Are you in the market for some new kicks?

Check out Akala sandals!

 

photo courtesy of mfoa.africanews.com

photo courtesy of getafrica.com



photo courtesy of youthxchanage.net



 

 

These are awesome. These African sandals are made from old tires (durable soles!), old clothing (like lace and jeans), and other readily available materials (beads, leather, belts, etc.). According to this article, a big tire can make 10 pairs of sandals, while a small tire typically makes 6. These sandals are particularly popular with students, who often submit pictures from magazines and websites for custom orders. The African Akala sandal business is creating jobs and boosting income for African families, as well as recycling materials that would otherwise go to waste. I found a gallery of Akala sandals here, as well as a Facebook fan page.  

 

This is interesting to me because I am a flip-flop fanatic. The use of cowrie shells in some of the designs is reminiscent of Africanus' description of Timbuktu, where they were used as currency for small purchases. Akala sandals are an innovative idea, and I'm interested to see what other trends Africa will start in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 





Africa is hoping Asia can contain drug resistant malaria

South East Asia is desperately trying to contain a drug resistant strain of malaria, trying to keep it from becoming a worldwide epidemic. Africa already accounts for 90% of deaths from malaria, so they are particularly vulnerable to outbreaks. Asia is working to keep the outbreak under control by closely monitoring patients for progress with treatments, and aggressively re-treating them until they are cured. They are using financial incentives to get people to return for follow-up visits (many don't because of the distance to the clinics) and treating those who show signs of resistance with quinine IVs. Africa depends primarily on artemisinin-based drugs to treat malaria, which are the very drugs that this strain of malaria is showing resistance to. Without access to better alternatives, Africa hopes to avoid this strain at all costs, because there won't be any new drugs released to combat malaria until 2015. Fortunately, there may be a malaria vaccine out around the same time.

I chose this article to feature on my blog because we've learned about the devastating presence of malaria in class, and how this disease has been present in Africa since the precolonial period, when it served as a barrier against Europeans that were not immune to the disease. It's interesting to see that quinine is still in use today. A medicine that was once used to allow Europeans to penetrate Africa's core is now being used for Africa's benefit, by battling the resistant strain of the disease in Asia that is a serious threat to the African people.

You can read the article about South East Asia's battle against drug resistant malaria here.

Mosquito nets play a crucial part in protection against malaria. Photo courtesy of blogs.state.gov

 

Kangaroo Mother Care comes to Nigeria

Did you know that an estimated 250,000 Nigerian babies die every year before they are 1 month old?

According to an article I read, Kangaroo Mother Care (1st used in Colombia in 1978) is now being implemented in Nigeria to help premature newborn babies survive. Normally, incubators would be used for newborn care- but the finances and power supply are not steady enough to rely on. Now Nigerian mothers are learning to provide the warmth that their babies need with their own bodies, by using constant skin-to-skin contact with their babies in a vertical position. This method is expected to save a whopping 19,000 babies by 2015. Not only is Kangaroo Mother Care effective, it also increases breastfeeding rates- which can be critical to premature infant development. The only downfall to KMC is the demand it places on the mother. She would need to stay at the clinic 24 hours a day until the child grows. Fortunately, surrogates can be used when Mom needs to take a break.

This is a Nigerian mother practicing KMC, photo courtesy of impatientoptimists.org

I chose this article because we have been studying different African countries via exploration of the Gapminder application in class. This is an example of a change that can take place in a country and have a drastic effect on life expectancy. I was also interested in this article because KMC is empowering mothers in Nigeria, helping them to take matters into their own hands when money and power sources are unavailable- they don't need to rely on government or men to save their babies' lives.

You can read more about Kangaroo Mother Care on their website.

Hilarious African parody of aid videos!

Binyavangu Wanaina would be so proud!

I came across an article about funny video produced by Devin Carter from iKind (a media company based in South Africa), and created by the Norwegian Students' and Academics' International Assistance Fund (SAIH). The basic purpose of the video is to bring awareness of the silly, sometimes narrow-minded ways that Europeans (and others) tend to portray Africans during their aid campaigns. The thought behind this is not to be ungrateful, but to shed light on the idea that Africa actually has potential, and there are serious projects going on there that could use some hard funding.

Before you watch the parody video, you should watch this example of a REAL African aid plight (found on YouTube.com) by the Band Aids, titled "Do They Even know It's Christmas":

Now that you've seen an example, here's the parody video:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought that this article and video warranted a spot on my blog because of our studies of the myth of savage Africa. I don't think I would've fully grasped the tone of this video without the prior knowledge (thanks to class) of Africa's struggles with the media's portrayal of their people as savage and/or helpless. This reminds me of "How to Write about Africa" by Binyavangu Wanaina.

 



A new monkey species has been discovered in a Congo forest

Meet the Lesula! Awwwwwww!!!

 

 

 

Photo courtesy of clarin.com

 

This shy species of monkey was discovered by scientists in Congo's Lomami forest, although they have been known to the people of the forest basin for many years. According to an article on Yahoo, they were 1st noticed by scientists when they saw one tied to a post- it was a child's pet. They are characterized by their yellow eyes, pink faces and golden fur- as well as a painfully shy demeanor. They haven't been discovered by scientists and the rest of the world because there hasn't been very much exploration done in the area. A national park is in the works for the basin, in hopes of protecting this (and other) endangered species.

This article is interesting because it shows just how much we don't know about Africa and the species that inhabit their lands. Something so common to the people of Congo is an amazing find for American scientists- illustrating the fact that Africa not only holds precious mineral resources, but is additionally a unique natural habitat for endangered species. We've learned how rampant deforestation is posing a great risk to Africa's forests, and wildlife conservation is a great concern. I hope that the basin's national park is created sooner than later.

 

 

 

The Lesula and the Owl Face monkey... Can you see the resemblance?   

 



LESULA MONKEY (photo courtesy of msnbc.com)

OWL FACE MONKEY (courtesy of flickr.com)

 

 

 



 















Idols SA (S. Africa's version of American Idol) crowns 1st black idol! Guess what he sang...

"SUPER BASS" BY NICKI MINAJ!

What's even more impressive is the fact that Khaya Mthethwa sang this after hearing it for the very first time on the same day that he performed! Have you heard Nikki?! I've heard this song a million times, and I can't even get the words right.

Okay, on to the most important aspect of this article: Khaya is the 1st black Idol to be crowned on Idols SA, which is a huge accomplishment due to South Africa's history of the apartheid system. Even though 80% of South Africa is black, whites continue to hold most of the wealth and power- which means that they've traditionally had wider access to television and text messaging (votes!) Until now, whites have dominated the top spots in this competition- singing songs by American artists such as Madonna, Elvis, and Aerosmith. Khaya's victory is a reflection of the advancement of the black community,

Check him out!

video courtesy of YouTube.com

 

 

Amazing, right?

 

 

This article caught my eye because I'm an American Idol fan. I know that Africa has their own popular music scene, so I'm intrigued by the concentration on American artists in this show. We learned about the apartheid system earlier on in class, and the devastating effects that it had on the black African population of South Africa, so this is an exciting sign of true advancement for black Africans.

"Where there's a will, there's a way"...

We've all heard this phrase, but did you know that it's a Swahili proverb?

Afriprov.org has an extensive collection of African proverbs and stories, complete with information about their origin and meaning. You can search the story database by subject, title, area of origin, occasion, author, year, or season. There are over 500 stories posted in entirety and 1000 listed. You can print proverb calendars, download e-books, purchase cds, and browse maps of Africa. You can check out the proverb of the month or week, and vote on your favorites. The website doesn't appear to be completely updated (the last proverb of the month listed is October) but it's chock full of information, and worth looking into.

This video is from Afriprov.org, and was originally posted to YouTube.com

 

 

 

 

This site caught my attention because I am interested in learning about stories and sayings that originated in Africa. I was surprised to see a few that I've heard before, but never knew where they came from. For example, "It takes a whole village to raise a child" is an Igbo and Yoruba proverb. The 2012 calendar is titled "Women: Relationships, Equality and Rights", which can be directly related to our recent studies of the development of women in Africa. One of the featured proverbs is "Educate a woman, educate a nation" (Fanti proverb, Ghana), which highlights the need for equal education rights to empower women to help lead an otherwise male-dominated land. 



Looking for something new & exciting to do with that leftover chicken?

How about some Doro Wat (Ethiopian chicken in pepper sauce)?

PHOTO COURTESY OF AFRICANCHOP.COM



I LOVE searching for new recipes on the Internet, and I stumbled across an interesting website while searching for some Thanksgiving dinner ideas last week. African Chop is great little website for all things related to authentic African food. You can browse recipes (complete with pictures) and even learn how to prepare African foods and ingredients for cooking. If you are having a hard time locating African foods in your neighborhood, there are vendors listed that you can order from online. If you aren't interesting in whipping up an authentic African cuisine yourself, you can check out some of the best restaurants located across Africa- complete with pictures and contact information. There are even a couple of African stories to read up on for dinner conversation.

I found this link particularly interesting because it was put together by someone who is from Nigeria, and dedicated to authentic recipes- not Americanized versions of the real thing. The instructions on how to prepare ingredients are helpful to those of us who need them, and there's even a chart to tell you just how hot different peppers really are. As a recipe collector and lover of all things food related, this website is one to bookmark.

Happy World Toilet Day!

November 19th is World Toilet Day. According to an article that I read on allafrica.com, The World Toilet Organisation introduced this day 12 years ago to create awareness and gather support for poor sanitation conditions around the world. 2.5 billion people are without access to private and sanitary toilet conditions, and sub-Saharan Africa is noted as an area in need. Government officials and other lawmakers don't like to talk about private matters, especially when they are as gross and embarrassing as this.

Basically, this day was created to spread awareness about a sensitive and embarrassing subject that nobody wants to talk about. By doing so, communities can get involved and citizens can speak out- as well as get educated about how conditions can be improved without spending large amounts of money. For example, did you know that washing your hands with ash is a good way to disinfect? This advice can save lives. The article states that poor sanitation causes diarrheal diseases, which kill more kids than HIV/AIDS, measles and malaria combined. According to the UN, sanitation is a basic human right. With the right amount of education, awareness and determination, the government may be more willing to help.

This article caught my attention because I've never heard of World Toilet Day. Toilets are something we all take for granted, and the struggles of those 2.5 billion people without access to them haven't been publicized. We see plenty of humanitarian commercials on TV that ask us to donate to starving children, save beaten dogs, and help support the poor for "just pennies a day", but nothing about this (until now). In class, we learned about the AIDS and malaria epidemics- so how could a problem that causes the loss of so many more lives than those diseases go unnoticed?

 

Check out this video of Jack Sim (founder of World Toilet Organisation)

 

For more information on how you can help, visit http://worldtoilet.org/wto/.

"I give a sh!t, do you?"

Conflict diamonds- What's the deal?

I read an interesting CNN article that outlines the basic idea of conflict diamonds- what they are, where they come from, why they exist, and their current status in Africa. Basically, conflict diamonds are those that come from areas controlled by rebel forces as opposed to areas under government control- mostly in central and west Africa. Enslaved communities are forced to perform back-breaking labor to dig for/pick through rock for these diamonds, which are then illegally sold to make the money needed to fund the rebellion.
Photo source: Yahoo Images

Photo source: Yahoo Images



According to the article, conflict diamonds from Sierra Leone made up 4% of the world's diamond population at the height of their civil war.

In an attempt to stop conflict diamond trade, the Kimberley Process was introduced in 2000. This is an agreement between 74 countries, the UN, the EU, the World Democratic Council and several different groups; each one agreeing to take part in a certification process when dealing in diamonds and only trading amongst others who are part of the Kimberley Process agreement. This agreement isn't really working because of lack of cooperation due to economic and political interests.

According to the article, now mineral ore (another plentiful and valuable natural resource in Africa) production is also targeted by rebel forces.

This article caught my attention because I've been interested in the reality if conflict diamonds since seeing them portrayed in movies. What I find most interesting is the fact that we still haven't come up with an effective way to shut down the illegal trade. In class, we learned that Africa is responsible for 50% of global diamond output and 25% of the world's gold. If the rebels are targeting mineral ore now, in addition to diamonds, how long will it be before they move on to the rest of Africa's surplus of natural resources?