A Polish dissident once told me, “If it took 40 years to create this mentality, why shouldn’t it take 40 years to undo it?” Indeed, though we’ve now surpassed 20 years since the Berlin Wall was torn down, Central and Eastern Europe remain a work in progress. Everything that happens within these young democracies must be seen through the prism of what happened here during four decades of Communism, and how far the region has evolved since. Here, then, is a look at twenty years... and counting.
Peek into the HIV-Scarred Lives of Young Africans
MASERU, Lesotho – The email arrived on the eve of a journalism workshop I’d lead at Kick4Life, an NGO that promotes sport and HIV awareness in a country with the world’s third-highest rate of HIV infection.
Connecting the Dots – and Woes – of Slovakia, Hungary ... and China?
MASERU, Lesotho – Last week was one filled with nostalgia and melancholy.
"The Help" ... Lesotho-Style
MASERU, Lesotho – Living overseas, I sometimes fall out of touch with the latest “buzz” within American culture. Like which Hollywood sleepers are garnering acclaim from the critics.
After Graduation, Central Europe's Journalism Students Stumble
"…There’s little interest in what Slovak journalism refers to as 'publicistika': serious news features, profiles and analysis. It turns out such stories can be bad for business."
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia -- Katarina Jenkutova was the sort of student who makes teaching worthwhile. Two years ago, she was one of my 30 Slovak journalism students at the University of Saints Cyril and Methodius, in the provincial but historic city of Trnava.
Sesotho: Both Bridge and Defense
MASERU, Lesotho – I’ve written before about my struggles to learn the language of countries where I’ve lived, be it my horrid Hungarian, survival Slovak or café Cantonese.
It's a National Geographic Life
MASERU, Lesotho – There’s so much to say, I don’t know where to start. So how about with a Sesotho-language greeting: Dumela!
Confessions of a China Addict
[Author note: To glimpse some of the future faces of Chinese media – my students – please click here.]
Roma Question, EU Answer
After years of debate, the EU unveils its first high-level policy document on the Roma. Now it’s up to national governments to fill in the outline.
BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Angela Kocze has been a firsthand witness to all the calamities that have befallen her fellow Roma over the two decades since Central and Eastern Europe rid itself of communist rule.
Nevertheless, Kocze is the rare voice to somehow muster “cautious optimism” about the first unified European Union policy to target the plight of the Roma, Europe’s largest, most-despised and most-marginalized minority.
