by Jemma Williams
-Australia-

It was Christmas day in Fort Portal, Uganda. A large group of people had gathered by the roadside and were all moving in one direction. At the front were the younger men. Many of them carried long, straight sticks, and some also brandished machetes.

As we got closer, the full, brutal picture emerged. The scarlet red of the victim’s scalp was just visible as he tried to break through the crowd and escape. The man ran desperately, covering his face in his hands, but he was surrounded. The men circled him, leaping in for the opportunity to hit him savagely with their sticks. The community followed impulsively. Women and children trailed at the back of the crowd, straining their necks for a view of what was happening ahead.

by Jemma Williams
-Australia-

The gondola glides smoothly up into the Andean hills on the outskirts of Medellín, Colombia, as I peer through its clean glass windows in fascination at the world below. Slums sprawl over rugged green hills, with informal settlements stretching further and further up into the steep slopes of the mountains. Makeshift houses atop hillsides mesh into one another and the streets are full of activity. Women sit in groups outside brightly coloured houses and barefoot children run over unsteady bridges above dirty streams. The faint beat of salsa music drifts into the skies until it is just barely audible. The contrast between the clean, quiet, and comfortable carriage in the sky and the lively disarray below is dizzying. These cable cars, known as the Metrocable, were built to serve as mass public transport for the communities in the region. Yet they appear not only to have revolutionised public transport for the poor, but are also a powerful symbol of social inclusion in the city.