Our man in Africa

Paul Bowers, a University of South Carolina sophomore who won the contest to travel with Nicholas Kristof to Africa, has begun his blog posts. They are two good ones, if you ask me:

http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/07/pauls-1st-post-tiny-fighters-in-dakar/
http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/08/win-a-trip-first-impressions-first-surprises/

I think it's worth looking at the comments on the first of those, however, because there is some good leavening there - a warning that too often Americans cover Africa from the predetermined frames of poverty, famine, etc. As one commentor says, it's important to move beyond those frames if you hope to tell the full story - just as it is here at home.

Obviously, we here at USC are proud that Bowers won this trip. Here's the RSS feed if you want to follow it some more.

Update
Bowers also is featured in some NYT videos:
Children's health
With Kristoff in Sierra Leone
Saving West African Moms