kriticulture

By Mantoe Phakathi Yacouba Sawadogo, a peasant farmer from Burkina Faso, is known as the "man who stopped the desert." But when he first tried to save his arid land from desertification by planting the trees that have since grown into a 15-hectare forest, people in his village thought he was mad. ... In the new land plan the government claims ownership of Sawadogo’s forest and fields and divides his father’s grave into two. Seeing his father’s grave being split to give way for the construction of a house kills him as much as the idea of letting go of his forest does, Sawadogo said. The only way Sawadogo can retain his land is if he buys it back from government. It is an option that he feels is both unfair and unaffordable. Sawadogo would need 100,000 Euros to buy back the forest alone. "This is unjust," he said. "I’ve worked so hard for this and now the government is punishing me." He has been to the United States where he pled his ca...

Daljit Ami Finding one of his primary school classmates doing menial jobs, Gursharan Singh got the shock of his life at the age of twelve. Tears rolled out of his eyes that Shingara despite having the most beautiful handwriting among classmates had to drop out of school.  Gursharan could not help himself and tears kept on rolling from his eyes throughout life, every time he talked about Shingara. At the age of 82, Gursharan breathed his last on September 27, 2011. He kept his commitment with his childhood friend and fought against all forms of injustice in society. Theatre was his tool to raise loudest possible voice against any kind of exploitation and inequality. The energy he enthused into his performances remained unparallel. How can a person maintain such intensity and energy for such a long time? Dr. Areet, his daughter shares that he could never talk about Shingara without crying  Born on September 16, 1929 in Multan (now Pakistan) Gursharan Singh was one of the mill...