Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
$200 - $300 / Day
Request QuoteI am a freelance correspondent and fixer Latin America, based in Rio de Janeiro since July 2013. Before that I lived and worked as a journalist in Colombia from October 2002 till July 2013. Things I know a lot about are: the conflict and peacetalks in Colombia, the political and economic crisis in Venezuela, daily life in Rio, women's issues in Latin America, the Panama and Nicaragua Canal, and the economic woes here in Brazil, just to mention some examples. Dutch is my native tongue, but I express myself quite well in English and Spanish. My Portuguese is improving a lot. Rio de Janeiro still exists after the Olympics Games! One of the legacies of the Games is the improvement of the city's port area, the area where I'm living. In the colonial era Rio received more than a million slaves from Africa here. Their grandgrandchildren are still living in this area, that is also called Little Africa. Their black pride is increasing and this is one of the most interesting things that is happening in Rio at the moment. Racism has been considered a non issue in Brazil for a long time, but the ugly truth is that it is as strong as elsewhere in the world. In my neighborhood I want to research how blacks are dealing with this, what their answers are. If you're interested, you can contact me for interviews, reports, features, whatever you need. I'll be publishing stories here in my account as well.
I contacted persons to be interviewed for an issue what Colombians think about Dutch FARC-guerrilla Tanja Nijmeijer, made by ‘Brandpunt’, of Dutch broadcaster KRO. I contacted a senator, a former hostage, a defense specialist and a former child soldier. I was also interviewed myself because I know a lot about Tanja Nijmeijer.
I went to the Caribbean part of Colombia to help with a feature on sex with donkeys for Dutch broadcaster BNN. I did the research and contacts and helped with translation from Spanish to Dutch.
Produced for Contributoria
I did this story to show that the favelas in Rio are more than hot spots of drugs, poverty and crime. I went to three favelas to speak with inhabitants about their lives and challenges.
I wrote a series about Colombia, where I lived for 11 years, and which I describe as a Hellish Paradise. The series starts and ends with the peace talks between government and FARC guerrillas. Main question: Can Colombia ever live in peace?
Production Support
Miscellaneous