Caged & Chained, The Guardian
This powerful film, filmed and directed by Simon Rawles and produced by myself, shows mentally ill people shackled in cages by their families in the Philippines. We were shocked to find one man who had been trapped by his family for 16 years. This film was a Rory Peck Award Finalist.
Smartpolicing & Haitian migrants in Brazil, BBC World Service
With ‘One World Media’ funding I travelled to parts of Brazil during the 2014 World Cup to highlight stories on the fringes. I reported on a pioneering 'smart policing' project being run in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas in collaboration with the military police, aimed at minimising conflict between the police and residents. I also travelled to the remote Amazonian state of Acre, where I met some of the tens of thousands of Haitians who entered Brazil to seek work.
A Tanzanian sex worker speaks, The Guardian
During an overseas trip with international development organisation VSO, I met and interviewed Amina in Dar-es-Salaam, who shared how she was tragically lured away from her village by the promise of work in the city, only to be forced into sexual slavery. Working with the clever video folks at VSO, we commissioned some animation so she could tell her own story with her identity protected.
An African Asian Affair, documentary, BBC R4
Vishva Samani, a descendent of British Asian Ugandans, returns to the country of her family and witnesses the rekindling of a relationship with the land her parents left behind almost 40 years on.
Job creation in northern Uganda, BBC World Service
More than three quarters of Ugandans are under 30: this huge youth population has the potential to lift the country out of poverty, but only if high levels of unemployment can be reduced. Here’s a piece for the BBC World Service edition of ‘From our own Correspondent’ on how some young people are getting help to build small businesses following years of conflict.
Uganda’s rare tree-climbing lions, BBC World
Lions have been spotted sleeping in trees as they digest their lunch and escape the hottest part of the day. I went on safari with an expert in tree climbing lions to try and spot this rare behaviour for BBC World News.
Mombasa’s lighthouse, BBC News
For the last forty years, hundreds of locals in Mombasa, Kenya have gathered in the city's lighthouse pier area on Sunday evening. It’s something my own mother grew up on during what seems like a pretty awesome childhood she had growing up there. It is a place to socialise for young and old alike, who meet to enjoy street food which reflects Kenya's historic blend of African and Asian cultures. Here’s my piece on it for the BBC News series Close Up.
Uganda’s first Batwa pygmy graduate, BBC News
I spent time with the Ugandan Batwa pygmy forest-dwellers who are some of the most marginalised people in Africa, evicted from their ancestral land in 1991 when the forests became national parks for gorilla conservation. The Batwa are traditional hunter-gatherers finding their place in the modern world.