A new adventure for The Development Set
Dear readers,
I have some news for all of you: I’m relocating to Nairobi, Kenya next month! I’m really excited about this new step in my life, both personally and professionally. I’m particularly looking forward to meeting journalists and artists in Africa who I don’t have access to in NYC, and discovering how being based in the “global south” can amplify our mission to reinvent storytelling about social issues.
For all of you, there are three immediate implications. First, we will be going on a short hiatus as I move, until at least mid-September. Second, when we re-launch, we will be combining The Development Set with our sister publication Bright — and hopefully building something even more creative and provocative. Third, I’m looking to hire a small team in Nairobi! If you’re based there and are interested in discussing opportunities with Honeyguide Media, please email me at sarika@honeyguidemedia.org (with the subject line “Honeyguide recruitment”).
I’m so proud of what we’ve created together over the last year, and what the next phase will bring.
With respect and admiration,
Sarika Bansal
Until then, here are the stories we’ve put out this past week. Enjoy!
Surviving Life Under the Khmer Rouge
By Steve Teare
Stunning comic detailing one man’s recollection of his time in a forced labor camp in 1970s Cambodia —including running into a tiger in the jungle — and how he’s gotten over his trauma since escaping.
Should Doctors Go On Strike?
By Tim Matsui
Healthcare providers in Alaska, Haiti, and Kenya have more in common than you think: they’re all exhausted from watching people die from easily treated conditions, and taking matters into their own hands.
When A Big Fat Indian Wedding Costs Too Much, “Wedding Kits” Help
By Nupur Roopa
Could India’s wealthy help offset the financial burden of weddings in poorer parts of the country?
Don’t Cut Women’s Programs. Embed Them!
“There is a structural reason why it’s so easy to cut funding to women-focused programs. It would be a more difficult task if it were embedded in the government budgeting process and not treated as separate or “special” programming.”
Fellow Kenyans: Our Obsession with Tribalism Is Destroying Us
“While politicians continue to beat the tribalism drums, Kenyans dance to the tunes. Political campaigns are turned into grounds for politicians to divide and conquer.
“Tribalism has eaten up the fabric of Kenyan social life. It controls everything, from careers, to choosing a spouse, to picking a leader. Even the most educated and powerful participate strongly in promoting ethnicity and divisions. Kenyans are misled into viewing each other as “rival” tribes and “enemies” and to view each other with suspicion and distrust.”
Thank you all for your support in making The Development Set is what it is today! Can’t wait to continue what we’ve started — on the other side of the planet.
