by Enrique Shore | 20 May 2022 | Journalism, Personal Reflections, Sports, Technology
I got my start as a news photographer in the analog age. Technology has reshaped the tools of the trade, but human trust remains its watchword. The author’s photo of the Jamaican bobsled team crashing at the 1988 Winter Olympics, as published in the New York...
by Joseph Katusabe | 7 Apr 2022 | African Leadership Academy, Human Rights, Personal Reflections, Student Posts, Youth Voices
I’m a staunch Catholic. But I object when the Church rejects gays. Everyone should be celebrated regardless of their sexuality. Two gay women stand in front of a statue of Mary at a convent in Luedinghausen, Germany, 24 January 2022. (Guido Kirchner/dpa via AP)...
by Anthony Fong | 6 Apr 2022 | Europe, Personal Reflections, Ukraine
I’m a medic with a team helping Ukrainian refugees who are fleeing their country. Tonight, we hope we’ve given one young man a chance to survive. The author (bottom left) and colleagues from the Canadian Medical Assistant Team at the Krakovets border...
by Kamuskay Kamara | 5 Apr 2022 | Africa, African Leadership Academy, Contest winners, Education, Personal Reflections, Student Posts, Youth Voices
I have always wondered why my Mom gave me a merciless beating over a piece of meat. But that meal changed my life for the better. The author with his mother and elder sister Isata in 2009 This story won second prize in News Decoder’s 11th Storytelling Contest....
by Varlee S Fofana | 29 Mar 2022 | Africa, African Leadership Academy, Education, Personal Reflections, Student Posts, Youth Voices
We studied together ahead of exams. What I learned about friendship and adversity at study camp in West Africa will serve me for life. At study camp in 2019 in Kpelleh Town Community, Jacob Town, Painesville, Liberia. From left to right, Teddy Jallah, Varlee Fofana,...
by Theodor M. A. Davidoff | 24 Mar 2022 | Europe, Personal Reflections, Politics, Realgymnasium Rämibühl Zürich, Student Posts, Youth Voices
My grandmother has spent her entire life in Georgia. The Soviet Union was not all bad, she said, but Georgia’s dawning independence was beautiful. My grandfather and grandmother, Ellen Bagdasarian Davidova, getting married in 1967 “My name is Ellen Davidova,...
by Li Keira Yin | 2 Feb 2022 | China, Contest winners, Personal Reflections, Student Posts, Thacher School, Youth Voices
Our family used to gather in joy around my grandfather’s couch. He and his sofa are now gone, and I wonder if home will ever be the same. Taken in Shenzhen, China in 2013. The author is hiding behind a cousin, second from right. (All photos courtesy of Li Keira...
by Vedaste Nsengiyumva | 21 Jan 2022 | Africa, Culture, Kepler, Personal Reflections
People living in cities can have trouble valuing peasants from the countryside. But not all that is nice is made in cities! We depend on each other. Peasants carrying ‘matokes,’ a type of banana, to Kayonza market in eastern Rwanda (all photos by Vedaste...
by Lotte Diry | 18 Jan 2022 | European School Brussels, Personal Reflections, Student Posts, Youth Voices
The person in the mirror is not familiar to me at all. I’m tired and empty, and she is pretty and happy. Where can I find the real ‘me’? I wish I looked like me Gasping for air I open my eyes. Distorted images of boneless hands on my skin slowly fade...
by Abdul-Kudus Alhassan | 14 Jan 2022 | African Leadership Academy, Culture, Health and Wellness, Personal Reflections, Student Posts, Youth Voices
Where I grew up, the kitchen was a “no-go” area for males. But my love of food has helped teach me how to live a successful life as an African man. Koose (Wikimedia Commons/Linason Blessing) Old faded curtains lazily draped over the windows on either side...