Blood Diamonds

Just finished watching Blood Diamonds last night. The movie deals with the supply chain of diamonds out of Sierra Leone into the first world. Focusing on the characters of a local fisherman captured by rebels, his family displaced by the civil war, a 'Rhodesian' diamond mercenary and a journalist. I liked it. Go see it. Enjoy.

Watching the film made me think about one of the first conversations I had with a Ugandan AIESECer in Germany 2004. We were talking about our countries and I was completely blown away by her stories. She spoke of child militia, vicious rebels and ineffective governments, but she also spoke about the hopes and joys of her family and friends. Sort of put life in perspective a bit. I spoke about... actually I cant remember what I spoke about... gives you an idea how important my issues were.

So this film brings up alot of the issues that my Ugandan friend spoke about. The senseless violence of the rebels (in the movie making mockery of voting by chopping off people's hands, in Uganda making mockery of free speech by padlocking people's lips shut), the use of children as militia and the inability of families to reconnect once they had been displaced from their homes...

The film was yet another reminder of the diversity of the organisation I work for :)