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Focus The cultural corsets confining our views of the human body no longer fit in a world engulfed by Aids and global advertising. From the former freedom fighter in South Africa to the Tokyo fashion victim, individuals are struggling to redefine what it means to be a “real” man or woman. Each advance in the operating theatre brings us closer to the dream of physical transformation–the promise and curse of modernity. Aspiring beauty queens flock to Venezuela’s cosmetic surgeons while Indian peasants sell their kidneys to make ends meet. Meanwhile, cyberpunks slip computer chips under their skin, anticipating the next leap in evolution. Dossier concept and co-ordination by Ivan Briscoe, Cynthia Guttman and Amy Otchet, UNESCO Courier journalists Kuito, a child’s map of war and infinity “Through something small, one can sometimes discover the great things of life; there is no need to explain, one simply has to look.” Drawing on the wisdom of her countryman and fellow writer Ondjaki, the Angolan poet Ana Paula Tavares reflects on the photos of children taken in the devastated town of Kuito. Photos by Guy Tillim, text by Ana Paula Tavares. Guy Tillim is a former economist from South Africa; Ana Paula Tavares is an Angolan poet and writer. This park is no longer your land For over a century, millions of indigenous people around the world were driven off their land in the name of nature conservation. While local communities are regaining the right to manage these protected areas, their struggle often runs up against deep prejudice. Marcus Colchester, director of the UK-based Forest Peoples Programme and winner of the British Royal Anthropological Institute’s Lucy Mair Medal for Applied Anthropology. Tales of white elephants Foreign companies keep the lion’s share of ecotourism profits but the Makuleke of South Africa are trailblazing a juicy commercial venture based on their firm control of ancestral land and resources. Eddie Koch, director of the Mafisa Research and Planning Agency and freelance writer. Vive a trilingual Quebec! The laws that forced French into the schools and workplace of Quebec have worked far better than anyone imagined. Trilingualism is gaining ground in the province, much to the chagrin of hard-line nationalists Filippo Salvatore, communications professor at Concordia University, former member of Quebec’s French Language Council and a former Montreal city councillor I am not a hero By Albert Britt Robillard, sociology professor and senior researcher, University of Hawaii, and author of Meaning of a Disability: The Lived Experience of Paralysis (Temple, 1999) Partnership or purse-strings: NGOs in the South speak up Riding on their new-found influence, NGOs in the developing world are increasingly critical of the stringent conditions imposed on them by richer counterparts. Partnership, they argue, has to become more than a buzz-word. Philippe Demenet, UNESCO Courier journalist Indian textiles find their patron High quality crafts can’t survive without skillful marketing, argues the author, who has woven close ties with Indian craftspeople to build up a business. When will aid agencies follow suit? Jenny Housego, art historian and textiles expert A prince embroiderer without a kingdom Tiao Somsanith is among the last of a dying breed skilled in gold-thread embroidering, an ancient tradition from the court of Luang Prabang in Laos. Today, he is trying to save this vanishing art, without resorting to commercialism Ngoc Loan Lam, journalist specialized in South-east Asian issues Mexico’s mercenary legacy For decades the Mexican media was paid to do the government’s bidding. But what future lies in store for the press after last year’s defeat of the all-powerful Institutional Revolutionary Party (the PRI) and the electoral victory of President Vicente Fox? Rafael Rodríguez Castañeda, editor of the Mexican magazine Proceso and author of Prensa Vendida (Editorial Grijalbo, 1993) Rise of a new watchdog in Latin America Buoyed by the spread of democracy, Latin America’s press is fast gaining in influence, boldness and credibility, says journalism professor Mario Diament. The technology revolution stands to make the process irreversible Interview by Louise Corradini, UNESCO Courier journalist Fernando Savater: the hostage of purity Differences aren’t necessarily a good thing, says Basque philosopher Fernando Savater. Threatened with death for his opposition to armed struggle, he practises his own brand of “active pessimism,” fighting weapons with words Interview by Lucía Iglesias Kuntz UNESCO Courier journalist