Bom Dia- African Greetings

In Africa there are many cultures and 1500-2000 languages spoken in Africa. In this short article they provide many ways to greet someone in Africa. There are many ways to greet someone in African culture, in the video above the Lesotho school children are greeting a mission team with a song. But there are other greetings like Bom Dia which means good morning, or Bonjour. In Africa since there are different languages they have over 1,000 ways to say hello, unlike the U.S we say hello or hey.

The tshwane university is the largest recipient of the financial aid scheme. The university scheduled 8000 students and could have 60000 this year. There are always some that can't help, but they want to be able to cover that gap. They cannot expect the government to cover all of the countries needs. The higher education minister realizes the challenges that students are faced with. They need to manage the cash flow because sometimes the universities would commit beyond what they planned to agree on. It is important that they work closely so that they can manage properly. They readmitted a student that was in a wheel chair who was once told that he couldn't attend this university because of his disabilities. The university is planning on helping to fund for students who did not receive any funding. Will this be successful? 

Africa2Moon Mission

A non-profit organization from Cape Town called Foundation for Space Development South Africa is looking to get South Africa into space. They don't have the funds now, but they plan on getting the funds from an online website. South Africa hopes to go where they have never gone before. With the money that they will receive they propose to send a probe up to the moon. The goal that they have set for themselves is $150,000 which they hope to achieve by the end of January. So far, they have raised $21,600. Any extra money it is said to be used for an actual space program once they get there. Even with all these great achievements planned, there are some set backs. Adding a space program is just a cover up for the other problems in Africa, and that is where people see the problem. 

http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/21/africa/africa2moon-mission/index.html

What is an African dress code?

Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first elected president showed off his "Madiba shirt". Which is  "Flowery and loose-fitting ..." This shirt gave him "...relaxed - and some would say less formal - appearance." In Kenya the speaker of the national assemply "...presides over a parliament with one of the most rigid dressing codes in Africa." In Kenya "A suit and tie is compulsory for male members of Parliament...and anything less would cause an MP to be thrown out of the house." Despite being thrown out some of the Kenyan parliamentarians have tried to go against the dress code which they say is "...colonial and unAfrican." Some of them decided to actually go to the parliament with "...flowering Nigerian "agbada" robes - and of course getting thrown out for it." I understand why they want to look all professional while at the parliament but what I don't understand is why they can't wear what is an African outfit which fots their culture? It's not like it looks unprofessional. It makes them look like they are proud to be African and to represent for their home. 

Ebola Puts Adoptions In West Africa On Hold

Tessa and Joel Sanborn have been put on hold for the adoption of their 5-year-old son Devine due to the Ebola outbreak. The orphange is in Liberia is on hold due to a state of emergency. Their are several children which became orphans because they lost thier parents. "Some aid workers also say a shortage of food and supplies is making it difficult to care for those children..." Before the Ebola hit the country was "...attempting to overcome the ravages of war..." With the shortage of food and supplies their has been many  emergency funds. Even the Sanborn family and other family's "...have organized a good and supply drive for Devine's orphanage at local resturant." Liberia was a "...major partner with U.S. adoption agencies, but the situation has changed recently due to the complications unrelated to Ebola." Now the orphange in Liberia has decreasing numbers of adoptions, "...only 12 adoptions from Liberia by Americans in 2013, down from 353 in 2006." Anglin who is apart of the orphange's organization "...continues to track the status of orphans such as Devine, so she can update his parents. The impact of Ebola can be difficult to explain to a young child, she says."

Africa's economy is rising. Now what happens to it's food?

Over the last 10 years 

Africa's per capita income has grown to be identical to the rest of the worlds. The world is experiencing one of the greatest reductions in poverty. A middle class is finally starting to develop in west Africa. Some of the poorest countries are making rapid progress. Some of the most important questions that have been confronted about the rest of the developing world revolve around food.

The most common questions asked are, "Will the economic growth he broad enough to end the continents tragic famines?". The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation had spent over 3 million in grants on African Culture. They are financing programs to help Africa feed itself. The foundation planning to finance more scientific research that will research better food storage and more mobile phones. They write I'm their annual letter about their work that it can "drive massive property reduction and improve life across the continent. The income that societies devote to food has dropped eventhough the worlds population has grown to 7.3 million. As countries become richer they have less problems feeling themselves. The big problem with African agriculture is that roads are too narrow to transport grains and there is a lack of knowledge about crops. These problems will not fix themselves. Some experts criticize the Gates Foundation and what they are trying to do. Will those Africans who live entirely on starches be able to switch to a varied and more nutritious diet? 

Small car bomb explodes outside Mogadishu hotel

In the Somali capital outside of a hotel where Turkish delegates were preparing for the visit of their president, a car bomb exploded. During the attack three people were killed, including security officers. None of the Turkish people in the hotel were hurt in the blast. Al-Qaeda linked militants often carry out these attacks in Mogadish. This will be president Recep Tayyip erdogans second visit to Somalia. He first visited as the prime minister of turkey in 2011. Since then they have helped somalias government rebuild roads and schools. Because of the presidents visit there is extra right security in Mogadishu. An eyewitness says that he saw a vehicle "speeding along the main road and the driver turned into the Hotek SYL gate." They saw a "huge explosion, and smoke". They say that the presidents visit will still go as planned. Due to the Islamists group losing control of the capital in 2011, security has improved in the cities. But why are the staged suicide attacks still occurring? 

The last kings of Africa

Art historian and photographer Alfred Weidinger traveled across Africa looking for royalty. He created a photography project that he calls "the last kings of Africa". His goal is to capture the beauty and to find the regions last kings. He started this project in 1979, with no guide to help him track down Africa's leaders. He does not have a plan. When he finds one king he hopes that they will be able to help lead him to others.

The biggest problem that Weidinger faced while on this trip was cell phones and technology not being accepted. What is Weidinger planning on doing with all of these pictures? What is his purpose for this photography project? 

South African Floods

 Below is a photo of the recent disastrous floods that occurred in Africa. People have lost their homes, livestock, and even more importantly other family members. The affected states are Malawi, Mozambique, and Madagascar. 

The picture on the top right is a map of the storm that has caused all of this rain a flooding. 

These people are forced to move to shelters, but because theres so many of them the food supply is running low. Also, they have a lot of health problems and with everyone being together it doesn't make it better. Even so, their health care services are not so readily available as they're limited. 

http://newirin.irinnews.org/extras/2015/1/20/malawi-flood-photogallery#

Cows and Conflict

Cattle are a big part of Africans daily lives. People have cattle to show what they are worth, sell their cattle for money, and also use the cattle as dowry payments. A man named John Mabil had done so himself, he has college loans to pay off and also to use what cattle were left for his future wives family. Although he had all these big plans, while he was away 11 of his cattle from his farm had died. Just like that his life plans were ruined. It was said that his cattle had died from disease. This is directly related to the people of Africa because if everyones live stock is suddenly dying from disease their losing money and their potential future. Livestock is responsible for their everyday lives and their future plans. This affects the daily life styles of the people from Africa.

Press 4 for fertilizer- M-farming in Ethiopia

news article


Africa doesn't produce the same amount of goods as other countries due because they aren't updated with the proper technology. In Ethiopia 85% of the population works the land. Recently they developed a multilingual mobile phone based resource centre. This system educates the farmers on the land. The hotline is designed by the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural  Research. This system was developed due to its "pull" and "push" factors. "More than 70 percent of users are smallholder farmers."

The Last Kings of Africa

Alfred Weidinger is an art historian who was in search of the last few kings in Africa. Weidinger has been on this journey since 1979. He has been traveling the world looking to photograph the most powerful leaders, and so far he has captured 220. He has set many goals for himself, but this one is the biggest. Weidinger planed on visiting Africa twice last year and then this year six more times this year. Mind you, while on all of these journeys he doesn't have any idea where these royals are located. "There is no list, there is nothing! So you just have to go there" (Weidinger). While on these trips he has also encountered many problems. Problems including todays technology not being accepted, not being able to find the kings, or kings not where they're at because of the different political beliefs. Politics have also had a great influence in todays modernizing society, and that will soon end Weidingers search. Modernization is the cause for the search of The Last Kings of Africa.

Tiny Island Country

 Mauritius basically overtook South Africa and became one of the continents most competitive economy. It states in the CNN article, "Surrounded by stunning coral reefs, Mauritius spans less than 800 square miles and is home to over 1.3 million people -- mainly an ethnically and religiously diverse mix of people of Indian, African, French and Chinese heritage. The country, dotted with green sugar cane fields, sparkling lagoons and jagged volcanic mountains, is well known for its perfect palm-fringed beaches and cobalt blue seas, attracting nearly a million tourists annually." A  country that struggles financially and in many areas you wouldn't expect to have a great vacation spot! South Africa is thriving. With a successful diverse economy, and beautiful views who wouldn't want to visit Mauritius? The tourist keep the businesses up, the Mauritius economy always hits it's growth rates. 

Bamboo Bicycle

In Ghana, Africa they are forming a new way of transportation. Bamboo bicycles. This is giving many Ghanaians freedom they haven't experienced before. The bikes have been around for a long time but the demand for them has increased. This is giving the youth of Ghana employment. According to the CNN article every bamboo bike is handmade. The bamboo bikes are employing many formthe manufacturing of them. They are also giving transportation to people who never had it before and are also expecting to go worldwide in the next five years. 

A Slideshow of Pictures- Lighting Revolution in Sierra Leone

The ten pictures from the slideshow shows the improvement made to lighting in FreeTown, Sierra Leone. This city was once known as the "darkest city in the world." In the slideshow we are told about the struggles the citizens go through to see. In example, A lady relies on plastic light in a neighboring shop to run her buisness. Cell phones are charged only by generators. Luckily, Sierra Leone is looking to solar to generate electricity. How different would our lives be if we didn't have electricity running through our houses? 

Website for photos

Handmade fashion with a Rwandan heart

Recently in March Christine Creative Collections started by Christine Mbabazi is a store in Rwandan capital of Kigali. Her store sells bags, shoes and clothes, but not  factory made clothes her own handmade "...brand is promoting African fabric and African designs..." She was able to start her store by using her second job as a radio presenter to promote her store. She used "...social media to reach new customers..." Her friends also helped her brand to start up she said, " My friends saw me and saw I was very unique in parties, weddings, even at work-- that's how the word spread out." Through all of her hard work which made her dreams come true she has "...a big challenge convincing people you can go to work when you have African fabric suit but we are still fighting those small challenges." Her next step for her store is to "...exporting things made in Rwanda."

Kids In The City- Breaking Rocks

 The video documents the lifestyle of children in FreeTown, Sierra Leone. This video relates to "A long Way Gone" by Ishmael Beah in that Beah fled to FreeTown for safety at his uncles house. In the video they talk about the troublesome of the Civil war and rebels making them flee their home towns. The children in Freetown are forced to mine rocks to pay for their schooling. The primary school has the lowest literacy levels. The education is suffering due to parents needing their children to work. A little boy is interviewed and says, "I'm not ok. Breaking stones is hard."

A child shouldn't have to worry about supporting their family financially. Their main concern should be the education they're getting. It's upsetting to see how the children in Sierra Leone want to learn, but can't due to having to mine rocks and not having the best schools. Can The U.S do anything to help this problem?

African Teen Lives a Double Life

Fort Portal, Uganda. Just like any other teen, King Oyo, a seventeen year old king. He does normal things like all the other teens his age but he's the king of four Kingdoms in Uganda. Not every teen has that responsibility at seventeen. "I still find it a little uncomfortable when people now, especially the older ones," it states in the cnn article. Image being seventeen and people are bowing down at your feet as you walk into school? Being a king ever since the age of three you would think he would be used to it by now.  But having that responsibility has its downsides like having security all the time and not being able to do the normal things he wants to do. At that age no one should have that much pressure to make decisions as a King.

Miss South Africa becomes Miss World

In London Miss South Africa Rolene Strauss was crowned Miss World in 2014. She said after getting crowned, "South Africa, this is for you." And later in an interview she stated,"...proud to be your representative." She is "...a fourth year medical student at University of the Free State..." During her introduction video she gave credit to South Africa's former president Nelson Mandela or making her want to pursue her career in medicine by creating a "...democratic South Africa." Since Strauss is Miss South Africa she has "...promoted projects in women's rights, health and education including one to provide menstruation education to schoolgirls in South Africa." 

This article helped me get a better understanding of Africa's lifestyle. Honestly in my own opinion the fact that she was able to go to college and practice medicine amazed me since  I believed all people in Africa lived in poverty which also made me believe that they wouldn't be able to get enough money to attend college. What do you think of when you think about Aftican lifestyle? 

New Drinks Are Coming Out Of Africa!

On cnn there is news of South Africans winning awards for their outstanding alcoholic beverages.

The drinks range from wine, whisky, brandy, and bourbon. The South African "Three Ships" bourbon was awarded a gold medal at a competetion. This was the first South African whisky to do so. "What we try to do is to allow our products that come through our hand on process, to actually express that and we want to represent where we live… people are drawn to that and we try and keep our offering as fresh and as varied as we possibly can. And that itself is joy."

http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/03/buisness/south-africa-whisky/index.html