Latest posts by Elia Varela Serra from July, 2008
Kenya: Blogging workshop for marginalized youth
Kristina Rosinski, a volunteer at the Undugu Society of Kenya (USK), describes a blogging workshop in which she taught poor and marginalized youth how to blog and post photographs. She links to the blogs and Flickr photostreams of all 17 participants in the workshop.
Malawi: Pornography Scandal
Stories on Malawi reports that last week a renowned banker and the wife of a prominent lawyer were arrested for acting in pornographic materials, which were widely exchanged via e-mail causing a social scandal.
Zambia: Anti-corruption commission
Zambian Economist comments on the lack of funding of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) of Zambia: “Yet another example of how poor funding undermines institutional reform”.
Malawi: Healthworkers use of Frontline SMS
Kiwanja describes some of the initiatives that are using the software Frontline SMS (an collective SMS service for NGOs), such as Josh Nesbit in Malawi who's using it “to drive field communications between a local hospital and its six hundred roaming community health workers (CHWs)”.
Proposal to close Hausa Wikipedia
The blog Hausa Online reports that a few days ago a proposal had been made in Wikipedia's discussion pages to delete the Wikipedia in Hausa language, an African Chadic language spoken by more than 24 million people. This comes a few months after the blog Beyond Niamey expressed his concern...
Sudan: YouTube Blocked
Too Huge World reports that YouTube has been blocked in Sudan.
Nigeria: Erin-Ijesha waterfalls
Fadekemi of the blog ConnectAfrica describes the Erin-Ijesha waterfalls in the Nigerian Osun state, “definitely a site to behold”.
Sierra Leone: Fashion designer Adama Kargbo
Naijagal comments on the work of Sierra Leonan designer Adama Kargbo, who returned to her country after studying in the US to create a fashion line called Aschobi (photos included in the post). She says: “Sierra Leone isn't the first place you'd think of finding couture, but the country is...
Ethiopia: Violence or non-violence?
Ephrem Madebo of the blog Enset revisits the old debate of peaceful versus non-peaceful struggle for democracy in Ethiopia, after listening to a talk by Professor Mesfin.
Nigeria: Corruption overview
Imnakoya of the blog Grandiose Parlor gives an overview of the recent corruption scandals and teachers’ strikes that have recently happened in Nigeria.
Africa: Failed States Index
Codrin Arsene of the African Politics blog comments on the recently released Failed States Index for 2008, noting that “seven out of the ten most failed states in the world are from Africa, namely Somalia (1st), Sudan (2nd), Zimbabwe (3rd), Chad (4th), the Democratic Republic of Congo (6th), Cote D’Ivoire...
Cameroon: Why tourists and investors avoid it
Dibussi Tande of the blog Scribbles from the den quotes an article from the newspaper Eden in which the U.S Ambassador to Cameroon explains why tourists and investors are not coming more to that country.
Zimbabwe: On the soaring inflation
Zimbabwe, that was once one of the richest countries in Africa, at present finds itself falling into economic chaos with inflation reaching record levels, and with zeroes being regularly added to the currency. Bloggers comment on the grim situation, its causes and consequences.
Upcoming tech conferences on Africa
White African informs about 5 upcoming conferences around technology or internet issues in Africa.
Kenya: Kwani Lit Fest and foreign correspondents
Bankelele describes the first session of the Kwani Literary Festival in Nairobi that started Wednesday night, with the title “How foreign correspondents have formed the literary image of Africa”.
Liberia: Happy 161 birthday!
Emmanuel at Liberia Journal celebrates the 161st anniversary of the Liberian Declaration of Independence, which was signed on the 26th of July 1847. He also adds a very informative overview of Liberia's history since its birth as a country.
Guinea: Fatou Barry
Awesome Tapes from Africa posted the whole first album by Guinean diva Fatou Barry, titled Linsan.
Sudan: Where are the big protests?
Heba Aly at the Untold Stories blog by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting describes a small protest she witnessed in Khartoum against the ICC's possible indictment President al-Bashir, and wonders why there were no massive rallies as it had been announced.
Africa: Until when the white man's burden?
Sam O. Okello, guestblogging at Kumekucha, wonders for how long Africa “will remain the white man's burden”. In his post, that caused quite a debate in the comments section, he urges: “The time for Africa to rise up is now”.
Kenya: Why is Ntimama confession being ignored?
Frank of the blog Kenya Christian is wondering why the press, politicians and civil society are ignoring last week's video in which William Ole Ntimama -Kenya's Minister for National Heritage- admitted being responsible for the killing of 600 Kenyans during the post-electoral violence. The blog is starting a Ntimama Daily...
Serbia: African Bloggers’ Reactions to Karadžić's Arrest
After news broke on Monday night that former Bosnian Serb leader and one of the world’s most wanted men Radovan Karadžić had been arrested, astonished bloggers in the Balkans and all around the world started reacting to the story. And because of the recent request by the ICC's prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo to indict Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, some bloggers have been making comparisons between the two cases.
Elia Varela Serra's space
