On Assignment

Famagusta, once a flourishing port has since come to pieces – schools and businesses share the space of medieval churches, some intact, others derelict. Turkish soldiers seal the coastline to intruders. The tourists have long gone and even the locals look abroad for opportunities.

In many countries, particularly in the developed world, climate change as a result of man-made pollution exists as little more than a frightening prospect, even while widely acknowledged as an accepted fact, empirically proven by modern science. But in Tondo, northwest of the city of Manila in the Philippines, climate change and rampant pollution are realities that residents live with every day.

In the early years, there was much work to be done in this fledgling democracy. One diminutive lady was at the centre of the much-needed social reform, ensuring that the welfare of the island’s women and children was thrust to the very top of the agenda – her name was Che Zahara binte Noor Mohamed.

As the sun sets, a vanguard of boys enters the ceremonial grounds, shouldering large V-shaped objects covered in colourful plastic streamers and bells. They bounce up and down to set a beat while seated onlookers look towards the line of approaching Saisiyat tribespeople. As they begin to flood into the grounds, rocking their bodies as they step in time with the jangling bells, their haunting singing – energetic, but mournful – rises in volume.

Text & photos Rodney Dekker Recurring natural disasters threaten traditional ways of life. On the evening of November 15, 2007, a fierce Category 4 cyclone –...

The landmines left over from Cambodia's war are being sniffed out and removed by a task force of... trained rats?

By Karin Ronnow Photos Erik Petersen Wakhan Corridor, Afghanistan – As the teacher led his ninth-grade students through a Dari lesson one summer morning, everyone...

(Text by Simon Richmond. Photos courtesy of GW Travel) The blue and gold painted Golden Eagle is waiting on platform 8 of Moscow’s Kazan station,...