As Frontline Club founder and independent video journalist Vaughan Smith prepares to embed with the Grenadier Guards in Afghanistan he talks through what he will be taking with him and why.
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Flying back to Kabul tomorrow and then on to Kandahar later in the week. Photo above is of the kit I’m taking with me (minus clothes and my aging Sony Vaio FS750P/W). Am looking forward to seeing how my new mini Asus copes in Kandahar (dust, heat, speed etc). Finally replaced my old Ipod mini with the unassuming Creative Zen Stone Plus (4GB, and including a voice-recorder/dictaphone, FM radio and surprisingly decent inbuilt speaker).
Will give my new Flip Camera a spin down south – have been impressed with the quality so far, even in dark lighting. Taking my Canon Powershot G9 back with me, too.
Have been agonising over what books to take – trying to find the balance between books that I’ll only read once, those friends in Kabul have requested that I bring, and those that I ought to read for my PhD and other research projects…
The Shortlist
James Fergusson – A Million Bullets
Joel Hafvenstein – Opium Season: A Year on the Afghan Frontier
Patrick Cockburn – Muqtada al-Sadr and the Fall of Iraq
Sean McGlynn – By Sword and Fire
Fawaz Gerges – The Far Enemy: Why Jihad when Global
Marc Sageman – Understanding Terror Networks
Marc Sageman – Leaderless Jihad: Terror Networks in the 21st Century
Faisal Devji – Landscapes of the Jihad: Militancy, Morality, Modernity
Vali Nasr – The Shia Revival
Gilles Dorronsoro – Revolution Unending
Crews/Tarzi – The Taliban and the Crisis of Afghanistan
Peter Mandaville – Global Political Islam
Linked to books you might not have heard of…Will finish off my single concession to fiction – Edward Docx’s novel Self Help – on the way to Kabul while catching up with a pile of newspaper clippings and unread RSS feeds.
Make sure to take a read of the NY Times write-up of a public dispute between two academics specialising in ‘terrorism’ – click here and here for the source material for the story). One the one side Marc Sageman, who argues for a decentralised al-Qaeda, with very little top-down structure, and on the other side Bruce Hoffman argues that the leadership structures are very much alive and well. Supplement a read of those with pieces by Peter Bergen/Paul Cruickshank and Lawrence Wright on internal debates among Islamists (esp so-called global jihadis).
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John Coghill is a marketing consultant, freelance copywriter and photographer. He set up Projector Media four years ago to provide marketing services to publishers and extend brands through video and events. Before that he worked in marketing and business development for The Economist.
In 2003 he started the Radios for Africa charity that distributes Freeplay Lifeline wind-up/solar-powered radios to Africa’s rural poor and has recently started operations in Northern Uganda.
This is John’s kitbag for his April 2007 trip to Zimbabwe and Northern Uganda.
Recording and capturing: Canon EOS 400D/ Digital Rebel (US)
Cost: Around £700 with canon 18-55mm and 55-200mm lens kit and battery grip
The Canon EOS 400D/ Digital Rebel is a compact, sturdy and lightweight digital SLR that is very good value for money. It’s an upgrade on the popular 350D and has kept the winning formula but added more pixels to become a 10 megapixel camera with a bigger LCD screen and a 9 point AF sensor. Its predecessor, the 300D, revolutionalised the digital SLR market three years ago and this camera is evolution rather than a revolution. The competition has caught up though and for a little more capital outlay the Nikon D80 and Sony DSLR A-100 are strong rivals.
The 400D takes pictures with excellent resolution, superb colours and has an almost instantaneous off to shot time. There is little noise throughout the sensitivity range and it performs well in low light. On the downside, some will find the hand-grip too small and on a recent London indoor assignment I found the automatic white balance poor under fluorescent lights.
A big improvement over the 350D is the “integrated cleaning system”. Dust is a camera-killer in Africa and lens changes almost guarantee its build up. Compressed air blowers can sometimes do the trick but an expensive trip back to Canon is more likely. With the 400D, Canon have added anti-static coatings and created an anti-alias filter that vibrates to shake it off. They have also added a “Dust Delete Data” feature that lets you map and remove the dust that just won’t go away with some clever software.
As a back-up I take a Panasonic FZ5. It’s incredibly small and light but packs a 12x optical zoom through its Leica lenses which is very handy for grab shots in camera-unfriendly places.
health
Malaria can be deadly and how you prevent it in addition to mosquito repellent and nets depends on where you are going and for how long. In many African countries resistance means that chloroquine based drugs like Avlocor aren’t effective. Malarone (Atovaquone Proguanil) is effective but expensive and not recommended for stays over a month. The low dose antibiotic Doxycylcine can be used over long periods but some people complain of increased sensitivity to the sun. Lariam (Mefloquine) is also effective over long periods but has side effects for many.
If you are unlucky enough to catch malaria, Artemisinin-based Combination Therapies (ACTs) that combine a derivative of artemisinin with other antimalarials are the most effective and recommended by WHO.
Anti-malarials are prescription-only so check with your doctor or travel clinic for malaria risk and the right medicine for you.
clothing
Strange as it may seem I never travel to Africa without some Icebreaker “skin layer”. It’s 100% superfine Merino wool from the backs of my four-legged friends in my home country of New Zealand and while it’s a must anywhere cold it’s great in the heat too. Essentially it breathes extremely well and is remarkably soft and easy to wash and dry.
most unusual item
A knee bandage. Folded in half it is an excellent place to store cash and even the most thorough of frisky types are unlikely to find it.
entertainment
I finished Our Votes, Our Guns by Martin Meredith, just before I left for Zimbabwe. It is a well researched and searing indictment of Robert Mugabe and so not a good book to have found at Harare airport.
Instead I took The Wonga Coup by Adam Roberts. It is a gripping read that tells the extraordinary tale of the failed plot by South African and British mercenaries to overthrow the government of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea. The plot had uncanny similarities to Frederick Forsyth’s The Dogs of War and is still unravelling.
Former SAS officer Simon Mann is about to be extradited from his Harare prison and is facing a lengthy spell in Equatorial Guinea’s notorious Black Beach prison. The extradition has already been dubbed the “Oil for Mann” deal and will prop up Mugabe’s failing state.
what I can’t do without
My Bialetti Moka 3-cup stove-top espresso maker. Combined with a tin of Illy caffe macinato you can admire the skills of the Italian bean maestros wherever you are. Unfortunately the excellent African coffee can be frustratingly hard to find.
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Jane Kokan is an independent news and documentary director/ reporter/ camera woman specialising in the Balkans, the former Soviet Union, Afghanistan, Iran, SE Asia and Africa working for a variety of international broadcasters. Often her films were made in extremely difficult circumstances and Jane often worked alone in the field doing her own camera work and sound. Jane was the winner of the 2004 (British) Foreign Press Association’s journalist of the year award for her documentary film “Iran Undercover” which examined the student movement and human rights in Iran.
“As a Canadian, I am used to harsh, cruel winters that go on for months. However, I have the creature comforts of central heating, thermal undergarments, arctic boots and cheap flights to Cuba in the middle of January. Afghanistan, a country ravaged by war for decades, is one of the world’s poorest countries. Winter is a harsh time of year for most Afghans. It’s cold, damp and miserable. I have nothing but admiration, for the Afghan people. They are survivalists. Many of the Afghan children I encountered on the streets of Kabul were wearing plastic shoes or flip flops in the snow, often just wearing cotton shirts or old second hand jackets, while trying to flog anything and everything from chewing gum to phone cards. Yes, I felt like a bit of a wimp at times, even feeling somewhat decadent putting on a vast assortment of thermal layers each morning and wearing gloves with insulated linings and never facing the elements without my Gortex jacket.”
This is Jane’s kitbag for her fourth trip to Afghanistan in February 2007 and was written in the field.
Communications: Iridium Satellite phone 9505a
“This sat phone is lightweight, robust and easy to use. An added bonus is that in my capacity as a video journalist, iridium satellite phones work almost everywhere in the world including remote parts of Papua new Guinea and the Canadian Arctic. Just a word of caution, Afghan kids love to play with this phone! I had a hard time prying this one from a group of curious five years olds in a rural village in Takhar province just this week.
The good news – incoming calls are free to the user of the Iridium phone. The bad news – placing a call to an Iridium phone is not always as easy as it should be, and can be ridiculously expensive to the person making the call.”
top tip
Instead of calling the sat phone directly, callers can phone a local number or 0800 number. When that number answers, the satellite phone number can be dialled in and the call forwards on to the satellite phone.
Clothing: Icebreaker thermal base layer
“An Icebreaker ‘skin’ range was given to me by a Canadian pal who works for NATO/ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) in Kabul who felt sorry for me when I complained about the cold – despite bringing a various assortment of thermals some of which did not live up to my expectations. I found this product to be an excellent base layer, and it’s made of 100% Merino wool, probably, the best natural fibre for temperature regulation there is. Merino has some distinct advantages over synthetic fabrics: it keeps its heat-retaining properties when wet, prevents body odour and lets your skin breathe. Best of all it’s not itchy and scratchy like some of the other polyester thermals I bought for the trip. It’s also a really good weight – thicker than a t-shirt but not as thick and bulky as a sweatshirt and it’s incredibly soft.”
Recording and capturing: Sony HVR – Z1U
“The camera has a solid build to it, it offers full manual control and is a pleasure to shoot with. In addition, the Z1U delivers great quality pictures and performs pretty well in low light. The Z1U has two XLR inputs so no adaptor is needed for using professional microphones. I bought an on-board microphone (not included in the price of the camera) and a Sennheiser radio microphone (the ew100 G2) so I am very happy with my audio. I also like the six assignable buttons.
The camera comes with a very clever lens hood and cap system. I can’t remember how many lens caps I lost with my Sony PD 150 and other cameras I have owned in the past. It’s a total nightmare to lose a lens cap especially if you are shooting in the Sahara Desert or the Canadian Arctic. The camera’s compact size means I didn’t need carnets and filming permits for countries like Egypt, Sudan and Bosnia. It’s easy to be a “tourist” and get the filming done without too many police officers and border guards asking questions or becoming suspicious about the nature of my work.”
Health: Fleet Street Clinic Trauma First Aid kit
“It’s got everything in it, is compact and there is a 24 hour emergency number to ring 24 – 7. The team here will sit down and will make you a custom- made trauma kit for any country whether it be Afghanistan or Ethiopia..”
Most unusual item: Algerian worry beads
“Why do I carry them with me? A taxi driver in Algiers gave them to me in 1995 to keep me “safe” in my travels.”
What I can’t do without: Tabasco Sauce
“Transforms a plain bowl of rice or a piece of three day old afghan ‘naan’ bread into a culinary delight”
Entertainment
“It’s important to have a laugh out in the field. I highly recommend ‘The Best of Will Ferrell’s Saturday Night Live’ skits. Tacky, camp and hilarious. The three-minute “Blue Oyster Cult” skit featuring Christopher Walken is my personal favourite. The George W. Bush impersonation is a laugh and a half. Ferrell’s “Anchor Man” is always a mood relaxer when things start getting tense when negotiating safe passage via a shifty local war lord in Badakshan Province.”