Al Queda in Africa?

Yes. Al Queda is in Africa. Somalia to be exact. And yesterday, the US attacked them and killed their leader.

Aden Hashi Ayro was trained by Afghanistan militants and was behind most of the violence in Mogadishu in an attempt to wipe out Ethiopian troops. Unfortunately, though Ayro is considered to be Al-Queda's leader in Somalia, they have such a strong following, that this is not expected to be a deterrence in their operations.

Hostility Hurts the Needy

Humanitarian aid workers often find themselves torn in hostile situations, where the most needy are often the hardest to reach due to security issues. Yesterday, an aid worker with Save the Children was shot and killed when her convoy was attacked by gunman. Rebels often attack aid fleets in order to steal food, medication, and other supplies, making it difficult for aid workers to reach the most needy. As a result of this fatal attack, Save the Children has suspended their operations in Eastern Chad, indefinitely, and other aid organizations have suspended their operations there for two days. This a region overwhelmed with about 250,000 refugees from neighboring Darfur and over 100,000 displaced Chadians. Unfortunately, though the fatality of this attack was shocking, there have been at least 70 aid agency vehicles hijacked in Chad in the past two years, including the non-fatal shooting of a UNICEF worker.

I Couldn't Have Said It Better, Myself!

I come from a family or farmers. For those who know me, this is definitely hard to believe considering, I am not the "agricultural" type. That's because I don't actually know how to farm, I just come from a family of them. Almost all of my family lives in Cameroon in a rural village and farms for a living. At least, they are supposed to. This is the dilemma. The new generation of children who are at the brink of their adult life do not want to be farmers. They have all moved into the city seeking jobs. But the problem is, there are none. So many of them have either completed school and have useless degrees or have dropped out of school in hopes of finding a job. Either way, they're almost all unemployed. I'm not sure who should take the blame for this issue, but I do know that if I grew up in an agricultural community and country without many job prospects, I would probably focus on farming.
Apparently, the King of Buganda, Kabaka Ronald Mutebi II, agrees with me! There is a great deal of idleness among youth in developing African nations, who move from their rural hometowns to the urban city centers, in search of jobs that don't exist. Once they realize they won't be getting employed anytime soon, they stay in the centers and usually turn to a life of idleness or crime.
I had a friend in Kampala, who realized the gold in the rural areas and hired workers to farm for him! It was a lazy, but smart move.
However, considering today's food crisis, the lack of farmers in predominantly agricultural societies is alarming. It makes no sense for countries with soil meant for growing, who were exploited by the West centuries ago, to be relying on the West to export items that they are equipped to grow themselves in abundance!
I think a healthy medium for youth uninterested in getting their hands dirty on the farm, would be for them to explore scientific ways to make farming easier.

The Holocaust Memorial Museum

I can remember when I was in about 4th or 5th grade and visited the Holocaust Memorial Museum (HMM) in DC. Back then, it was strictly dedicated to the Jewish Holocaust and paid little if any mention to another genocides across the world.
About a month ago my co-workers went to a conference on the current conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo and I was shocked to hear that it took place in the HMM. I was even more shocked when they gave me pamphlets with information about the genocide in Sudan and told me that there were exhibits dedicated to it. I was ecstatic to hear how the scope of the museum had grown.
Apparently, they have also grown to include a mapping program that allows visitors to track genocides across the world. I applaud the Holocaust Memorial Museum for changing the US' understanding of "holocaust" and educating others, especially the many children that visit. Holocausts include and surpass the atrocities experienced by the Jews in Germany and unfortunately, existed before then and continue to exist today.

Where Do The Children Go? Part 2

In a previous post, I asked where African children orphaned due to HIV/AIDS and those abandoned go when extended families are unable to provide for them. Most countries to not have a formal child welfare system set up that facilitates fostering or adoption. As a result, there are a plethora of children relegated to street life.
I was made aware of this problem almost two years ago, while in Kampala. Today, governments are finally making strides to address the problem at hand, which has been intentionally and unquestionably ignored for years.
This article highlights a similar issue I witnessed at Sanyu Babies Home, where many infants are abandoned because they are born to young or poor mothers who are unable or unwilling to take care of them. More children than one might imagine are found abandoned on the side of the road or in pit latrines when they are less than a week old.
Luckily, there are babies' homes set up to care for them, but once they grow into toddlers, there are very few institutionalized structures set up to absorb the number of orphans and abandoned children in these regions.
This issue is compounding, especially since most children are being left without homes and families because of poverty and HIV/AIDS, two seemingly endless cycles.
For children who are able to be reunified with their families, Cameroon has set up rehabilitation and vocational training programs. However, there are thousands more who are abandoned and orphaned as infants and can not be reunified. In a growing world with shifting family structures and accepted responsibilities, it is time for African nations to address the needs of orphans and recognize that villages are no longer willing to raise children and extraneous options need to be considered and established.

Team Work Against China

For some unexplainable reason, China thinks it's a good idea to ship arms to Zimbabwe- a country in the midst of a political conflict, where the president has made it clear that he will use force to sustain power. Thankfully, Zambia, Angola, and South Africa have prevented China from transporting arms to Zimbabwe.
Thank you Africa, for not allowing China to fuel an already brewing violent conflict!

Cooperation is the Only Option

The opposition parties in Zimbabwe have realized that the only way to successfully oust Mugabe out of power is to cooperate and unite as one for the time being. Tsvangirai and Mutambara, Zimbabwe's opposition party leaders, have united to declare control over parliament and demand that Mugabe concede. Mugabe has relegated to imprisoning the opposition in an effort to maintain power for another 28 years, but I feel as though with the support of the international community and unification of the opposition parties, he will not succeed without bloodshed. Hopefully, he will not take it that far. In the past we've seen the need to virtually drive out other dictators who wouldn't give up their throne and this still led to bloodshed. Mugabe, please spare the lives of innocent citizens and step down!

African Idol

I was recently made aware of the existence of "African Idol" through an article questioning why contestants had to sing Western songs to gain legitimacy on the song. I supported the authors critique, especially because I am a fan of various genres of African music and also find it nonsensical for Africans to not use the show as a platform to showcase their own talents.
Because I had never seen an episode of African Idol, I decided to youtube it, take a look at how the show was produced, and better understand the author's critique. I was more than surprised by what I saw. Take a look at the video!

As Simon would say, it was absolutely HORRID! I think we do better when we stick to our own songs. It sounds so sweet!





But I'll give props when it's due, this was a damn good rendition of "Faith"!

Respecting Your Roots- Rest in Peace Aimé Fernand David Césaire

I can not claim to have created the intellect behind my quest to "Reinvent Africa" in the eyes of those who don't know her.



Aimé Fernand David Césaire was a writer and influential leader in the movement to "reinvent"the perception of Negroes throughout the world. At a time when colonialist and imperialist powers were still lauded for their control and exploitation over southern nations and people, Aimé Césaire used his words to denounce such beliefs.
I remember reading "Discourse on Colonialism" during my freshman year of college in my Introduction to African American history course. And though I did not immediately understand its significance, as I have grown and traveled, I have come to understand the impact on colonialism on the colonizers and colonized, as well as the need for Black people to free themselves from mental slavery. The quest of this blog is to facilitate and open and honest discourse about Africans and the Diaspora because as we've realized through the work of Césaire and other revolutionaries, colonialism did not only exist politically. Africans around the world were trapped mentally and came to believe that they were inferior to the colonizers. It is only through an open and honest examination of ourselves that we can strive to and achieve greatness, through what we experience in our communities.

Malaria, Still a Mighty Killer

Is there a way to eradicate mosquitos? Because the wrath that they bring with the transmission of malaria is unmeasurable. Though malaria is virtually nonexistent in the US, it kills an African child every second. Can you believe that??? By the time you finish reading this post, hundreds of children will have died, due to malaria. The worst aspect of it all, is that this can all be prevented if people sleep under insecticide treated bed nets. They cost less than a dollar, but can't be afforded by those living in extreme poverty. For those of you who can afford to donate a net or the time to play a game and get a sponsor to donate one, please go to www.NothingButNets.net

Note: The game is kind of boring, so you can just click the link to "Deliver the Net"