DED team

coming back from my holidays i jumped out of the airpland into directly 200% working load. it all started with the ded annual assembly (where i came 3 hours late due to late pickup and Javier refused to start... ). so here is a picture from the whole team as it is right now. the very tired girl on the very right is me.
and the very tallest guy in the back is of course our country director Bodo.

we are family

one of the biggest changes while living now in Africa is having a house and staff. so for me working here are:
Mustafa - who is my best boy cleaning the house and washing clothes, he studied catering, and now doing an internship at a local hotel besides.
Lucky Fred - who's original name really is Lakee, and he is sort of a bit easygoing, less educated but the funny guy around. he want to be a hiphop star.
and Wonjiale - the nightwatchmen, the big uncle sort of, who loves manchester united, and has often issues with his relatives.

and running this sort of house business, with all payments, pre-payments and work control, there is here a huge , i call it Corporate social responsability. its just not only staff, its also their families behind that one has to care of. a little at least. so, it's more i adopted 2 families (fred seems to dont care much about his...). Mustafa has now a 1 year old son abdul, and he brought recently his girlfriend Amina and his son over to Kampala. they are really nice. Wonjiale has a 1,5 year old daughther , with another women than his girlfriend, and she comes over sometimes at the weekends. she is quiete shy, but trying to speak now some "thank you!".

Mustafa and AbdulAmina and Abdul Wonjiale

and as a matter of missing kids, Fred is taking over Molly's care. she doesn look to happy on this one......

skateistan

last friday i met Olli, who since may this year builds up a very very intersting project: a Skate School in Kabul. with almost no money its his dream to bring a bit more fun and leasure to the youth of Afghanistan. and at the same time learn life skills, interaction and trust, which is so vital to the struggled society.

you can visit the website to find pictures, stories, film clips and updates and also donate money or old skateboards.

baby on board

no, its not a purple ballon under sonjas tshirt, its her and Mitrans baby! and although it looks mighty strange, it is not strange at all, just the contrary: all is very good and naural and wonderful as it is.
and i- proudly like .... like... like ...a pandabear after managing to climb a full delicious bamboo tree) - will be the little supergirls godmother. oh soooo happy for them 2 soon to be 3.

NO- SLEEP- TILL- BEIJING

having spend wonderful 2 , 5 weeks in beijing, full of delicious lunches & dinners, excursions to places never been and like to be, shared sunshine & smog, and especially seeing all the super friends, the last weekend in BJ was sort of the 'creme on the top'. after a dance night out at white rabbit, a "underground" club that a Thomas opened last year, Jan, Kasper and me were heading to Tainanmen. every morning hundreds of chinese gather there to se the flag rising, and later pay visit to ol' dude chairman Mao. so many old and young chinese in their capped and flagges tour groups run & wait for this 1 minute and later take the photo opportunity infront of the forbidden city. we 3 have been the only non-chinese on the square that morning, and that called for immedeatly picture posing among the dozens of tour groups. what big fun! the morning was getting later, our eys & energy level were getting lower, so we finished the morning strolling around, getting a pancake for breakfast and enjoying the morning sun. before heading back home at half 9. no sleep for me though, as i was invited ny Norbert for his birthday museum excursion.... but so much fun!

STRIKE A POSE

birds & bubbles

yesterday Beijing would have deserved a gold medal for super blue sky and i would have deserved a gold medal for 5 km walking. because of the blue sky i decided to visit the olympic sites. but to my maximum dissapointment, not possible to enter the area. only walking around it. so thats what i did. and more .
and tada: here it is : beautiful birdsnest and amazing water cube

art in BJ

singing along with Lou Reed: such a perfect day...., i had one of those yesterday. i went with a bunch of friends on a tour to SongChuang Art village, the "world biggest" (sic!) art village. as the wellknow art district 798 becimes more and more commercial, just as the chinese art itself, with more cafes than interesting art, we thought SongCHuang would offer something new, fresh and more authentic. so - guided by Kasper a dutch artist i met 2 years ago, and who is liekwise in holidays here- we travelled far far in the outskirts of BJ, probably even in another province, cause it took is bus-subway- 1 hour bus and 30 min walk. and we ended in a gallery-studio-appartment, and in the local museum. but mmmm... to be honest all a bit dissapointing. i dont know what will happen with the area in 1-2 years., althugh it seems some of chinese artist are builing there their new spaces. such as cui xiuwen. a student of vicky and a famous photographer. 

but most fun was to explore somthingtogether with nice friends and ending  in a superb Yunnan restaurant, so nice. 

kasper and alex

the museum

everything is 'art' in the art village, even restaurants ;)

photo by Cui xuiwen

cctvtower

pretty amazing buildings have been finished now in beijing, and its no suprise the city and whole country is said to be an architect's heaven from scale, financing and experimental point of view. one of the most impressive building is the CCTV (national television) tower. designed by OMA- the studio of Rem Koolhaas. he has since ever been one of my favourite architect, as he combines a lot culture & theorie & pop & marketing in his architecture approaches. The CCVT tower resembles a twisted arch, and looks very different from differnt anges: sometimes solid, somtimes as if immedeatly collapsing.
beijing people call it ' old underpants' (boxershorts). and huh, in the picture is even blue sky in the background (no photoshop!)