Alice Backer · October, 2006

Latest posts by Alice Backer from October, 2006

New Caledonia: At the Beach

  31 October 2006

Two Caledonia-based bloggers have been to the ocean this week and brought back breathtaking pictures too. Sebastien Merion has just (Fr)come back from a week-long sailing excursion that involved sun, rain, a stopover at the Goa isles but thankfully no brush-up with Hurricane Xavier. Meanwhile Katuali (Fr) went to the...

Madagascar: 2nd Lit Classic Available Online

  30 October 2006

Actualite Culturelle Malgache is working on making available through its blog (Fr): “A novel published in 1897 and authored by Adolphe Badin, Une Famille Parisienne a Madagascar Avant et Apres l'Expedition [A Parisian Family in Madagascar Before and After the Expedition ].” The blog explains: ” Of course the text...

Madagascar: Local Lit Classics Available Online

  28 October 2006

New blog Actualite Culturelle Malgache [Malagasy Cultural News] plans (Fr) to make malagasy historical texts available online and will email the first such offering — Charles Renel's La Race Inconnue [The Unknown Race] — to anyone who asks. La Race Inconnue is a collection of short stories written during colonial...

DRC Elections: Candidate Billboards

  28 October 2006

After carefully breaking down the billboards of presidential runoff candidates, Sanaga Peregrinations concludes that Joseph Kabila stands for peace and reconstruction and sends a message that he ‘belongs’ (he has long been accused of being a foreigner). By contrast, Jean-Pierre Bemba stands for security, justice and development while trying very...

Guadeloupe/Martinique, France: Zouk Nostalgia

  27 October 2006

Reminiscing Martiniquan/Guadeloupean group Kassav's song “Zouk la se sel medikaman nou ni” [” Zouk is our only medicine”], France-based Oliviermr2 posts a graphic depicting a couple dancing zouk and writes (Fr): “With how cold it is right now, that would be very welcome.”

Africa: $5 Million for the Best Head of State

  26 October 2006

Sanaga Peregrinations writes (Fr): “A $5 million prize for the best African head of state. The prize was created by Sudanese billionaire Mo Ibrahim … The winning head of state will have to leave power democratically, will have to have managed his country properly when it comes to security, health,...

Madagascar: Among the Top Third for Freedom of the Press

  26 October 2006

Blogin'i Harinjaka writes (Fr): ” Madagascar is 66th in the global ranking of freedom of the press established by international non-governmental organization Reporters without Borders. … 66th is not among the very first but it is not bad considering the country iis ranked in the first third.”

DRC, Belgium: Anti-Kabila Demonstration

  26 October 2006

Congolese demonstrating in Brussels last weekend. Photo by Etienne Ngandu. In anticipation of the presidential runoff taking place this Sunday, October 29 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, opposing Jean-Pierre Bemba to incumbent Joseph Kabila, a demonstration took place in Brussels, Belgium last weekend in qualified support of Bemba but...

Martinique/Guadeloupe/Guyane: Voting One Day Early

  25 October 2006

Le [Blog de Moi] announces (Fr) that Martiniquans, Guadeloupeans and other overseas French departments will vote one day early in the upcoming French presidential election taking place June 10 and 17, 2007 in mainland France. Explains the blogger “The point is to take into account the time difference and to...

France, Togo: Koffi Yamagne's 12 Years in French Public Office

  25 October 2006

Togolese-origined politician Kofi Yamgnane posts a pamphlet about his 12 years in elected public office in Finistere, France. Says the pamphlet (Fr): “All the work accomplished was done with incessant dialogue with your mayors and your elected officials. but also with you through your citizen groups.”

Martinique, France: Stereotypes of the French

  23 October 2006

Pondering stereotypes of the French, Martiniquan Le Blog de Moi writes (Fr): “When I arrived in the States with a group of people from all over France, … our recruiter explained to us very seriously that because of complaints by American students, he encouraged us to bathe and to change...

Global Warming in Madagascar

  22 October 2006

Lakes Region, Madagascar. Photo by Claude Springer. After seeing Al Gore's film on global warming, Malagasy blogger Aiky from group blog Madagascar Croissance, reflected this week on the effects of global warming in his country, stirring up debate among commentators to the blog. Rainfall, Hurricane and Letchi Harvest Dans l'état...

Celebrating the Birth of the Guadeloupean Nation

  22 October 2006

On October 21, Convention Pour Une Guadeloupe Nouvelle commemorated a historical moment (October 21, 1801) it identifies as the birth of the Guadeloupean nation and added: “Nation without state, Guadeloupe is eternal and no one can destroy it. Our national rights must be respected by the French authorities that govern...

Senegal: Wade and the PDS v. Seck

  22 October 2006

Looking to upcoming elections in Senegal, Blog Politique du Senegal writes (Fr): “May [Idrissa] Seck bleed the PDS [Senegalese Democratic Party] to death. I certainly won't be complaining. … Wade did not have the political finesse to create an efficient party. His authoritarianism … made him build a monster with...

Togo, Congo, France: Failed Diaspora or Simply Depression?

  22 October 2006

France-based Togolese blogger Kangni Alem reposts (Fr) an email allegedly authored by Kabiona-Kaseke, a Congolese lamenting the failures of the African diaspora. Says the email: “Diaspora, we have failed in our dreams. Dreams of succeeding in our native countries after studying in the West. … Diaspora, we've failed in our...

Senegal: Stargazing

  21 October 2006

Chroniques de Ndoumbelane is sad (Fr) that city life in Senegal no longer allows for the stargazing that is so cherished in rural towns.