Warming up for Zambia

This is One Woman's News Agency telling you stories about my journey to become a kind of journalist I always wanted to be. My dream has been to travel around, get to know different places and cultures, observe the world, and cover the everyday life of its people. Tomorrow I will be getting one step closer to my dream when traveling to Zambia for some journalism exchange and internship for 3 months. And I'll be very happy to share my experiences in this blog with people who might be interested to know more about my journey.

Already as a child I had an obsession with Africa. The summer 2008 I managed to get myself to Nigeria for work, and since I got addicted to the vivid atmosphere, I traveled there two more times, and was lucky to visit Ghana, too. Now I'm thrilled to see new side of Africa, and explore the Southern and Eastern parts of the continent. Besides Zambia, I've at least plans to go to Tanzania, and two of my dream destinations there: Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar.

Last weekend I was already getting into right mood by volunteering at the Helsinki Africa Film Festival (HAFF). That's absolutely a festival I would recommend to anyone interested in Africa, good films, meeting interesting people, and having fun. My task was to photograph the different events at the festival but I also had chance to go to see some of the films. Trough watching those films I explore the tough way of life in Nairobi (Nairobi Half Life), the meaning of love in Bamako (Swirl in Bamako), teenage anxiety in Mauritius (the Children of Troumaron), and the cruelty of female genital mutilation in Senegal (Sabarah).

The best thing about watching those movies was the chance to dive into worlds that I might not be able to experience otherwise. Sounds very pathetic but I wish my blog could open new worlds for its readers, too. Since I'm still in Finland impatiently waiting for my flight to Lusaka, the only thing I can share with you right now is some pictures from the Club HAFF. Good night and morning, will get back to you as soon as I reached Lusaka, settled down a bit, and get the internet working.

                                          Zoumana Dembele from Burkina Faso

                                          Mande Maja Band

                                          Es-Ow Diato & Ridial Band