Nile at Night

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I was looking around for this week’s post, when this picture from the NASA website caught my attention. The article was even more interesting, and it’s so relevant to what we usually discuss in class that I had to post it. I’m not sure this qualifies for an article, but since this is a blog about pretty much anything related to Africa, I’m going to give it a shot.
The shiny area in the picture is the Nile River. The picture was taken by NASA at night, to show (through night lights) where population was concentrated in the region. I thought it was incredible to see how people are found mostly around the Nile, even though we’ve discussed this so many times in class. This is still because most of Egypt’s population depends on the Nile to grow their crops (even though they have irrigation systems) and so life away from it would be much harder. Remember that the Nile spreads farther south into other countries as well, and that the same thing happens there. Cairo (Egypt) is the brightest part of the “long-stemmed flower”. Seeing a picture of it makes it a little more real.

Sahel Music and Technology Addicts

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Villagers in the Sahara are swapping songs via bluetooth and archiving them in their cellphones. Do they have those? Of course! even in villages that don't have reception ;). "They're not just phones, they're all purpose media devices". According to the article, people in WestAfrica use their phones in much the same way we use our computers. This, if you recall, takes place in the "sahel", the desert we saw on the video in class. Somehow the image of boys crossing the sahel with their cattle, surviving on milk because they don't have enough food, and listening to music on their phones seems funny to me.

Phones are being used as a way of exchanging culture; the guy in the article uploaded some of his western music into the phones, and copied some of the African music for himself, then put the songs together as a cassette, to show the world what the sahel people listen to. There is a link where you can listen to the songs. This is proof that no matter how poor, hungry, or destroyed by war a place is, there is always a little extra space for Art. =]

Wilderness

I found this picture taken by an amateur photographer in Africa, and just thought it was cool enough to share. =]

Signs of Globalization in Africa? (couldn't help myself...)

p.s. Check today's first post, too!

It takes a Woman to save a country? A Lovely Dream.

It seems like hope for Africa is along the way, at least for Liberia. And the hope, of course, comes in the hands of a woman =]. I found this article about Ellen Sirleaf, the first female president in Africa (with an incredible background), and the changes she has made to her country: apparently the woman represents hope to many Africans (and westerners!). It looks like she has been fighting corruption pretty accurately, stating that women have less reasons to be corrupt and therefore make better presidents. Statements aside, it seems to be working: she just got $4.6 billion worth of debt relief through the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Plus, of course, women work harder (her words, not mine…). She also got an enormous loan for Liberian businesses, which should improve the overall economy of the country.

The writer of the article seems highly skeptical about it, but I believe the woman has come for the good of the country. She seems highly motivated, or maybe I’m just in the mood for hope. Either way, it’s a good investment of time to read the entire article (5 pages) to see things that can be done to help corrupt nations. The writer seems to believe her efforts to be silly in a country that has been destroyed by war, but change comes in the small things, right? Her people seem to mostly like her. Coming from an extremely violent marriage, she seems to understand what it is like to be tied-up to circumstances, and the need for change.

p.s. There is also some cool info on Liberia's history.

The Wonders of...Facebook.

For those of you who think Facebook is a waste of time, think again. This article shows that we can put to use things we (I) never thought could be useful.

Graduate student Ailie Tam recently moved to Madagascar to volunteer for an HIV prevention program there. She then entered a program that pays for the winners to work on charitable project abroad, and thanks to her 4000 votes on (surprise!) Facebook, she won $45,000 for her project in Madagascar.

Of course her motivations weren't so pure... she's doing it all to build her resume and apply for a job in international social work (and trying to get her PhD). According to the article, she was rejected by some graduate schools, and went to battle to make her experiences on fundraising matter. And it worked! her past projects won her much respect from "people that matter", and all thanks to her networking skills, such as... yeah, Facebook.

Considering the benefit that her study will bring to Madagascar (the lady will, after all, help fight the spread of AIDS), her motivations don't really matter. What matters is that she's out there, making good use of everyday commodities for us, and planting a little hope for this internet generation to use their addiction for something else =P. The projcet's goal is to "inspire multitudes to volunteer". Facebook rehab, anyone?

A Festival of Colors and a World to be Discovered

The African Cultural Festival (ACF) was founded by Uche Ozoh, Nigerian born Film Producer and Director, and Shabbir Jiwa, Kenyan born President and CEO TFLSafari.Com, to “create an unprecedented experience that will promote our various cultural heritages and to bring all of us together from our different diasporas as one voice”. They also promote international business trade. Space is given to local businesses, crafts, restaurants, and African tourism. They provide charity services, give away scholarships, and promote classes to teach children African languages, such as Yoruba and Swahili.

The festival provides a way for people of all parts of Africa (and outside of Africa, too) to discuss and come up with possible solutions to the biggest issues being faced by African countries today. Some of the issues they discuss are economic development, education, technology, politics, and cultural matters. The festival is put together by Africans or people who have lived in Africa for a long time. Most of all, they promote the unification of the peoples of Africa, and their theme song is “Africa Unite”.