Stories about Sub-Saharan Africa from March, 2008
Malawi: Blogging about marriage, language, lifestyle and health
The Malawian blogging community is gradually growing in terms of size and topics. In this roundup, I introduce four blogs dedicated to marriage and children issues, Tumbuka language, health and lifestyle issues.
South Africa: We'll argue with our parents and play video games!
Earlier this week, President Thabo Mbeki proposed that an oath be recited by school children every day in a nation-building effort. Breaking News says that the Opposition Democratic Alliance Leader, Jack Bloom, had welcomed the effort. However, South African bloggers have another idea entirely.
World Water Day Ripples Across Videos.
Every year since the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, on March 22nd has been the World Water Day. In addition, this year it is the United Nation´s International Year of Sanitation and people from all over have started taking action through their video cameras, raising awareness at the importance of this finite resource.
Guyana: Commonweath Writers’ Prize
Signifyin’ Guyana notes that among the regional winners of the 2008 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize “was Guyanese-born, Nigerian-based Karen King-Aribisala for Best Book.”
Environment: A recipe for seed bombs
Rory of Carbon Copy posts a recipe for seed bombs which can be thrown into “…vacant lots, pavement cracks, long-standing rubbish piles, or anywhere that would benefit from a bit of random greenery.”
Environment: Pictures of a landfill in Nairobi
Kikuyumoja writes to Kenyans, posing the question Dear Nairobians,: “Ever wondered what happens to your *waste*? He posts pictures of a dumping site in a place called ‘Dandora’ in a bid to raise awareness about the environmental impact of improper waste management.
Blogger of the Week: Abdulrahman Warsame
Today's Blogger of the Week series features yet another global voice - Abdulrahman Warsame, who amplifies the reactions of Somali bloggers on Global Voices Online. A Somali born in Saudi Arabia, educated in Egypt and Australia, and currently working for Al Jazeera in Doha, Qatar, as a Senior Analyst in New Media, Warsame shares his thoughts on blogging in his country and the rest of the Arab world.
Liquid assets: Bloggers on World Water Day
It's known as the universal solvent, Adam's Ale, government juice, council pop, H2O, dihydrogen monoxide, hydrogen hydroxide, has a ton of different names in Arabic and yesterday (March 22) the world was called upon to pay it special attention. World Water Day 2008 marked the start of the fourth year of the UN International Decade for Action on Water that began in 2005, and to mark the occasion the bloggers weighed in with insights and commentary from various corners of the world.
Ethiopian painters campaign to end early marriage
Lova writes about Ethiopian painters campaigning to end early marriage, through art.
France: Malagasy nightclub in Marseille
harinjaka writes about a new Malagasy night club [Fr] in Marseille: “I know from personal experience that it's not easy to enter a club here (in France), especially if you are black or berber…It's not the Queen but it's a club where Malagasy people are VIP.”
D.R. of Congo: Radio Okapi journalist wins blog award
Congolese journalist Cédric Kalonji [Fr] wins a “Bobs” award for best francophone blog.
D.R. of Congo: Kabila says Congolese people are better off today
Le Blog du Congolais comments on President Kabila's perplexing enthusiasm [Fr] about the state of Congo. During the opening of a new parliamentary session, Kabila said the Congolese people “are better off than they were a year ago, and far better than they were fifteen years ago.”
Burkina Faso: Meningitis, mask dances and a special horse festival
Burkina Faso is the diamond stud near the middle of Africa’s meningitis belt, stretching from Senegal to Ethiopia, containing a population of roughly 300 people. The region’s dusty winds and relatively cool nights from December to June decreases peoples’ immunity to respiratory problems. This, along with the area’s high population density adds up to make bacterial meningitis “hyperendemic” to this area.
Environment: 14 elephants speared in Amboseli, Kenya
Richard Leakey of Wildlife Direct alerts readers to a disturbing occurrence at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya. 14 elephants speared in Amboseli: “…The range of causes of elephant spearing are complex enough — revenge, political protest, self- or crop-protection, delinquency, and, to a lesser extent in Amboseli at least,...
Tanzania: To quit or not to quit?
Pernille is a well-known blogger from Denmark. She entered the African blogosphere scene when she started working in Uganda and blogging at “I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda”. She is now lives in Tanzania and blogs under a new name, Louder than Swahili. Last week she decided to put her blog on stand-by following comments she received via email, SMS, and phone calls, which made her uncomfortable.
Africa: Hope Supersedes All
Women love to share their experiences and express themselves, but no clock will wait for them to sit and share every detail with each other - not even if they do it on their blogs. Life must go on.
Geospatial Technology and Human Rights
Varena at PingMag interviews Lars Bromley, director of the Geospatial Technologies and Human Rights Project of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), who talks about how his group uses geospatial technology to digitally capture atrocities against civilians in Darfur, Zimbabwe, North Korea, the Gaza Strip and Burma.
Africa: Role of African languages in development
What is the role of African languages in development?: “I've been e-mailing some non-governmental organizations involved in African development about the role of African languages in their work. This is an exploratory research on a small scale that hopefully will help further research in related areas.”
Republic of Congo: Campaign for health rights
Campaigning for health rights in the Republic of Congo: “Indigenous people in all areas of Congo Brazzaville live in precarious conditions and are subjected to discrimination and marginalisation, which prevents them from benefiting from all the rights recognised by international human rights instruments, particularly the right to health care and...
Zimbabwe: Landlord's rules
These are landlord's rules in Zimbabwe: “Rule number 6 reads, “Never do laundry in the tub. Use the outside sink. Hang clothes with pegs, never without. Use the line near the mango tree.” The rules also stipulate that the tenant uses tissue paper only and not newspapers. In addition to...
Zambia: A single visa for SADCC?
Cho discusses comments from Zambia's Tourism Deputy Minister about a single visa for the SADC region: “The Univisa proposal should make the SADC region more attractive to tourists , relative to other regions, as it expands the choice available to them. The extent of these benefits will depend on the...
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