XDR-TB was brought to the world's attention in 2006, after it was identified in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is a mutation of tuberculosis (TB), a contagious bacterial disease that usually affects the lungs. TB, which spreads through the air, is a major cause of illness and death worldwide, particularly in Asia and Africa. In 2006 there were 9.2 million new cases of TB and 1.7 million deaths from the disease.

TB is treatable, but inadequate treatment can lead to the emergence of drug-resistant strains of the disease, such as XDR-TB. This type of TB is resistant to all of the most effective anti-TB drugs, severely limiting treatment options for people with XDR-TB and resulting in a much higher death rate. This video provides an overview of TB and XDR-TB. It's unknown how widespread XDR-TB is, but it's estimated that 25,000 to 30,000 new cases surface every year, and XDR-TB has been found in 49 counties around the world. Scientists are calling XDR-TB a serious emerging threat to public health.

Ridzuan, blogging on Ridz.sg, expresses dismay over the unnecessary emergence of XDR-TB:

“There is a problem when a disease that’s both preventable and curable is allowed to mutate to become a strain that’s extremely resistant to the drugs that we use today.”

Nachtwey traveled to countries such as India, Cambodia, South Africa, and Lesotho to put faces to this problem. His photos and the accompanying XDR-TB Web site were launched on October 3. This short video shows 37 of his black and white photos, revealing XDR-TB's terrible impact.

The release of this video and the unveiling of Nachtwey's photos, have created a buzz among the art and public health communities. tunneling thru’ talks about the emotional impact of his photos.

“I don’t know anyone who is suffering from it [XDR-TB], but that is no excuse for me to flip through an album or site and walk away unaffected. There is no personal angle to this. Just a need to share and see if it makes a difference. The pictures within spoke more emotions than I knew I was capable of.”

Bloggers are also discussing how Nachtwey's images are motivation to take action, and the power of his photos to create change. Luke Freeman, blogging on A Shoe Box Full of Pictures, says:

“The photography is powerful, yet the purpose behind the images gives this project even more meaning. These are not just images. Work like this will change the world. Photography, coupled with a selfless, heart-felt response has the power to affect change.”

Since TB is a major cause of death among people with HIV/AIDS, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, concerns also exist about XDR-TB's potential impact on those who are HIV positive. There were an estimated 710,000 HIV positive TB patients globally in 2006. Journal of the Plague Years points out that despite this, only one percent of those diagnosed with HIV are tested for TB worldwide, and that TB testing must become routine for HIV positive people.

“Doctors, scientists and public health experts are warning that a worldwide pandemic of extremely drug resistant tuberculosis will be the next big 'surprise' to emanate from the AIDS epidemic, if, as we move forward we are not informed by our look at the past.”

In My Heart's in Accra…, Ethan Zuckerman, a co-founder of Global Voices Online, discusses other steps needed to stop XDR-TB.

“Nachtwey’s intervention is a timely one - the ways to prevent XDR-TB from becoming a pervasive global threat have to do with strengthening healthcare systems in vulnerable nations. If hospitals and community health organizations can diagnose TB early and ensure compliance with treatment, the disease shouldn’t progress to multiple drug resistance. But improving developing world hospitals is a difficult and expensive task. Eliminating pharmaceutical fakes may be even more difficult. Fake prescription drugs are extremely common in developing nations.”

Sproutingforth, blogging on Urban Sprout, adds that the lack of funding is a major issue.

“Reversing the TB epidemic is a political issue as much as it is a health issue. The World Health Organization estimates that it will cost approximately $6.7 billion annually to reverse the TB epidemic. Currently, only slightly more than half of that is projected to be available at current funding levels. This gap is costing millions of lives.”

Nachtwey’s photographs will be on display throughout October in public spaces spanning all seven continents, including cities such as New York, Paris, Melbourne, Seoul, Hong Kong, and London.

Stop XDR-TB logo posted by ElseKramer on Flickr.

We, the people of South Africa, feel fulfilled that humanity has taken us back into its bosom, that we, who were outlaws not so long ago, have today been given the rare privilege to be host to the nations of the world on our own soil.

– from Nelson Mandela's Inauguration as President of South Africa, Pretoria, 10 May 1994.

Nelson Mandela, photo from the ANC archives, where you can also find some selected speeches, statements and writings, such as the speech on release from prison.

Nelson Mandela, anti-apartheid activist and the first South African president to be elected in fully representative democratic elections, celebrates his 90th birthday today and the tributes have crossed the borders of his home, Qunu, a small rural village in Eastern Cape, South Africa. The world is singing happy birthday in one voice and sending him a card. We concentrated on the happy returns posts from African based bloggers, who reflect here on the changes Madiba brought to their lives and countries, and dream about the future.

Rethabile Masilo, a blogger originally from Lesotho, remembers the moment when she realised the importance of Mandela's fight. Her account of a great family experience reaching South Africa as a refugee is worth a visit at the Black Looks blog:

I had a light bulb above my head, just like in cartoons, and the hair on my arms stood on end. The name Nelson Mandela dropped of it’s own accord into my head, and I truly, really understood why he had sacrificed his life against this… thing. For that particular zombie instant, hair on end, a stupid smile on my face, I knew why. I want to wish him a happy birthday today, and tell him that we know.

From South Africa, Sandi Schultz from My Whorl remembers clearly a day in early February 1990 when she heard Mandela, her ultimate hero, was freed, after 27 years in prison for fighting for a democratic and free society:

10 february 1990 - we’re in the airport lounge in brussels. i see someone i know and she shouts out, “mandela’s free tomorrow!” wow, we are floored by the news! at long last - and we’re going to be home when it happens.

we land sometime in the early hours and head straight for soweto to watch madiba’s release on tv with friends of john’s. it is momentous! the man walks out, taller, more charismatic than anyone could have imagined. larger than life. a survivor of the seemingly impossible.

Louder than Swahili, a blog by a Danish expatriate in Tanzania, says that there is a lot to learn from Mandela, specially when it comes to our ability to forgive. She believes he is not just a normal president:

Mandela has gotten a position very few politicians could ever hope for. It is very much due to Mandela that the country has been able to change and create a positive image of what now is labelled the rainbow nation. But keeping this brand alive is also very much dependent on how his predecessors manage to continue running the country.

Photo from the ANC archives, a portrait from 1994 election poster. Read here his speech announcing the victory.

On a post called ‘Bring Back Nelson Mandela', Africa is a Country makes some interesting observations about South Africa in 2008:

It’s of course a very interesting time to celebrate Mandela’s 90th birthday. It’s been 18 years since has released from prison and 14 years since he was first elected as President. And yes, in some ways South Africa today is unrecognizable from the country Mandela encountered in 1990. But some of the old inequalities persist. South Africa — a country that revels in its “special” status — is also becoming an ordinary country.

Memoires of Africa also reflects on Mandela's country difficult situation nowadays, and hopes that the hero's legacy will not be forgotten:

It’s a day for many to reflect on his legacy. At a time when South Africa is going through political upheavals many pray for his wisdom to be transferred to the current and potential future leadership of the country. Will his legacy be carried out to ensure that the stability and the future of this country reflect what he fought for? But let’s not get into politics for today… Ube neminye iminyaka Tata…

From Mozambique, Seguindo os Sonhos [Following Dreams, pt], a musical group of four talented children, pays a special homage to Mandela with a song recorded specially for his 90th Birthday. They will sing it at his birthday party in Maputo, on August 10th. You can read the lyrics here. Today's post is a happy birthday one:

Nelson Mandela, nosso ídolo ! Hoje a tarde vai receber em África do Sul um pequeno presente nosso: um DVD com a nossa música e o nosso video para seu nonagésimo aniversário. Você é um homem de um coração tão humanístico como há muito poucos neste mundo de hoje, cheio de egoístas e de líderes políticos cuja maioria persegue agendas individuais e não de índole nacional que possam beneficiar os seus compatriotas de que se proclamam seus representantes e defensores.

Nelson Mandela, our idol! This afternoon you will receive in South Africa a small gift from us: a DVD with our music and our video for your ninetieth birthday. You are a man of a humanist heart as there are very few in today's world, full of selfish people and political leaders who in the majority pursue individual agendas rather than domestic ones that could benefit their compatriots, and they proclaim themselves people's representatives and defenders.

Jennifer Reynard tried not to cry at her desk (and she failed) as she went through her first memories of Nelson Mandela leaving jail, then the election day, watching the inauguration on TV and his 90th birthday:

Natasha, Tanja and I are at Natasha’s aunt and uncle’s house. “Did you send an sms for Mandela’s birthday?” Tush asks me. “Yes- but I kept it very simple. Just ‘Happy Birthday Madiba. God bless and have many more. Love Jenny”.
” Not me,” Natasha says “I got quite emotional, saying ‘Thank you for sending our country on its way to democracy…”
Today- grey skies. I slept past my alarm clock. I got to work late. My eyes are teary. I wish I had baked a cake. I wish I could share with someone how much today means. I listen to Asimbonanga, Impi, Scatterlings of Africa and others on Youtube. I watch the video of Madiba on stage in Frankfurt. I want to cry for our country, and our people, for being so far away but for always having Africa in my heart.
Mandela is an icon, but the key thing about him is it feels like each one of us carries a piece of him- a quote, a special memory, the image ofMadiba shirts hanging in OR Thambo - in our hearts. Not only does he remind the world that we count, that we mean something, but in some small way, his birthday has the power to bring me home.
Happy birthday Madiba. God bless you.

Written with the collaboration of Rebecca Wanjiku

My Voting Dilemma is a poem by Kenyan Poet (based in Nairobi, Kenya):

This paradox of how a piece of paper
With X and ticks marks like an exam paper
To examine my literacy and disarm my prayers
Malcolm X and Nike labels
Tick no and X or cancel yes
No I don’t want yes
My answer is no
And so I will cancel
This sycophancy of how symbols and signs
Of Cocks and bananas, roses and oranges
Determine my choice and taste of changes
I am a vegetarian and don’t fancy cocks
For over 24 years, shoved down my throat
Fruits are healthy but the hawkers too many
Roses, who is saint Valentino?
My answer is no
And so I will cancel…

Jah Guide, a Rastafarian blogger from Sudan writes, Someone:

I was searching underneath the depth of my mind

With a heavy load in my heart

Crushing

Melted memories

Ghosts

That hug and whisper

Am I crazy?

Where is my home?

Some one to understand

How can just one man remember it all?

I want to be normal

Stupid

But….

Here they come

I have found them for you

I am bleeding

Take my hand

Lead this tortured soul

To the other side

This wall must fall

Where is my home?

My semi Sahara

Underneath it

The ancients planted my seed

Dont…is a poem by Kenyan Expressions dedicated to “all parliamentary and civic aspirants”:

don’t give me the title deed today
because you want my vote tomorrow
for the day after…you’ll leave
and I will be left in sorrow

don’t make me promises
that you know very well
you will not keep
you fooled me once
you fooled me twice
but this time I will not weep

Broken Diamonds by ON DRIFTING, WAVY WORDS was written in honor of the victims of the American embassy bombing in Nairobi in 1998:

They were born,
On a day in the past,
And lived their lives,
Till that fateful day,
Seventh of August.

The scene was aghast,
After the blast,
The blast that claimed them,
And what a mayhem it caused.

The glasses flew,
As if they knew,
Where they were going;
They cut deep in the skin,
And the memory,
Remains deeply etched in our hearts.

Rethabile Masilo from Lesotho writes Lerato in Poéfrika, a group blog of creative Africa-inspired writing:

you left
for work
without
a word/
and I just
felt nuts,
smoking
the cleft
of a day/
a bird
is caught by
morning till
twilight
wraps my
thought and
the feathers
fly home/ I
start feeling
nuts again,
then you tap
the padauk
door, which
I stagger to
and open
with the
other hand.

He also writes, Pissin' in the forest, on his own blog, Sotho:

We head home
by a trail round
the lower villages
to avoid stopping
for a drink at
Moselantja’s place,
your cheeks
red in spring air,
a sense of life
darting through
your blood. I’m

walking for health,
your young quack
thinks I’m as good
as in the tomb, wants
to haul me back
out–he shoulda met
Niclas when he was
around. But you
added your voice
to his and so here
we are, sweating
Sunday afternoon.

We turn right after
the villages and
head for the woods,
the sound of hoof
on twig deserting us.
It’s all I can do
not to pee on a tree,
your only proof
to tell whether or not
I been drinkin’. It’s
all I can do not to think
of my babyhood dream,
pissin’ in the forest.

Lascia ch’io pianga, partly inspired by the Italian opera, Rinaldo is written by Mshairi (a poet in Swahili):

in the melancholic hour before dawn
oppressive memories torment the senses
tangled sheets bear testament to another sleepless night
another search for succour in vain
in anguished silence the forlorn inconsolable heart
softly whispers to the bleak darkness to
let me weep
let me weep for
vanished yearning dreams
unfulfilled wishes
let me weep for
unshared laughter
extinguished hopes
the song unsung
the words forever unsaid
let sorrow break these chains of agony
for pity’s sake if nothing else
let me sigh for love’s respite and release
let me weep for stories untold
and grieve for the soul’s troubled woes
misery without end

Let me weep
Lascia ch’io pianga

Snapshot of the soul writes The Fog :

It's been countless hours since my last taste
what a sadly ironic way to go to waste

but I'm getting better now

roughed the darkness redefining my rhythm
clearing you out of my system
and waking's still not easy
believe me
still gotta pry these eyes open
every single morning of each day
knowing there'll be no surprises, no point in hoping
just phantoms forming every which way

You are in the thick of the fog

grandmaster's obokano's poem, Noose-Reactions, was written following Saddam Hussein's death by hanging :

For the hanged
mixed reactions
Saddam is hanged
jubilation life in the western bush
consolation and weeping in the east
i see no life in the rest.

Poet Mutiso, blogging at POETRY BLOG - SEEKING HIGHER SOLITUDE, writes Visitors of the night:

They moved stealthily,
Through the thickets,
Like the shadows of the unknown.

They were not welcomed,
Neither accepted but they came,
Not boldly, but with covered faces,
And painted bodies.

They didn't knock,
Nor open they broke through,
That's what they liked,
It was their pleasure.

They entered like thieves,
But they never stole property,
They stole bodies;
Stripping your flesh leaving naked bones,
And dust.

They? Who were they?
They were them
Send by who was after us.
All… we don't know.

Endi's World remembers the people who have lost their lives in pipeline fires in Nigeria in And the darkness…:

‘Twas a hushed tale
Of a commonwealth flowing home
We've gone to stake a claim
A search for light before dusk was due

On an empty stomach rumbling with greed
We came; with diverse vessels
Seeking a path through our poverty
A fare for a seasonal ritual

In the grassland; a carcassland
Of torn engines and the living dead
Our fate hung on a light
Around this tempting pool of darkness

Our eyes had sought the Rocks light
Hoping it will make us light
From the yolk of a penuric existence
It came though; with it a scorching comfort

And it came, a light came
Through nowhere, like a spirit
And it dawned on us
That dawn's come, then 'twas darkness again

And finally, Sandra Mushi from Tanzania recalls her First Time:

The music is merry and right
The room is shiny and bright
Your kind eyes dance as they smile at me
I am nervous, scared as tense as I can be
You approach me, over me is your big frame
To agree to come myself I start to blame

The earth seems to shake with my fear
My heart beats you can almost hear
My body is numb with such fright
Thinking of you entering where it is so tight
As I lay back my muscles with dread do tighten
The sight of the tool you will use does frighten

I try to look for an excuse to leave
As you refuse to be swayed a sigh I heave
The music is supposed to be soothing
But now in my young ears sounds so brooding
Fast and faster my heart beats also pump
From my mouth my heart will jump

With a warm smile, you ask me if I’m afraid
Bravely I shake my head, nervously toying with a braid
You have had more experience, you calmly say
Finding the right place, your finger does play
You probe deeply and I shiver; my body tenses;
I moan, groan, tears sting, as you bring down my defenses

You are as gentle as you had promised you’d be
Looking deeply within my eyes, my fears you see
Urging me to trust you, you beg me some more
Saying you have done this many times before
I open wider to give you more room for an easy entrance
The pain is so intense I seem to be in a trance

Begging you to hurry I begin to plead
You slowly take your time I can’t stand the deed
Gentle and slow you must be, you say
So not to cause me much pain as you pray
Your gray hair and tobacco smell reminding me of Daddy
To your fatherly figure I then give in gladly

Pressing closer, going deeper, trying to hold you at bay,
Suddenly I feel the tissue rip and give way;
Throughout my little body excruciating pain does surge
I feel the slight trickle of blood as on you urge
You looks at me concerned and asks me if it’s too painful
My eyes filled with tears I try to be as brave as a bull

I shake me head and bravely nod for you to go on
My braids with pink ribbons shake as I tremble and moan
You begin going in and out with such skill
But I am now too numb you within me to feel
I feel something after a while bursting within me
You pull it out of me, I lay panting, glad its over and I’m free

My little body shudders a sigh of relief that its over
Smiling warmly over me your big frame does hover
I have been your most stubborn yet most rewarding experience
You say with a chuckle, sweet stubborn body of brilliance
Straightening my wrinkled school skirt I get up
With a wink, you reward me with a lollipop

Lick

Lick

Slurp

Slurp

Noisily I lick away at the delicious swirl of sweetness bout
My cute little lips no longer in an annoyed sulking pout
I smile and thank my dear old dentist as I merrily hop out
It was my first time to have a tooth pulled, have no doubt