On First World Pneumonia Day

Sebastian Rich

I am not a clever wordsmith. I am a photographer. I capture moments, frequently moments of acute suffering.

While covering a story on blood diamonds in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), I captured a moment that continues to haunt me. It did not take place in a mineshaft but rather a rural clinic. The village hospice was erected out of flattened oil drums, broken wooden boxes, and old USAID grain sacks. The heat inside was unbearable; I had never seen a cat sweat before. Mosquitoes the size of house flies clung to the ceiling waiting for nightfall.

While I was inside the structure, a mother stumbled in with her nine-year-old daughter, Maria. She had just carried the girl 25 kilometers in the broiling sun.

The medic took Maria and placed her on the dirt floor. It was wrenching to listen to her labored breathing while watching the medic rummage through his supplies of sticky plasters and out-of-date ibuprofen tablets—nothing that could possibly help the girl.

I put my hand on Maria’s forehead and could not believe the level of heat trapped within her small frame. The artery on her neck was pounding like an angry snake. Her lips were bright blue, a sure sign of impaired oxygen exchange in the lungs. Pneumonia.

The medic jotted words down in a grimy notebook while Maria’s eyes filled with water and closed. I have had a few military medic courses so I abandoned my camera and placed an ear to Maria’s chest.

I could hear fluid building up alarmingly in her lungs. Her heart rate slowed and she stopped breathing. I started CPR. This caused great consternation in the medic, who was probably never trained to recognize the symptoms of pneumonia even though the DRC’s cases rank some of the highest in the world. He probably was never trained in much at all.

I resisted his attempts to pull me away and continued administering CPR, but I could not revive the girl with the long eyelashes. She died in my arms. She died from a disease a cheap vaccine could have prevented.

Immense funds are poured into HIV/AIDs research each year—while this is unarguably important, we must not neglect the diseases we can already treat. According to the World Health Organization, pneumonia is the world’s leading killer of young children, claiming a life every 15 seconds.

- Sebastian Rich

Can’t Touch This

(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, files)

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s reelection in April 2008 signaled good news for the accused. Now, not only was he claiming sanctuary possible in cathedrals and embassies, but in Italian government offices as well. Immediately upon entering his 3rd term the Premier passed a law granting immunity to Italy’s top four officials—cleanly halting the two corruption trials against him.

Even prior to the immunity act, Berllusconi was virtually untouchable. The media tycoon-turned politician controls three of Italy’s main TV channels and has subdued most of the others with threats of million-dollar defamation lawsuits. With such command of the media, Berlusconi has been able to pursue reckless philandering and dubious business practices with remarkable leniency.

But the 73-year-old’s impregnable status may be finally slipping. Last week, Judge Raimondo Mesiano found Berlusconi “co-responsible” for bribing a judge to decide in favor of his company’s takeover of a rival publisher in 1990. Mesiano has ordered Berlusconi’s company to pay $1.1 billion in indemnities. What’s more, yesterday the Italian Constitutional Court convened to evaluate the constitutionality of the immunity law itself. Prosecutors assert that it clearly violates the 3^rd Article which states that the law must treat all citizens as equals. Berlusconi’s defense and allies counter that the head of government must be “serene” while governing.

The decision by the 15-member court is expected this week. If they decide in favor of the Immunity Law, the Premier’s power will be more entrenched than ever. If they decide against it, however, Berlusconi will no longer be exempt from his bribery and tax fraud trials. The 73-year-old Premier will be in court while in office.

-Ellesse Sorbonne

Transparency or Calculated Translucency?

(REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi)

On October 4^th, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) emerged from a meeting with the Iranian government looking decidedly composed. Mohamed ElBaradei announced that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had just made two significant concessions: He had agreed to enter into talks earlier that dealt with exporting its uranium to be converted into an innocuous nuclear fuel. And he had granted IAEA inspectors access to the recently-divulged nuclear enrichment.  ElBaradei announced that while his agency still harbors some skepticism over Iran’s nuclear intentions, he deemed the recent negotiations, “a shifting from confrontation into transparency and cooperation.”

U.S. officials are less optimistic. The inspection is set for October 24^th—a full ten days after the disclosure date demanded by the Obama administration last week. They worry that the extra time will allow Iran to move incriminating evidence, noting that Iran could very well operate a number of covert nuclear facilities. U.S. Congress stands poised to block gas and refined petroleum exports to Iran if Tehran deviates from its agreements.

-Ellesse Sorbonne

E.U.’s Relief Short-lived?

(REUTERS/Francois Lenoir)

After 16 months of nail-biting, ulcer-inducing waiting by the European Union, Ireland has finally signed the Lisbon Treaty.  The legislation—which calls for an E.U. president, a foreign policy chief, and decisions dictated no longer dictated by unanimity—was approved by a two-thirds majority vote on October 2^nd.

Ireland’s startling rejection last June was triggered by fears that an empowered E.U. would force Ireland to join a European army, legalize abortion, and raise its business taxes. Over the last year, Brussels has worked feverishly to reassure the Irish public that such outcomes would not be the case. While these efforts no doubt contributed to Ireland’s change of heart, the greater impetus was pending financial calamity. Ireland has been one of the hardest hit in the economic crisis: the Celtic nation’s unemployment has doubled; its debt has skyrocketed; and its banks teeter on the brink of ruin.

Under pressure to maintain its foreign investors—not to mention the $80 billion bailout offered by European Central Bank—Ireland’s second referendum yielded a resounding “Yes.”  Ireland Prime Minister Brian Cowen announced the results proclaiming, “It is a good day for Ireland and it is a good day for Europe.”

While there is cause for optimism, the situation still demands careful maneuvering. Prior to the October 29^th E.U. summit, signatures must be obtained from Poland and the Czech Republic’s notably euro-skeptic heads of state. Even after approval by all 27 nations, the greatest challenge may be actually naming the president and foreign policy chief. European leaders will have to decide if they are willing to sacrifice their own political limelight for prominent heads that will demand international respect.

-Ellesse Sorbonne

A Pivotal Relationship

(Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

Clinton has called China-U.S. interaction, “the most important relationship of the 21^st century,” and last night at a dinner hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, she unequivocally maintained that conviction. Clinton stressed that the nations contain two of the world’s three largest economies, two of its largest populations, two of its largest militaries, and are also the world’s largest consumers of energy and producers of carbon emissions. Clinton insisted that since Chinese and American policies have such a staggering impact, the nations must shoulder the responsibility of not just their respective populations—but of the world at large.

The dinner was held in honor of His Excellency Wu Bangguo, Chairman of the National People’s Congress (NPC) of the People’s Republic of China. It has been over twenty years since a NPC Chairperson—essentially China’s chief lawmaker—has visited the United States. Clinton noted that it had been the largest gathering of top leaders from the two countries since their diplomatic beginnings some thirty years ago.

Both parties expressed that the interaction had afforded great progress in negotiating how to jointly-approach issues such as climate change, nuclear proliferation, pandemic, and the financial crisis. This past week of dialogue is one of many new initiatives spearheaded by the Obama administration to improve China-U.S. rapport. As Clinton eloquently expressed, “President Obama and I believe we are entering a new era in China-U.S. relations. Building a strong relationship with China is a central goal of the Obama administration and a personal priority of mine.”

-Ellesse Sorbonne

Drug Lord Vice Presidential Hopeful?

(Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times)

President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan has always led with warlords in his midst. Indeed, a number of his top officials are widely-recognized criminals. But in his current bid for re-election, the president is actually naming a prominent drug trafficker as his running mate.

The nominated Marshal Muhammad Qasim Fahim—Afghanistan’s one-time Defense Minister—mortified the Bush Administration in 2002 when after receiving millions of dollars in cash to help overthrow the Taliban, was discovered flying cargo planes full of heroin into Russia.

The last administration chose to turn a blind eye on Fahim’s exploits,but the current one may not be as lenient. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton bluntly told President Karzai that his standing with the United States and other countries would be compromised by appointing Fahim as his vice presidential candidate.

Ultimately, if Fahim does secure the office, the U.S. will find itself in an uncomfortable impasse between maintaining a crucial relationship with the Karzai government and condemning one of its foremost leader’s corruption.

-Ellesse Sorbonne

China Finally Pushes Voluntary Organ Transplant Initiative

(Martin Bureau/AFP)

After decades of seedy, even alarming, organ transplant accounts, China has initiated a new voluntary organ donor initiative. The program hopes to replace the current norm of gleaning organs from

executed convicts, from the black market, and more often than not—not gleaning any organs at all.According to officials, out of China’s population of 1.3 billion an astonishing mere 36 individuals donated their organs last year. Chen Zhonghua, from the Institute of Organ Transplantation in Shanghai, blames this lack of enthusiasm on China’s grisly history of organ

trafficking. It’s not surprising that the population prefers to avoid the topic when kidney-lacking corpses like the one found June 15 in Guizhou Province frequently surface in the news.

Chen acknowledged that it will be a daunting task to get China’s voluntary program up to speed with other countries. But with more than 1.5 million Chinese citizens estimated to require an organ transplant and the Chinese government simultaneously clamping down on death penalties, it is an adjustment that will have to happen soon.

-Ellesse Sorbonne