I’m an award-winning UK-based freelance writer who has always been drawn to community stories. I travelled to Africa for the first time 25 years ago when I went to stay with an anthropologist friend married to a Tanzanian Maasai chief who took me into the bush to experience ‘orpul’ – a traditional retreat reserved for warriors. It struck a deep chord and I’ve since reported on 22 of the continent’s 54 countries – covering everything from voodoo ceremonies in Benin to Akwasidae, the celebration of the Ashanti king’s 20-year reign in Ghana – for UK national newspapers, American titles such as National Geographic and have contributed to radio, TV and occasionally From Our Own Correspondent on BBC Radio 4.