Michael Colborne is a Canadian freelance journalist covering all things central and eastern Europe. His words and pictures have been published in Coda Story, CBC, Sydney Morning Herald, Al Jazeera, Open Democracy, National Post and other places. Before moving into journalism Michael spent eight years working as a social/health researcher in Canada and the UK, working on everything from inner-city crime prevention programs in Canada to large-scale public health surveys in the UK. He blogs at www.michaelcolborne.com.