished from 1,500 to 400 BC, the city's mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, an ally of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has announced.

      The new statue is meant to represent five centuries of "indigenous resistance," said Sheinbaum, the granddaughter of Jewish migrants that left Europe in the 20th century.

      "It cannot come back to its place," historian Federico Navarrete told AFP.

      "Trying to impose this colonialist, racist narrative ... makes no sense."

      The pro-indigenous policy also has its detractors in Mexico, with some saying symbolic steps are all very well but hard policy choices in favor of indigenous people would achieve more.

      The six-meter tall statue by French sculptor Charles Cordier, erected in 1877, is undergoing restauration before being moved to the upmarket Polanco neighborhood.

      It's part of a policy of recognizing the trauma inflicted on indigenous people by the invading Europeans five centuries ago.

      - Breaking Spanish influence -


      Earlier this year, Mexico's government once again demanded that Spain, one of its main socio-economic partners, and the Vatican "apologize" for the brutality inflicted on its "original peoples" during the Spanish conquest of Mexico.

      Pope Francis acknowledged the "sins" committed in Mexico by the conquerors in a letter to the episcopate that Lopez Obrador read out on September 27, the day Mexico celebrated the 200th anniversary of independence from Spain.

      In Spain, however, the center-left government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez remained silent while the right-wing opposition hit out at the Mexican president.

      "Andres is for the Aztecs, Manuel is for the Maya, Lopez, that's a mix between the Incas and the Maya," said former prime minister Jose Maria Aznar (1996-2004), making a point about how Spanish Lopez Obrador's name sounds.

      Despite the heightened tensions, Spain remains one of Mexico's four largest European economic partners, although Europe is well behind the United States and China in that regard.

      The breaking with symbols of Spanish domination is an inconsistent policy and has not extended to another monument on the Paseo de la Reforma: the tower that is home to Spanish bank BBVA, the market leader in Mexico.

      BBVA may continue to thrive but Spanish energy giant Iberdrola stands to lose out in one of Lopez Obrador's electricity market reforms.

      The president wants to reserve 56 percent of the market for the state Federal Electricity Commission (CFE.)

      - Apologies -


      Lopez Obrador has himself apologized to the Yaqui and Mayan peoples for "state crimes" during the Porfirio Diaz dictatorship from 1884-1911.

      These statements are nothing new and part of the "indigenismo" of the state, said indigenous linguist and writer Yasnaya Aguilar, referring to the political and cultural habit in Mexico of promoting the pre-colonial past.

      "They have always used this phenomenon and symbolism, even though in reality there are projects that affect indigenous people, like the Maya Train," said Aguilar.

      That is a tourism project launched by Lopez Obrador in the southern Yucatan peninsula but in May, local indigenous communities accused certain companies involved in it of fraud and human rights abuses.

      The national tourism fund even had to cancel its contracts with the companies concerned.

      "The apology is worth nothing if there is no change in these policies and practices that affect the indigenous communities," said Navarrete.

      © 2021 AFP
      IMF warns pandemic darkening prospects in developing countries

        
      The IMF said the key policy priority for restoring economic growth must be to ensure Covid-19 vaccines are deployed worldwide
       MANDEL NGAN AFP

      Issued on: 12/10/2021

      Washington (AFP)

      The ongoing hit from the Covid-19 pandemic and the failure to distribute vaccines worldwide is worsening the economic divide and darkening prospects for developing nations, the IMF said Tuesday.

      Global economic growth this year and next is expected to continue as the recovery solidifies broadly, but the overall figures mask large downgrades and ongoing struggles for some countries.

      "The outlook for the low-income developing country group has darkened considerably due to worsening pandemic dynamics," IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath said.

      The setbacks, which she blamed on the "great vaccine divide," will impact the restoration of living standards, and a prolonged pandemic downturn "could reduce global GDP by a cumulative $5.3 trillion over the next five years," she warned.

      Meanwhile, advanced economies face "more difficult near-term prospects... in part due to supply disruptions."

      That threatens to drive prices higher, especially in the United States, where growth this year will be slower than previously anticipated, even taking into consideration massive spending bills, according to the International Monetary Fund's latest World Economic Outlook.

      Output worldwide is expected to grow 5.9 percent this year, only slightly lower that projected in July, before slowing to 4.9 percent in 2022, the report said.

      IMF economic growth forecasts AFP

      But the wave of infections from the Delta variant of Covid-19 and the drastically lower vaccination rate in developing nations, along with supply bottlenecks, have slowed or pushed back the recovery in many economies.

      "The dangerous divergence in economic prospects across countries remains a major concern," Gopinath said in a blog post on the new forecasts.

      Advanced economies are expected to regain "pre-pandemic trend path in 2022 and exceed it by 0.9 percent in 2024," she said.

      However, in emerging market and developing economies, excluding China, output "is expected to remain 5.5 percent below the pre-pandemic forecast in 2024."

      Amid the danger of long-term scarring, "The foremost policy priority is therefore to vaccinate at least 40 percent of the population in every country by end-2021 and 70 percent by mid-2022," she said.

      - Delicate US balancing act -


      The world's largest economy has benefitted from massive fiscal stimulus, but the Delta wave has undermined progress, and the IMF slashed the US growth forecast for this year to six percent, a full percentage point off the July figure.

      US growth is expected to slow to 5.2 percent next year, slightly faster than previously expected, but policymakers will face a delicate balancing act amid risks of rising inflation and lagging employment, the fund noted.

      Production was slow to rebound once the recovery began, creating bottlenecks, notably in semiconductors, and pushing prices higher, while wages also threaten to rise as employers compete for scarce workers.

      Gopinath told reporters that while inflation is expected to return to "more normal levels" by mid-2022 in most countries, it could take longer in the United States.

      But "There is tremendous uncertainty, we have never seen a recovery of this kind," she said, noting the labor shortages plaguing employers even amid high unemployment, and supply unable to meet demand.

      The fund is keeping a close eye on US wage increases, which so far have been concentrated in a limited number of industries, as well as rising housing prices.

      US consumer prices rose 4.3 percent annually in August, more than double the Federal Reserve's two percent goal.

      If higher inflation becomes entrenched, it could force central banks to respond aggressively, and higher interest rates would slow the recovery, the IMF cautioned.

      "Monetary policy will need to walk a fine line between tackling inflation and financial risks and supporting the economic recovery," the report said.

      The IMF endorsed the Federal Reserve's stated intention to start to pull back on stimulus by the end of the year and prepare to lift interest rates in 2022.

      But higher US interest rates will have spillover effects for other countries, which will see borrowing costs rise.

      © 2021 AFP
      MUSSOLINI RULED VATICAN WAS SOVEREIGN
      EU rights court rejects sex abuse case against Vatican, cites immunity of ‘sovereign’ states
      A priest prays inside the Sacre-Coeur Basilica at the Butte Montmartre in Paris, France on October 6, 2021. 
      © Sarah Meyssonnier, Reuters

      Text by: NEWS WIRES
      Issued on: 12/10/2021 

      The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday rejected a case by alleged victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests who sought to hold the Vatican responsible, saying the Holy See benefited from legal 

      The ruling came as the Church is reeling from a scathing French report that found "massive" child sex assaults by clergy since 1950, with an estimated 216,000 abused minors.

      Victims' advocates have demanded reparations and prosecutions, and Pope Francis -- who has vowed to end impunity for abusive priests -- expressed his "shame" over the independent French report released last week.

      But the ECHR ruling found that 24 alleged French, Belgian and Dutch victims could not demand prosecution against the Vatican and compensation for what they deemed a "policy of silence" on the issue of sexual abuse.

      The claimants, who originally filed their case in Belgium but saw it rejected in first instance and on appeal, said their right to access to a court had been denied.

      "Belgium's recognition of the Holy See as a foreign sovereign with the same rights and obligations as a state was conclusively established," the ECHR, based in the French city of Strasbourg, said in a statement.

      The Vatican is also not a member of the Council of Europe and therefore not subject to ECHR jurisdiction, though it was allowed to present written statements in the case as a third party.

      It was the court's first case to consider the immunity granted to the Holy See, which is facing a wave of anger worldwide over its failing to halt sexual abuse at the hands of priests who escaped prosecution in a vast majority of cases.

      Twenty of the applicants nonetheless managed to obtain compensation via a Catholic Church arbitration committee for sexual abuse victims.

      The question of the Church hierarchy's liability has become central for victims' groups, with the French commission's report saying that crimes were covered up for years by a "veil of silence".

      On Tuesday, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin was to meet with the head of the French bishops' council, Archbishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort.

      The archbishop has rejected the commission's recommendation to require priests to inform police of any child abuse cases learned about during the sacrament of confession.

      He claimed that the secrecy of confession was "above the laws of the Republic", even though French law specifically says professional secrecy privileges do not apply to cases involving violence against minors.

      Darmanin's office said the archbishop would be asked to "explain his comments".

      (AFP)