Who could miss it? Not me! I woke up from my sleep at 7:38 AM. We were supposed to leave at 8:00 AM. I don’t know why I slept so long! Alam Asraful, my roommate, knocked at my door. “Louis,…
Wild Forest
“It was an amazing day. We fed wild animals, explored the hidden beauty of the forest and met with some of the native people of Arizona…” No, it didn’t happen like that. This is all my wild imagination. I and…
From Historic Flagstaff to Symbolic Cacti: A Sublime Beauty
Sunday morning, 11:00, in front of a hotel in Flagstaff. Sunny weather with a blue sky, 74°F, fresh with a gentle breeze. The green tree leaves are swaying softly. Mountain views in the near distance with fluffy white clouds draw…
The Grand Canyon, an Overwhelming Experience from a Sacred Place
As the sun goes down, the Grand Canyon transforms. The sunlight is like brushstrokes on a canvas of rocks, drawing shapes and textures. These natural paintings are ephemeral, changing from one minute to another, showing magical landscapes, an echo from…
Volcanic rumbles
There’s something about Taal Vulcano in Tagaytay, Philippines. Early January last year, after 42 years of being silent, it erupted–which almost canceled my flight from my province to the capital, Manila, en route to the Netherlands for a short course in media…
SUSI: Spend Unique Sphere Internationally
When you look up the acronym, SUSI stands for Study of the United States Institutes. But for me it means to “Spend Unique Sphere Internationally,” and that is what I really feel towards the program abbreviation. Ever since I started applying and…
Last, But Not
When I first met Basil Hamusokwe at Sky Harbor International Airport on June 2, the six-week-long SUSI program seemed never-ending. But today, the end of it, I realized what the words “time flies” really mean… The last day of the…
Packing Up the SUSI Program at VOA and the Newseum
We are packing up our six-week program with these final days in Washington DC, our last days in the US as well. And today, we are packing up our journalism journey with Voice of America and the Newseum. VOA is…
A Tale of Untold Stories
Journalism is the “first rough draft of history.” Phillip L. Graham This is the beginning of our last week of our SUSI program. Our last Monday together in the US. By now, we should have mastered the art of being…
You Fight, to Breathe Again
This is not a simple story. This is an eternal story of life, and of freedom. The story of Rosa Parks, and the story of thousands of fighters. When you witness these stories, you’re not going to be able to…