In Boston, we were hoping for a white Christmas. We had a Christmas Eve blizzard for my first Christmas here 14 years ago.             My furniture had not yet arrived from South Africa – it arrived four days later, and two large and cheerful Ukrainians tramped through the snow and up the stairs to my apartment as if it were Springtime.             All the furniture I had that Christmas was a new bed, two new maple stools, an antique Eames chair and a glass Art Deco coffee table bought at a second-hand store up the road. Waking that morning, I couldn’t believe how beautiful everything was. Thick snow lay like…

Some years ago, I met with three serious Chinese folk for coffee in a barn-like farmer’s market outside Boston. They’d heard that I taught writing to adults; would I consider teaching children, too? I was not sure.             Classes would be just once a week, so I could comfortably slot them into my schedule. I was touched that they were so intent on their children getting the best education that they’d started an after school learning center. I agreed, then panicked, what did I know about teaching children? I’d raised two of my own, but as any parent knows, that is at best a suspect credential. I enrolled to get…

In 2024, more than half of the world’s nations will go to the polls, or some four billion people in 76 nations, the highest rate ever. Presidential elections, or those for national leaders, will take place in large countries including the United States of America (USA), Britain, Russia, India, and Ukraine, and not one of these is expected to have an easy time of it. Mauritius: The Only Fully Functioning African Democracy The Economist Intelligence Unit categorizes Brazil, India, Indonesia and the United States, as “flawed democracies meaning that elections are free, fair and allow for the possibility of change, but their political systems have weaknesses”. South Africa and Botswana,…