rural | Christina Felschen

rural | Christina Felschen

“It was the perfect storm”

Published on the NUDGED blog, March 18, 2020 >>

Before 700,000 Rohingya fled genocide in Myanmar in 2017, the military had incited millions of users against the group in a hate speech campaign on Facebook. Why did the company not intervene? And could it happen again? Human rights experts Matthew Smith (Fortify Rights) and Alan Davis (Institute for War and Peace Reporting), who both witnessed the events leading up to the genocide, shared their insights with me over the phone.

Fenced In, Fenced Out

German version (with photo essay) published February 14, 2017 by ZEIT ONLINE >>

In the US Mexican borderlands, even Trump voters oppose the president’s plan to build a border wall. They fear that even more immigrants will die in their backyard.

A treasure in the forest

documentary published by the German NGO Welthungerhilfe >>

Until recently, the only people who came into Jomi Pacharin’s remote mountain village were vendors and debtors. Doctors, teachers and government officials never set their foot here, they find the trail too arduous; hence many Paharia die from malnutrition and preventable diseases. When local helpers of the German NGO Welthungerhilfe first came to their village, Jomi and her neighbors stayed inside, full of suspicion – until they realized that these strangers would not take their belongings but offer something.

The Greener Revolution

published by the German NGO Welthungerhilfe >>

Monocultures, fertilizers and hybrid seeds are not the best way the earth can feed several billion people – quite the contrary, Indian agronomists say. They propose a more sustainable alternative to the Green Revolution: integrated agriculture that imitates nature and regards every farm as an ecosystem.

Climate in turmoil

published by the NGO Welthungerhilfe, 4/2015, pp. 17-19 >>

Indian fishermen and Burundian farmers have one thing in common: As poorest among the poor they are not responsible for climate change; yet they are the first who live with its consequences. In both countries, the weather has been diverting from its usual pattern for a decade. Welthungerhilfe trains fishermen and farmers to take precautions.

Made in India – young entrepreneurs in the countryside

translation of an article published by the NGO Welthungerhilfe, 2/2016, pp. 17-19 >>

Despite its economic boom, India is leaving its rural youth behind. Less than one in ten young Indians had any professional training, unemployment is staggering. A Welthungerhilfe program tries to change this: It builds training centers for thousands of young people who want to start their own businesses – as rabbit breeders, vets or solar technicians.

Crossing – What if people die in your backyard

broadcasted on German public radio SWR on November 7 and 8, 2016, and again on August 14, 2018 >

Kat Rodriguez has one of the toughest jobs along the U.S.-Mexican border. She helps Central American families find relatives who have disappeared on their journey to the United States. All too often, their bodies are found in the Sonoran Desert behind Kat’s house. On her mission to stop the deaths, Kat crossed the desert on foot with 70 women, men, teenagers, and me. Join us in my radio feature.

Delhi/ Dhanwe, the right to be alive

Multimedia feature for the NGO Welthungerhilfe, published with the Global Hunger Index on October 11, 2016 >> or >> Ideally watch it on a large screen, Pageflow is very limited on mobile phones!

India has 84 dollar billionaires, but they don’t contribute much to reduce the country’s life-threatening poverty. India also has laws which guarantee the poorest the right to be alive, but they are not well implemented in the villages. However, in remote Jharkhand, 1,000 women stand up against this injustice. They search for 1 kg of rice per person that did not reach them. But they have more on their mind than just grains – they demand respect.

Canoeing into Utah’s Labyrinth Canyon

published on Life in the Bay, July 12, 2016 (blog went offline, unfortunately)

You could wait a few years for a permit to kayak the Grand Canyon – or you start further upstream right away, in the Labyrinth Canyon. Be prepared: This surreal place with its towering walls and unmusical birds will cast its spell on you.

Beach vacation with bears – hiking along the Lost Coast

published on the expat blog Life in the Bay, April 21 2016 >> and (in German) on the tapir travel blog, October 5, 2015 >>

If Malibu Beach comes to your mind first when you think about beach vacations in California, you should probably not venture out to the Lost Coast. But if you prefer Alaska to ‘Baywatch’, this is your spot. Even the road builders of the Wild West steered clear of this coast, steep and rugged as it is. All the better for us, as well as for sea lions, black bears and marijuana farmers who peacefully cohabit in this wilderness.