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Tom Bamforth

Rising Tide - Aid and Humanitarianism - Pacific islands.

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Tom Bamforth is a writer whose work has appeared in Granta, Griffith Review, Meanjin, Guardian and The Age.

He is the author of The Rising Tide: among the islands and atolls of the Pacific Ocean and Deep Field: dispatches from the frontlines of humanitarian aid relief.

Cover of Rising Tide book Buy: Paperback

Based on his extensive travels in the Pacific, Tom Bamforth shows us the people of the islands, their cultures and their lives. From uprisings in New Caledonia to tsunamis in Tonga, this is a book about interaction, race, colonisation, climate change, nuclear testing, resistance, cultural preservation, urban life, the tastiness of well roasted pig and the pleasures of canoeing at dusk.

The Rising Tide masterfully weaves together stories of Pacific peoples and politics at the forefront of global change.

Cover of Deep Field book Reviews: The Age | Traveller | Development Policy | Griffith Review Buy: Paperback | Kindle Edition

“Enter the ‘highly politicized and ruthless world of a major humanitarian operation for a roller-coaster of a read. Bamforth is a savvy and sagacious guide, explaining in depth the complexities that underpin and undermine efforts to stabilize countries experiencing state collapse, natural disasters or conflict. He’s also one hell of a storyteller and wordsmith: astute, descriptive, ironic, funny and philosophical. Bamforth illuminates the intricacies and entanglements of history, politics and self-interest and introduces us to the eccentrics who keep ploughing through it all for a better world. Verdict: Astonishing” Herald Sun

“It reads as if Don Delillo had been sent to Darfur” John Freeman, Granta

“We feel secure from rain & winter. We can now sleep in peace.”

Um Ahmad & her family were moved out of their tent into a #DignifiedShelter as part of efforts funded by @UNOCHA Syria Cross-border Humanitarian Fund. We need continued support for these homes in north-west #Syria.

Extreme cold this winter may cause acute suffering for 2 million people living without adequate #shelter in north-west #Syria.
Urgent funding is required to ensure that vulnerable families have access to life-saving support during the coldest months.
https://bit.ly/3rrsXba

#Syria: So tragic that so many displaced people are going to have to spend yet another winter in tents.

More support is urgently needed to provide safer and more dignified housing for displaced people

Difficult not to see similarities with the shortcomings of the UN approach in NW Syria. ‘Abandoned to their fate’: five years of agony for the 700,000 Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/aug/23/five-years-rohingya-refugees-2017-bangladesh-myanmar-military-crackdown?CMP=share_btn_tw

93% of households consulted in northwest #Syria who are living in a tent, reported their tent is over 1 year old.

The renewal of the resolution on cross-border aid today at the #UNSC is crucial to ensure we can continue to provide adequate assistance.

https://bit.ly/3nMBO5G

Links

Adventures in a nuclear Pacific Meanjin 78/1 (2019)

The Men in Green: encounters with populism in the Pacific Griffith Review 57 (2017)

Green and Pleasant Memories: the afterlife of an Olympic Village Griffith Review 53 (2016)

’Lots of rabbits about this year’: fragments from the war correspondence of Private Charles Harlock, Australian Imperial Force, Abroad Griffith Review 48 (2015)

How to Survive an Earthquake Griffith Review 35 (2012)

The Mission Granta 117 (2011)

Talks & interviews

The new frontiers of travel writing Wheeler Centre

Travel writing ABC Radio National

The Pacific’s rising human tide ABC Radio National

Journalism

Past meets present in a Berlin refugee camp Inside Story 14/11/2018

Antonovs, technicals and the insane logic of war in the desert Inside Story 26/3/2014

For ‘rough’ neighbourhood born from Olympic ideals, a new pride The Age 29/04/2018

While the world’s attention is elsewhere, Bangladesh faces a humanitarian crisis Guardian 12/09/2017

Reflections of a humanitarian aid worker: an interview with Tom Bamforth Devpolicy (ANU Development Policy Centre) 30 July 2014 with Margaret Callan

Turning our backs on foreign aid Saturday Paper 21/6/2014

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
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