Development reads this week
Plus, we’re on Twitter now!
Hi there, readers of The Development Set!
First, we have an announcement: We’ve joined the Twitterverse! In the coming months, we’ll be using @thedevset to experiment with new methods of social storytelling. We want to meet people right in their Twitter timelines with great conversations about development, global health, and social change.
Here are our favorite reads from this week:
Meet the Instagrammers Challenging How You See Congo
By Miriam Berger in Buzzfeed
International media portrayals of this war-torn country can erase the complexity of what it’s actually like to live there. These photographers — Ley Uwera and Esther Nsapu — challenge narratives as they use their Instagram accounts to depict life in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
I’m an OB-GYN treating women with Zika: This is what it’s like
By Christine Curry in The Conversation
Christine Curry, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Miami, describes what it’s like to treat patients during the outbreak of a new disease. She’s treated over a dozen pregnant women who have been infected with Zika. She takes us through the conversations she has with her patients and the decisions she must make as a doctor charting unknown territory.
Flint’s Water Crisis and the “Troublemaker” Scientist
By Donovan Hohn in The New York Times Magazine
Marc Edwards has made a career out of investigating and exposing dangerous water in U.S. cities — most famously and most recently, in Flint, Michigan. He’s a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech, but his work has tended to go beyond just science to advocacy. This NYT Magazine spotlight has me thinking about the relationship between academics and the public — and the danger of “hero” narratives.
A Father Vows to Save His Daughter From a Marriage He Forced Her Into
By Nurith Aizenman in NPR
Six years ago, Lumbaram married his 15-year-old daughter, Durga, to a man in his forties. Now, he’s on a mission to free her — and, in the process, he’s become an advocate for young women across their village and saved dozens of girls from early marriage.
A Year in Rio’s Favelas
By Jonathan Watts, Thaís Cavalcante, Daiene Mendes, and Michel Silva in The Guardian
“By any measure, it has been an extraordinary year. But, what also comes through in the diaries is how residents in the favelas get on with their lives, celebrate festivals, share achievements and support one another. The Olympics and the police, it seems, merely get in the way.”
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We’re also accepting pitches for The Development Set again! You can email Sarika Bansal at sarika.bansal@gmail.com pitches about global health, social enterprise, and philanthropy. We’re open to feature-length stories, personal essays, thought pieces, and op-eds. Include the subject line “TDS Pitch.”
Reach out to us on Twitter (@thedevset, @jennygathright, and @sarika008) with any thoughts or questions! Otherwise, we’ll see you next week.
