What’s new in my world, and a year-end thanks

I’ve been terrible about posting my new work in the last three or four months; by the time it’s published, I’m buried deep in something else, and sometimes I miss its entry to the world entirely.  So here’s a quick roundup of what I’ve done lately that you might be interested in:

• A news feature about the multi-dimensional poverty index, a new way of measuring poverty introduced alongside this year’s version of the statistical standard, the Human Development Report.
• A radio feature about Rwanda’s first ice cream parlor — and how a foreign treat burrows into a new culture
• A sidebar, about Rwanda’s parliament, to the Christian Science Monitor’s look at women in global politics
• A radio essay about language
• An essay about the UN Peacebuilding Commission, a precursor to my heavily reported piece coming out next year

And while I’m at it, let me highlight a few things from this year I’m particularly proud of:

• A pretty thorough report on the use of rape as a tool of war, for the Congressional Quarterly Press
• My election coverage of Burundi, spread across three outlets: the CS Monitor, Foreign Policy and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, who were fantastic enough to let me organize a 2,000-word blog post as a three-act play
• My radio work for World Vision Report, whose diversity of genres opens the door to a diversity of voices

Of course, I’m thrilled by all the work I have a chance to do; that’s the joy of this profession.  But in this line of work, where one person’s byline represents a half-dozen people’s efforts and time, we very rarely get to share the credit, so I’m taking this moment to do that.

I’m especially grateful this year for the support and good faith of the Pulitzer Center and the Stanley Foundation, and to the following terrific journalists and editors across the media spectrum who make my work better before it goes into the world: Clara Germani, Matt Clark, Scott Baldauf, Scott Armstrong, Leda Hartman, Elana Perl, Charles Homans and Kathy Koch.

And if I’m thanking people, I can’t stop there: There are dozens and dozens of people, from the streets of Paoua to the UN compounds of Freetown or Bujumbura or Bissau, who gave me their time and trust.  That’s no small thing, and I am always grateful for it.

I’m also thankful for the interdisciplinary community of people who are talking online about the dilemmas faced by anyone who tries to work in a place where the power differentials are so huge.  There’s so many of you; please all feel thanked.

And before you run away for your New Year’s celebrations — and if they’re anything like Kigali, you won’t remember what you did all week — here’s a little teaser of the year ahead:

• African Solutions, a new occasional series on this blog that will highlight individuals and communities who aren’t waiting for “whites in shining armor” to come fix things for them
• How Not to Write About Rape, an essay in the Columbia Journalism Review about journalism ethics in trauma stories
• More ground reporting from Burundi, DRC, Uganda and Rwanda.  The benefit of living out here is that I can do that more often than most journalists, and I’ll try to take advantage of it
• Other surprises!