Ngiri-Ngiri, Kinshasa, DRC photograph by Susan BarryA couple of weeks ago I was sitting at my desk at work when I received a phonecall from the offices of The Guardian to tell me that I had been shortlisted in the amateur category for this year’s International Development Journalism Competition.
By the time I began receiving confirmation emails and an invitation to visit The Guardian's shiny new offices in King's Cross, I had just about convinced myself that this was neither a wind-up nor an administrative error. Being shortlisted meant that not only would the article I had submitted on open sewage trenches in the Democratic Republic of Congo be published online, I would also be "flown to a developing country to research a new assignment".
At The Guardian I met not only the seven other shortlisted amateurs, whose intimidatingly good articles are here, but also the eight finalists in the professional category, whose pieces you can read here. We were all eager to discover where we would be sent off to, and amidst all the tension that can be created by pulling strips of paper from a glass bowl, I was selected to visit the partner organisations of rural livelihoods NGO Find Your Feet in India to research and write an article about traditional silk artisans living near the ancient city of Varanasi, and the pressures that an increasingly globalised marketplace is placing on their way of life.
The afternoon was a blur of visa applications and briefings, including a short visit to Find Your Feet's small London offices. I fly out to Delhi on September 5th.
Hi! I´m just here by an accident. My english is really terrible. I´ll try to travel with you. It´s so interesting! Bye! Peace!
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