Educating Akello
One man's effort to help a Ugandan girl stay in school shows the complicated issues involved with Western aid. Richard Dowden| March 2007 issue Too small to reach the seat, she cycles with one leg sticking through the frame of the old-fashioned bicycle and stops in front of me, blocking my way. She Read More...
One last thing...
Microcredit could help young people in the West. Marco Visscher | March 2007 issue You mean it could help poor youth in Africa or India to take out a loan - very noble. Edgar Neo: "No, I actually mean young people in the West." But aren't they wealthier than ever? "Just ask the tens of thousands of Read More...
Another world is possible
A conversation with Chico Whitaker, founder of the World Social Forum and latest winner of the Alternative Nobel Prize Marco Visscher | Jan/Feb 2007 issue Tension hung in the air. The third World Social Forum (WSF) was to be held the next day and Porto Alegre’s university was preparing for an Read More...
Pulling themselves up by their keyboards
By bringing computers into slums, an Indian physicist shows that illiterate children can educate themselves - and help their country progress. Lex Veldhoen | Jan/Feb 2007 issue The alleys are narrow in Madangir, a slum on the edge of New Delhi. Rickety huts crammed together house emigrants from Read More...
Justice for peace
Karen Tse makes a strong case against torture Nynke Sietsma| December 2006 issue Karen Tse couldn’t be more clear about her dream: She wants to eliminate torture in the world. It certainly doesn’t sound simple, but Tse says it could be. “We just have to make a decision as a global community Read More...
The world champ of poverty fighters
Throughout the 11 years Ode has been in print, the name Muhammad Yunus has often cropped up, and microcredit has been a recurring theme. Yet it took us until last year to track him down in Bangladesh for an extensive interview. Now that Yunus will receive the Nobel Peace Prize on December 10 in Read More...
A real revolution in advertising
Guerrilla campaigns turn the power of advertising on its head. Tijn Touber | September 2004 issue Ever looked absent-mindedly out the window of a train or bus and realised that an irritating advertising jingle has been running through your head for the past 15 minutes? In High Times (May/June Read More...
We are here
The success of self-help books has led to a supersaturated 'I'. It's time for the next spiritual step, a leap in human consciousness: the leap to we. In our modern society, we're all linked to one other. And the answer to our political, economic and spiritual challenges lies in co-operation, in a Read More...
Every step might be her last
The life of Vera Bohle, who clears landmines from old battlefields, in Her tools: metal detector, prodder, shovel. Her work clothes: bulletproof vest, helmet outfitted with a protective visor. Her mission: clearing landmines. German Vera Bohle, who stands more than 1 meter 84 (more than six-feet Read More...
Bin Laden meets Gandhi
What would Mahatma Gandhi say to Osama bin Laden? And how would the world's most famous terrorist defend his actions? Two very different opponents of Western imperialism exchange words about violence, nonviolence, and the future. Bhikhu Parekh | July 2004 issue Like millions around the world, I Read More...