Rodrique Ngowi Visual Storytelling

Video I shot while on holiday in Tuscany, Italy.

2011-10-07T21:05:00.000+03:00

2011-09-30T06:45:00.001+03:00

I met a very rare cat with two faces the other day. It's name is Frank and Louie. The cat was not expected to survive for more than just a few days, but it has now lived for more than 12 years, making it the longest-living two-faced cat on record, according to the Guinness World Records.
The story of the cat and its owner, whose big heart saved it from being put to sleep at one-day-old, is very touching.
Below are links to a story I wrote and video I shot for The Associated Press:

Mass. cat with 2 faces lives 12 years, sets record

By RODRIQUE NGOWI
Associated Press

WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) - Frank and Louie the cat was born with two faces, two mouths, two noses, three eyes - and lots of doubts about his future.

Now, 12 years after Marty Stevens rescued him from being euthanized because of his condition, the exotic blue-eyed rag doll cat is not only thriving, but has also made it into the 2012 edition of Guinness World Records as the longest-surviving member of a group known as Janus cats, named for a Roman god with two faces.

"Every day is kind of a blessing; being 12 and normal life expectancy when they have this condition is one to four days," Stevens said, stroking Frank and Louie's soft fur as he sat on her lap purring. "So, he's ahead of the game; every day I just thank God I still have him."

At the party I attended, guests donated part of the money they got from selling their gold to a Connecticut charity Podgorski runs that provides free prom dresses to high school girls who cannot afford one.

Seating at a dining table, Percival, a representative of a Michigan-based business that has aggressively promoted gold parties, used a jeweler’s loupe, an electronic gold testing kit and a digital measuring scale to test and appraise the jewelry before paying friends and aquaitances on the spot for their gold.

The parties essentially tap onto a hostess and organizer’s social connections to drive up attendance and the presence of friends to reassure partygoers that selling gold may not be a taboo. Their settings, a home of a friend or an acquaintance, set them apart from pawn shops and jewelry stores that also compete for the same business.

2008-11-05T19:27:00.007+03:00

America has turned to an extraordinary man to deal with extraordinary challenges.

Barack Hussein Obama -- whose Kenyan father abandoned him at young age and watched his mother lose a desperate struggle with cancer -- has been elected the 44th President of the United States of America. He becomes the first African-American to win the nation's highest office.

But he takes over The White House at a time the world's largest economy struggles to deal with the worst economic downturn in more than 70 years, a slumping housing market, its troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, its rivals around the world looking for opportunities to challenge its leadership and the nation smarting from a bruising campaign season.

Few American presidents have taken over the Oval Office facing such serious challenges.

The man Obama defeated in the presidential election, Arizona Senator John McCain, acknowledged the significance of the outcome. He called and congratulated Obama for being elected the first Black American to be elected U.S. president.

McCain also noted that Obama's election will make African-Americans proud.

One of the leading African-American figures, former U.S. Secretary of State Collin Powell, said Obama's victory was particularly significant because he ran for office as "an American who happens to be African."

Powell, a former U.S. millitary chief, said he was not ashamed to admit in public that he shed tears -- together with his wife and son -- when Obama was declared president elect.

Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson -- who was twice candidate for the Democratic party nomination for president -- also was seen shedding tears after Obama was elected.

Obama was elected after an extraordinary campaign that saw him beat formidable political rivals.

He first defeated New York Senator Hillary Clinton to win his party's nomination before taking on McCain, a Republican, in the general election .

Obama also harnessed the power of the internet in ways never seen before, helping him raise more than $600 million from donors around the country to fund the most expensive campaign in U.S. history.

He also inspired millions of young and new voters to register and cast their ballots, a move that ultimately paid off as these essentially made the difference between the number of votes garnered by McCain and himself.

Obama ran a very disciplined campaign that enabled him to focus on his election message, instead of scrambling to put out small fires that could have been sparked by gaffes.

Obama campain's rallying cry was "Yes, We Can." But the president elect's first message to the nation was simple and straight forward: the tasks of rebuilding the economy and delivering on campaign promises may take longer than just one term in office.

2008-10-31T05:56:00.016+03:00

As Americans prepare to elect a new president, one result is very clear -- one of the two candidates is guaranteed to make history.

If elected, Democrat Barack Obama would be the first African-American to be elected President Of The United States of America. And his opponent, Republican John

McCain, would be the oldest person taking over the presidency for the first term if he is elected to office.

As campaigning heats up, one cannot escape witnessing the political contest play out on TVs, on the radio, online, in the mail and right in the streets.

I was walking the other day near Harvard University and saw Obama supporters seeking out potential voters, talking to them, encouraging them to vote and asking for contact details to continue keeping in touch. There was no evidence of McCain supporters in the neighborhood, partly because he deployed fewer resources in Mass

achusetts because the state has a history of voting for Democratic presidential candidates.

Here are some of the photos I shot during my walkabout, including a mannequin wearing a message promoting Obama.

2008-10-23T21:22:00.005+03:00

It's been a while since last I updated this blog.

There is a good reason for that. I have been working on a new web site that has now gone live.

You will find it at www.ngowi.com I intend to update the blog now and then, but since the web site requires a lot more work to update as compared to a simple blog, that may not happen as frequently as I would like. I am sure, however, that things will change in a short while and updates will again be a bit more frequent.

In the meantime, please continue to visit both this blog and the web site.

Best regards.

2008-02-22T07:33:00.007+03:00

Three African countries that twice were involved in the most devastating wars in the continent have apparently agreed to work together to protect the endangered mountain gorillas.
Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo will share at about $5.8 million in aid to deal with the threat from poaching and human encroachment at the last sanctuary for the world's only surviving population of mountain gorillas.
There are just over 700 mountain gorillas living in Africa's first national park that straddles the borders of Rwanda, Uganda and Congo.
The apes make up a key source of foreign currency from tourists.
Villagers living on the land surrounding the national park, however, repeatedly cross into the gorilla habitat in search of firewood, honey, bush meat and fertile fields to cultivate their crops.
The gorillas -- who roam across the three countries -- have suffered from years of instability first created by the 100-day genocide unleashed in Rwanda, and later by two devastating civil wars in Congo.
The 1994 Rwanda genocide killed at least half a million members of the Tutsi minority and politically moderates from the Hutu majority. More than a million people later fled the country into neighboring eastern Congo, including members of the former army and the extremist Hutu militias who orchestrated the slaughter.
Rwanda and Uganda have twice invaded Congo, in 1994 and 1998. Rwandan officials said they were chasing down Rwandan militias threatening their nation's security. The second invasion sparked a six-nation war in Congo that drew in the armies of six nations.
The three neighbors are now willing to cast aside the history of strained relations and animosity to work together to protect those gentle giants of the highlands.

2007-05-04T06:21:00.000+03:00

It isn't everyday that you hear that coffee can help protect chimpanzees.
But a coffee roaster in northeastern U.S.A., working with a pioneering chimpanzee researcher, is hoping to do just that by marketing coffee produced by farmers living near the apes' premier habitat, the world-famous Gombe National Park, in western Tanzania.
The conservation concept is simple -- create an alternative source of considerable and stable income for small-scale farmers to encourage them to protect the forest in which the primates thrive.
Coffee beans flourish under the shade of a forest canopy, as the chimpanzees happily go about their wild lifestyle among broad miombo trees entwined with vines and creepers.
The world's leading chimpanzee researcher Jane Goodall promoted the project to counter social and economic pressures closing in around the fertile land in the national park. An expanding human population struggling to survive has cut down large swaths of trees all around Gombe National Park.
But Gombe -- and its verdant, steep hills near the shores of Africa's deepest Lake Tanganyika -- is not the only place where Chimpanzees in the wild are being threatened by man's insatiable desire for more land.
Goodall says at the turn of the last century, about 1 million chimpanzees lived in 25 countries across western and central Africa. Today, their number has dwindled to about 150,000, with significant populations found in only four countries, she says.
Promoters hope that the taste of Gombe coffee will help protect the chimpanzees -- whose genetic make up is at least 98 percent human, making the ape the closest relative to man.
"Gombe Reserve" coffee has floral top notes and vibrant flavors of tropical fruit, according to Lindsey Bolger, director of coffee sourcing and relationships for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters that promotes the beverage.
"Green Mountain Coffee Roasters has always had a values-driven approach to coffee, believing that coffee can help the greater good. We're thrilled to work with the Jane Goodall Institute to bring this great coffee to market and, ultimately, protect the chimps," she said in a statement.

2007-01-03T00:05:00.000+03:00

The discovery of one of the most brilliant green gemstones in the world involved a charging buffalo, an adventurous geologist, a burning fascination with the stone and a relentless search that took him to a remote corner of Tanzania.
Campbell Bridges was walking in rural pre-independence Zimbabwe, then known as Rhodesia, when an angry buffalo attacked, forcing him to jump into a gully to save his life. The distressed geologist noticed a brilliant green glint in a rock outcrop in the gully while scampering for safety.
He never thought of grabbing a sample during the life-and-death drama. He simply left the area as quickly as he could after the buffalo wandered away on failing to reach him. The brilliant Tsavorite, however, had seared a lasting image in his imagination. Bridges was soon transferred to another area and never was able to go back to search for the glittering gemstone.
That was in 1961. At that time, the gemstone did not exist in record books and was known by local tribes by various names.
Seven years later, he became the first man to record the discovery of gemstone-quality Tsavorite, this time in the charming East African nation of Tanzania -- one of only two countries where fine Tsavorite is being mined.
But what exactly is Tsavorite?
It is possibly the youngest green gemstone in the world and is as hard as one of the oldest, emerald. The precious stones were formed deep in the earth's crust hundreds of millions of years ago. Its rareness of occurrence is possibly one of the reason for its relatively recent discovery.

Tsavorite was formed when tremendous pressure and heat were applied for million of years _ some 7 tons (6.35 metric tons) per 1 sq. centimeter (0.16 sq. inches), at more than 600 degrees Celsius (1,112 Fahrenheit).
The results was exceptionally lively and brilliant stones, even before polishing, and whose color varies from light to dark green.
Tsavorites are much rarer than its look-alike, emeralds, which has been known for around five thousand years, Bridges said in a remote, southeastern corner of Kenya where he has set up mining operations in the midst of some of the wildest animals in Africa.
Bridges says Tsavorites are worth the risk of having elephants, buffaloes and other animals for neighbors in the African bush.
The moments he begins to discuss Tsavorite, it becomes clear that he still has an intense passion for the gemstone.
A perfectly cut tsavorite resembles green diamond, he says.
Tsavorites, however, are also much durable than emeralds because they are much tougher and less brittle. They are also twice as brilliant _ qualities that attract jewelry designers, Bridges says.
Tsavorite has other unique properties, including the fact that it is one of the few natural gemstones in the world, he says.
It is one of the few gemstones that does not need to be treated with heat, oil, irradiation, dyes or coating to enhance color, remove impurities and hide flaws. The same cannot be said for rubies, emeralds, sapphires, diamonds, topaz and other expensive stones.
Bridge's gemstone adventure has suffered some setbacks, the most serious of which occurred in 1970, when the then-socialist Tanzanian government nationalized his Tsavorite mines without compensation.
Tanzania has changed, shedding socialist policies in exchange for a market economy. The government also invited Bridges back to his old mines there. He refused and appears uncomfortable discussion the matter in detail.
Following the setback in Tanzania, Bridges figured that the gemstone belt on which he was mining might cross into neighboring Kenya.
He moved to the country, reviewed colonial geological records to search for suitable rock formations and found Tsavorite three months later.
Bridges and Henry Platt, president of Tiffany & Co., named the gemstone in 1974. They named it after two wildlife sanctuaries, Tsavo East and Tsavo West national parks, that border the area where the mines are located.
Tsavorite and is among the most expensive of all garnets, a family of gemstone in which it belongs. Its prices are similar to those fetched by fine demantoid, the other green garnet that has traditionally been mined in the former U.S.S.R. and Italy. Like all gem materials, non-gem quality pieces may be available for a few dollars per carat.
Tsavorite's price currently stands at 1/6th and 1/10th of the price of an equivalent quality emerald, Bridges said.
That is far less than their potential value. The low price stems from the fact that retailers are reluctant to promote the gemstone and stock it in their brightly lit stores because they get a quicker return on their investments when they stock better-known gemstones like diamonds.

Still, Tsavorite "is arguably the finest commercial green gemstone in the world today, based upon its physical characteristics, its rarity and uniqueness," Bridges said at his mine.

2006-12-23T02:57:00.000+03:00

It has been many moons since last I communicated via these pages.
I have simply been busy relocating from one continent and setting up a new home in another. I can tell you that it was not easy to say goodbye to the beloved Afrika, the craddle of human evolution and my ancestral home.
It is also challenging planting my roots in the world's largest economy, the United States. I had to find a home, get a car and learn the ways of life in this corner of the world. On top of that, I am still trying to quickly learn my way around the city where I live and the one where I work -- there is simply no rest for the weary.
But it is all good. I am back to doing what I enjoy the most -- working as a journalist.
Before I left Afrika, I travelled deep into a remote corner of Kenya where I encountered an adventurer who has been pursuing some of the most precious stones in the continent, including Tsavorite, Ruby and others. I will tell you more about that trip in my next posting ...

2006-04-19T18:47:00.000+03:00

Nelson Mandela spent most of his 27 years in jail at the notorious Robben Island. I walked into the prison recently, eager for insight into conditions he must have endured in his quiet, but determined struggle to dismantle the Apartheid system in South Africa.
A walk through cold corridors in the maximum security section revealed thick iron bars on narrow windows, blankets that served as bedding for Mandela and a bucket intended to use as a toilet in the cell in which the iconic African statesman languished in this wind swept island.
The dehumanizing hardships endured by South Africans jailed in the island, located 12 kilometers from Cape Town, failed to break their spirit or extinguish the clamor for equality in the country that now boasts Africa's largest economy.
Mandela is gone from Robben Island, but the jail remains as a towering testament to
"the triumph of the human spirit, of freedom and of democracy over oppression."
Robben Island, which was used between the 17th and 20th centuries as a leper colony, military base and prison - effectively home to those deemed as undesirable to South African rulers - was declared a U.N. world heritage site in 1999.
The trip to the island involved a ferry that carried more than 150 tourists to the historical site.
Walking from the quay, we immediately saw a building in which prisoners used to meet visiting relatives. A disused artillery gun was ahead.
A fleet of buses took us for a visit around the island, that is also home to penguins, seals, springboks, ostriches and other wildlife.
Finally, we walked into the prison, with one of the former inmates acting as a tour guide as he described conditions in the facility during their incarceration and how prisoners in the maximum security section communicated with others using cooks to pass on messages and tennis balls stuffed with written notes.
I walked into a cell next to that of Mandela's and locked the gate for a glimpse of the outside world from the wrong side of the thick iron bars. That brief experience showed that life must have been lonely and stressful for those who spent years in that place against their will.
The island is now a museum and wildlife sanctuary, a place where even Coca Cola gladly calls home - as seen from the large refrigerator standing in the prison's kitchen, bearing the global brand.

2006-03-29T19:04:00.000+03:00

For 30 years Eritreans sacrificed their lives as well as those of their sons and daughters to fight for independence from their larger neighbor, Ethiopia.
Five years after Eritrea's 1993 independence, the two countries went to war - this time over their disputed 1,000-kilometer border that was never officially demarcated during the decades they existed side by side.
The guns are silent now, but tensions remain high since the border dispute has not been resolved because Ethiopia rejected in 2003 to let an independent border commission to demarcate their border.
Ethiopia was unhappy that the commission had awarded the disputed town of Badme, the flashpoint of their 1998-2000 border war, and other territories to Eritrea. The commission was set up under the countries' 2002 peace agreement under they both agreed in advance that its border ruling will be final and binding.
Eritrea has criticized Ethiopia's attempts to overturn the ruling as attempts to shift the goal post after the rival side has scored a goal.
The Red Sea state has pressed the United Nations, the U.S., European Union and other countries to use their economic might to press Ethiopia - that receives some $1.9 billion in humanitarian and development aid annually - to respect the peace agreement and resolve the border dispute conclusively.
I traveled to Eritrea recently to see the impact of the unresolved border dispute on the country's economy and lives of people in the boundary, where heavily-armed militiamen from the two countries watch the movements of the other with suspicion.
I traveled by road around the mountainous nation, whose narrow Red Sea coastal plain is one of the hottest and driest places in Africa. The cooler central highlands, where the capital lies, have fertile valleys that support agriculture.
THIS IS NO SIMPLE DISPUTE
The Eritrea-Ethiopia border dispute is not a simple border dispute.
For Eritrea, the land dispute is a matter of national pride and the ultimate assertion of independence. Many Ethiopians still do not accept Eritrea's independence, and some writers have claimed that politicians see the loss of Badme could exact a hefty political price at the ballot box.
Eritrean officials, however, have consistently pointed out that the border ruling was based on a study of boundaries set by colonial rulers as well as arguments presented by lawyers for the two countries.
They warn that Ethiopia's refusal to respect their peace treaty and the ruling of the international arbitrators would set a dangerous precedent for other African countries that have recently signed agreements to end internal and international conflicts.
THE ROOTS OF IT ALL
Ethiopia and Eritrea were separate entities for decades until 1952, when a U.N. resolution joined them in a federation over Eritrean objections. In 1962, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie annexed Eritrea, sparking the Eritrean fight for independence.
Eritrea gained independence in 1993, but its 1,000-kilometer border with Ethiopia was never officially demarcated. The two Horn of Africa nations went to war over the border in 1998, fighting for 2 1/2 years until they signed a cease-fire and peace agreements in Algeria in 2000.

2006-02-09T18:42:00.000+03:00

I took a walk in the wild recently, where I hanged out with a rhino and even touched its thick hide. Although this was a relatively tame rhino, called Morani, it was still a dangerous animal - so we were accompanied by a game warden who was armed with a rifle. We all walked away with our lives and limbs intact.
The rhino is a large, primitive-looking mammal that dates from the Miocene era, an ancient period during which early humans are thought to have evolved in Africa. Nowadays, the rhino is threatened by people seeking its horn for use in folk medicine and high-priced ornaments and jewelry, although it is not a true horn - it is made of thickly matted hair that grows from the skull without skeletal support.
Since 1970 the world rhino population has declined by 90 percent, with five species remaining in the world today - two of them in Africa - all of which are endangered, according to the Africa Wildlife Foundation.
My wildlife adventure also took me to a chimpanzee that quickly proved that members of the species are curious, intelligent and social - they are mammals that are most like humans.
A male chimpanzee stopped walking on the soles of feet and the knuckles of its hands when it saw humans. It stood upright and walked on two feet with great pride, and great effort, as if to say that we are no different from him. If that was the point the chimp was trying to make, then he was not far off the mark because more than 98 percent of the human genetic code is similar to that of a chimpanzee. Definitely something to think about.

2006-01-27T14:13:00.000+03:00

Disaster struck at noon. Dozens of construction workers were having lunch or napping after working for some six hours at a five-story building when the structure shook and collapsed, trapping many in a concrete-and-steel tomb in downtown Nairobi.
I arrived at the site shortly after the collapse and saw hundreds of street vendors, shop keepers, the unemployed, passers by and others rush to the rubble and use their bare hands, crow bars, sledgehammers and other primitive equipment to free some of the victims from the dusty tomb.
People desperately shouted the names of friends and relatives through drainage pipes and holes cut through the concrete. A victim pushed an arm through the rubble and asked for help, saying that a colleague was pinned on the legs by a massive concrete slab nearby.
Thus began the latest man-made tragedy to hit this East African nation, in the afternoon of Monday, Jan. 23, 2006.
The disaster was a product of corruption and incompetence at the City Council of Nairobi as well as greed by owners of the ill-fated building. On day four, troops lit a memorial flame at the site to mark the end of efforts to rescue possible survivors. Rescuers will now focus on recovering the remains of anyone still beneath the rubble.
Reports allege that owners rushed construction workers to put up new floors before concrete on the lower level had set properly.
Soon after the tragedy struck, Kenyan politicians made noises to the effect that the country has learned a lot from the latest tragedy.
The insincere comments apparently tested the patience of Kenya’s Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Jeremiah Kianga. He made that clear when he was given the microphone at the televised memorial service Thursday.
"This is not the first time that we are learning lessons, and we cannot be students forever," Kianga said.
Relatives have named 10 people whom they said were working at the site before the building collapsed and are now missing. More than 100 people were injured in the collapse. About 280 laborers were at the site in central Nairobi when the building came down, survivors said.
In May 1996, at least 16 people when the marquee of a building housing a supermarket and a photographic studio collapsed after a strong thunderclap and bolt of lightning. It was the last major building collapse experienced in Kenya's capital city and a report of an inquiry into the building's collapse has never been acted on.
There are fears that many buildings in Nairobi either being put up or already constructed in recent years have not been properly inspected because of rampant corruption in the City Council of Nairobi.
It remains to be seen whether anything will change following the latest tragedy.

2006-01-16T18:25:00.000+03:00

A great tragedy unfolds everyday in northern Uganda, where for nearly 20 years now residents have lived in fear of brutal attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army – a rebel group that is notorious for abducting children and forcing them to become combatants or sex slaves. The elusive insurgents are also feared for their practice of hacking off body parts from civilians, turning them into living warnings to people not to support the government.
I traveled to the region recently to meet some of the thousands of children who trek from their isolated homes every night to take shelter in urban centers in an effort to escape the violence and possible abduction.
I also met some of the women who had their lips and ears mutilated by the insurgents and heard tales of their horrific experience.

More than 1.5 million people have fled their homes to escape attacks by rebels or on the orders of the government that is keen to deny food and support to the insurgents. The people now live in sprawling, overcrowded camps made up of conical, thatched huts, where disease and hunger kill 1,000 people a week more than would otherwise be expected to die in the region.

Doreen Aciro, above left, is a victim of the horrific mutilation. She was abducted
when she went to fetch firewood outside her camp, that is similar to the one above. The rebel commander, who was between 17 and 20 years old, then pulled out a razor blade and gave it to a 10-year-old fighter and ordered him to cut her ears and then her lips.
The cultlike Lord's Resistance Army is led by a shadowy figure, Joseph Kony, and made up of the remnants of a northern insurgency that began after southerner Yoweri Museveni took power in 1986. Its numbers are believed few, but it has thrived on creating fear. The government also has been accused of atrocities, and of herding civilians into camps to ensure the rebels find no supporters in the countryside.