Check out the excerpt below from an interview with Border Jumpers featured on InspiringTravellers.com and then read the whole thing by clicking here!
Your goal is to travel to nearly every country on the continent. What similarities and differences among regions and countries are you finding as you make your way around?
Bernard: We see more similarities than differences. In all countries the people were friendly and welcoming, mostly excited to share with us their work and projects. Everywhere people seemed to share the same general hopes and dreams for themselves and their families. We’ve also almost always been able to communicate, even when language is a barrier. Dani is a vegan and I am vegetarian, and we’ve found that families, restaurants, etc, go out of their way to accommodate us. With that said, East Africa goes out of its way, making a point even in tiny corner restaurants to list at least one vegetarian meal. In Eastern Africa, we found the people a bit more reserved (still very friendly), while in Western Africa it is much easier to break the ice.
What is your favorite place in Africa so far and why?
Danielle: Kigali, Rwanda. It’s another place that, despite all the terrible things that have happened over the last couple of decades, the people have an incredible spirit for hope and change. Our visit to the genocide museum was a very moving experience. Also, the landscape is so lush and beautiful.
Original at borderjumpers1.blogspot.com
Bernard Pollack, an expert on local labor movements and communications, is currently traveling across the continent of Africa with his partner Danielle Nierenberg BorderJumpers.org, meeting with farmers, community organizers, labor activists/leaders, non-governmental organization (NGOs), the funding and donor communities, and others.
His travel writing from Africa has recently been featured in the Montreal Gazette, the NC News Observer, the Omaha World-Herald, and the Des Moines Register.
He holds an M.A. in Political Management from The George Washington University School of Political Management and a B.A. from the Elliot School of International Affairs at George Washington University.
