Stories about Sub-Saharan Africa from December, 2005
Ethiopia: Gender barriers to education
Barriers to girls attending school in Ethiopia and elsewhere in Africa are numerous. Friends of Ethiopia comments that the lack of toilet facilities, privacy and water also act as a barrier to young teenage girls attending school…….”Fatimah is facing the onset of puberty, and with it the realities of menstruation...
Sudan: Darfur
Passion of the Present points to an article in the New York Times that analyses concerns over the ethical dilemmas faced by aid organizations in dealing with restrictions imposed by oppressive governments.
Nigeria: HIV
Black Start Journal reports on the Nigeria's new initiative that will provide free antiretroviral drugs to HIV/AIDS sufferers. Nigeria has the third highest HIV rate in the world.
Africa: Music
This is my last roundup until next week and I would like to end with a blog I think we all love Benn loxo du taccu……….Africa's music for the masses – North and South of the Sahara.
AIDS in Africa
Lest some of us forget a few of life's realities at this time of much merrymaking etc Grandiose Parlour reminds us via Medecins Sans Frontieres of the impact and cost of AIDS in Africa…..”I was awestrickened after viewing” And I too!
Nigeria: Christmas
Kid's Doc in Jos posts on Christimas in Nigeria……….Weather: dry and dusty. Travel: Like Thanksgiving in the US, this is the time for traveling home.Decorations: modest by American standards, but then Americans may be just a tad on the excessive side. Christmas parties: I’m sure that there are all varieties...
Nigeria: African leaders
On a lighter mode – a great tune but hey you need to change the song sometime! He has some questions about African leaders….”Is it true that Presidents are usually possessed by evil spirits/forces after they assume position” more to come…. Does Uncle Sege belong to the KGB? “Legend/myth/fiction has...
Nigeria: party time
Molara Wood has some cool photos “owambe belles” and “Lagos lass“. And if you write love poetry you can submit to the African Love Poems to be published next year.
South Africa: Australia, racism – not cricket
South African reports that Australia's racist hooligans are still on the rampage this time hurling abuse at the SA cricket team….”The latest news coming out of Australia is that South Africa's cricketers were racially abused and called “kaffirs” and “kaffir boeties” during the first Test in Perth. This kind of...
Kenya: US, foreigners and privacy
Gukira writing from the US complains that foreigners are not getting the same protection as US citizens in Bush's latest move to invade people's privacy……..”Repeatedly, leaders have condemned this “invasion of privacy.”Daddy senator and Mommy representative must protect Baby citizen from the hostile government wolfs.Not a single word, at least...
Kenya: getting lost in Nairobi
Moving back home is busy getting lost in Nairobi….”.i am unsure how people who have never lived in this city, get around. honestly. there are no map-books. and even if there were, people tend to substitute whatever road names there are for hand gestures. for example james gichuru is that...
Ethiopia: Overhearing conversations
Aqumada links to a site called “Overheardinnewyork” where people post conversations they have overheard in the city. He gives some examples ….”Puerto Rico chick: He likes that—what do you call it? That the black people make…that “tooka tooka tooka”…? Nuyorican chick: Rap music.” – Sounds like fun – lets all...
Sierra Leone: UN withdraws
Black Star Journal reports on the withdrawal of UN forces from Sierra Leone…….. “Once the largest peacekeeping mission in the world, UNAMSIL has disarmed and demobilised over 72,000 combatants and collected and destroyed over 30,000 arms, explained head of mission, [Daudi Ngelautwa] Mwakawago.”
Africa: Blogosphere
Jewels in the Jungle has his own comments on the growth of the African blogosphere and uses a quote from Zimbabwean Pundit to describe it …”“The African blogosphere is a heterogeneous amalgam of blogs not only by Africans and people on the continent as much as it is comprised of...
Africa|: Granta, “A View from Africa”
My Heart is in Accra points to literary journal Granta whose lates issue is “The View from Africa“…Ory pointed me towards a piece by Binyavanga Wainaina, a Nairobi-based author who offered the satirical and very challenging “How to write about Africa”. (Pieces like this are great when, like me, you...
Congo: Gold
Congo Watch points to a report by the BBC called ” On the trail of DR Congo's ‘cursed’ gold”
Kenya: Scientific maps
Kikuyumoja’s realm shares her wonderful discovery of scientific maps of Kenya….and came across a HUGE collection of amazingly detailed maps for scientific use – scanned & published online by the DG Joint Research Centre of the European Commission: the “European Digital Archive on Soil Maps of the World (EuDASM) “....
Lesotho: cheap imports from China
Sotho reports on a piece in IOL about the deluge of cheap imports from China and how this is affecting local industries and jobs……..“From South Africa to Lesotho, to Zambia and Nigeria anger is mounting over what one union leader called ‘a tsunami of cheap Chinese goods’ that many say...
Kenya: Journalism
Kenyan Pundit continues here write up on “What is ailing Kenyan journalism” with a Part III…..Part I and Part II
Ethiopia: Book reviews
Redeem Ethiopia reviews two books on Ethiopia: Survival and Modernization, written by Messay Kebede and Hagai Erlich’s Ras Alula and The Scramble for Africa – a political biography of Ras Alula Aba Nega. They also recommend a number of other books on Ethiopia.
SA: fake US accents
Mzansi Afrika complains about the use of “fake American accents” by promo ads especially on music radio………But this whole adopting of the American accent thing, especially when you've never set foot in America – I just don't get it. What's wrong with our own ethnic African accents? Why do you...