It’s been five years of conflict in Darfur. Three-hundred thousand lives have been lost and millions have been displaced. While the UN says lack of security has prevented the full deployment of a peacekeeping force, even Hollywood stars have taken on the cause.

In light of all the economic news, people have forgotten about Darfur lately. I produced this half-hour radio program about two filmaker colleagues of mine who traveled to Darfur. Making Contact aired it on International Human Rights Day last December.

The above photograph was taken by one of the journalists, Shane Bauer, who is now living and freelancing from Damascus, Syria.

This show was a long time in the making. I started it the month I moved from Berkeley to New York City to work for NPR. I worked on it last year, when I wasn’t traveling around the country in an RV or waking up at 3am to produce the morning news.

It’s a bit more free-form than I usually like to tell stories, but the sounds of the songs of Darfur make the whole listen worth while.

During the month of December, I spent a couple of weeks traveling around the country with a video camera again (this time, in a plane). A couple of staff members of Consumers Union and I interviewed nine people from California, Washington State, the Chicago Area and Atlanta who have either lost their home or are facing a foreclosure (click here for the pics).

All but a couple of interviewees broke down in tears while telling the story of getting home loans that, in many ways, reversed their life dreams. I’m editing the videos now which I will soon be posting here.

The photo above is of a home in a low-income neighborhood in Atlanta. During a weekday afternoon drive through, seemed like every third house was up for a bank auction, had a foreclosure or “For Sale” sign. Reminded me of when I went to the ninth ward in New Orleans this past summer. There, only about one in every five houses was occupied. Two totally different disasters – one a hurricane, the other, a sort of economic plight. But both disasters show themselves as vacant houses in mostly low-income neighborhoods of color.

Thousands flooded the streets and formed a spontaneous parade after Obama’s victory speech last night. I caught some of the jubilance on the corner of 125th and Clayton Powell Boulevard in West Harlem.

I miss being on the road. Well, not really. I miss the summer (already).

So in a fit of nostalgia, I put together a slide show of my favorite photographs I took while covering health care with a Consumer Reports Health project this summer. It’s not a story, rather, just a compilation of the people and places we saw in the lower 48. Click on the photo below:

You’ll see some landscapes sprinkled in there, a series of portraits of of people struggling with health care, and a whole lot of Meg and Blake. After all, I did live with them for 14 weeks in an RV.

Forgive me for not color correcting!

Check me out in front of Washington D.C.’s Jefferson Memorial on the last day of the Cover America Tour road trip last Wednesday. The pink garage sale-bought sunglasses are pretty stylin’, huh?

After three and a half months on the road, I am oh-so-ready to be in one place. So in homage to the nomadic life I led on this health care reporting adventure, I offer a glimpse at some of my most recent facebook status updates (in reverse chronological order):

Pauline is headed back to NYC after 3.5 months.

Pauline is driving on the back of the RV outside of Arlington.

Pauline costs $2255/month to house, feed and keep healthy.

Pauline is enjoying the quiet after the storm in the twin cities.

Pauline just waited on line with Mitt Romney to get into the Xcel center at the RNC.

Pauline is capturing video in North Platte, Nebraska.

Pauline is surrounded by Democrats in Denver.

Pauline is in albuquerque.

Pauline is being followed by bats.

Pauline is sleeping under the red rocks and who-owls of southern Utah.

Pauline just really loves being back in the bay. Even if it’s only for a few days.

Pauline thinks she broke her right pinky toe doing capoeira in Portland. Now the feets are even!

We traversed a total of 17, 620 miles this summer. I’m embarrased to disclose how many miles to the galon “aqua box” ran on. Too bad you can’t report on the American health care crisis and fight global warming at the same time.

We’ve driven up through the heartlands, west to the Rockies, down along the pacific coast and then east through the Southwest. Finally last week, we found ourselves at the Democratic National Convention.

The first night, I watched a small group of protesters huddle around ex-Dead Kennedies star Jello Biafra, who read them bedtime stories inside the “freedom cage,” a permitted protest area just a stone’s throw from the Pepsi Center.

Each morning we caught up with delegates to video tape their perspectives on what is and is not working about the health care system.

We saw Chuck D and Jim Hightower encourage an SEIU crowd to “fight the power” on Wednesday.

And Thursday night I had arena passes to see Obama speak at Invesco Field. I was impressed with the diversity. Sitting next to me was a middle-aged Latino guy who muttered about Obama’s girls being “hams.” In front of me were two well-dressed African-American men who said “Yessir” every time Obama made a poignant remark. Next to my friend Abby, a white 40-something man stood up and screamed “yeah!!” when Obama said we can all agree that gays should be able to visit their hospitalized partners.

The start of the RNC in St. Paul, Minnesota this week hasn’t been as smooth-sailing as last week in Denver. With the landfall of Hurricane Gustav on the Gulf Coast, more than 300 arrests of protesters and journalists on Monday, and widespread scrutiny of John McCain’s pick of Governor Palin for VP, I’m very curious to see how the rest of this week pans out.

The Consumer Reports winnebago I’m living in this summer passed through Bowman, North Dakota yesterday, where we stayed in an RV park that was more like someone’s back yard. Our fresh water came from the owner’s personal outdoor hose, and the makeshift site marker was paint on a wooden plaque. I’d give up luxury for character any day.

Our backyard for a night was the field of grain, above. I wanted to run through it and flop myself down, but figured I should respect private property. The scene made a normally mundane morning of fact-checking and email not feel like work at all.

So we’re officially in the West. Next stop: Thermopolis, Wyoming, home of the world’s largest natural hot-springs. Check out more of the photos I’ve been taking on the Cover America Tour website.