Inquirer photographer Michael Wirtz and I journeyed through East Africa for two weeks in 2000 to accompany a  truck carrying food aid into rebel-held territory in Sudan. Their trek through Kenya and Uganda into Sudan was chronicled in the Inquirer and on the Internet from April 23 through May 5, 2000 in the African Odyssey. 

The African Odyssey was more than a series about food aid, more than a travelogue. It was a series of character-driven stories about contemporary Africa, told from the cab of a truck as it lumbered across Africa. The project was also an elaborate effort to merge traditional and digital newsgathering methods, employing recent developments in portable satellite technology to report every day from the most remote locations in Africa. The project required months of planning and research to be executed flawlessly. 

In addition to filing newspaper content, we maintained an active dialogue with readers in a special interactive feature on the Internet. Readers e-mailed  questions for us and the subjects of our reporting. School children followed the trek through the Newspapers in Education program. The entire series, along with the enthusiastic reader response, was formerly available on the Inquirer's web site before it underwent an unfortunate redesign. It's still available here: African Odyssey.

 

francis.JPG (28664 bytes)
Driver Francis Kuria and his son, James, on a tea break in Arua, Uganda.

maykuth.com home page   
Recent news
  | Africa coverage  |  Archives  |  Afghanistan coverage  |  E-mail from Africa  |  Magazine articles | Photographs  |  Bio 
African Odyssey
  |  Apartheid's Secrets  |  Democracy's Promises  |  The Forgotten Wars  |  Rwanda: Aftermath of Genocide

Copyright 2001-2006 Andrew Maykuth