People

From rural Mali to the world

Yaya Coulabaly is part of a group called Fasokan Segou which uses the Internet to connect with the world outside Mali. Here he tells us more about the project, and life in rural Mali.

Hello Yaya, thank you for taking the time of answering our questions. Can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers?

Hello and first of all a big thank you to Eddie Avila from Rising Voices and Lucy Chatburn from PocketCultures for giving me the opportunity to talk of rural Mali and our blog.

Yaya Coulibaly

My name is Yaya Coulibaly, I’m 27 and am agronomist (agricultural technician and engineer). I play football and love soft music as it allows me to work on my data without losing focus.

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Picture Postcards: only in New Zealand

Today we have to thank Marie for sending a particularly New Zealand example of graffiti/street art showing Sir Edmund Hillary and a South Pacific wahine.

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Letter from Basra, Iraq

Dear S.

A few days ago I arrived in Basra – upon stepping out of the plane, the heat slapped me in the face. Captured, from this very moment on my body has been dictating since then my daily routine.

Camels on the road into Basra

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The Beach Culture in Sanur, Bali

Until I moved to a proper beach town, I didn’t really realize how different the beach culture is from country to country, or even city to city.

In Ipanema, Rio, for example, the beach is for tanning and playing volleyball, for surfing and partying. In Sanur, Bali, the beach has its own personality- distinct and fantastic in its own right, but more quiet and subdued. It’s a place for a long walk, stopping to pick up flowers from the path; it’s a place to sit and have a long, lazy lunch of nasi goreng; to ride your bike and watch it all unfold. (more…)

Living in Hong Kong

I live in a small Hong Kong apartment – 450 square feet, barely enough for me to walk around once I set up a big clothing rack to dry my laundry. I have shifted my bed to the living room ever since I spot molds in the bedroom walls. Humidity is a big issue in Hong Kong, especially during winter. My landlord clearly loves IKEA and adores white coats of paint.

The building has two security guards rotating on a 12-hour shift. They smile at me whenever I get home and, sometimes, we engage in small talks. Let’s see, by now I know that they earn around HKD8,000 every month and have an off-day every week. It is not a lot of money, considering that the amount is less than my rent in Hong Kong. Some people say that it is not difficult to make money in Hong Kong. I guess it depends on the group of people that you are looking at. Most locals do not seem to have it that easy. I laugh to myself whenever I come home late at night, noticing how they manage to make themselves comfortable enough to fall asleep in that small space. On days when I feel wicked, I let go of the heavy metal gate fast just to jolt them up from their sleep with a loud bang. I justify by thinking that, “hey isn’t it their job to stay awake?” Clearly, a long day out in Hong Kong does great damage to my sanity.

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Picture Postcards: Canadians celebrating Canada day

Thanks to Xiaozhuli for sharing this photo of Canadians celebrating Canada Day in Ottowa.

Next week we have a new photo theme – graffiti and street art. If you have a photo to share please add it to our photo group on Flickr. We’ll post our favourites here on Picture Postcards.

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