Should African Women Obey Their men?

I just read an interesting article about survey being done that asked African women if they should still have to obey their husbands. Nine out of ten men felt that their wives should still obey them by law and not surprisingly, six out of ten women agreed. In Mali a proposal to change the law, so that women need no longer obey their husbands, is still causing controversy and is awaiting  parliamentary review. So the question that is being asked by many is: is the continent still struggling with the role of women? In response to that question, yes. Africa is definitely struggling with the role of women and I believe that the continent of Africa is the least active in trying to change the roles of women. As a woman, I definitely disagree with the idea of the role of a woman in some of the countries in Africa however I do still understand that Africa is a continent that practices many rituals and faiths that have been known for thousands of years, so I guess I can understand that it's hard to, "teach an old dog new tricks".


Article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/africahaveyoursay/2010/11/should-women-obey-in-modern-af.shtml

Kenya Gay Activist is Upset Over Remark

Kenya Gay activist David Kuria who works for the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya became upset after a remark was made by Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga. Odinga reportedly warned people in a speech, that men and women who were found engaging in homosexual acts would arrested. One thing that really caught my attention after reading this article was that if a man or woman is caught engaging in homosexual acts they can be punished by being sent to prison for up to 14 years! An MP last year in Uganda, even tried to introduce the death penalty for anyone who engaged in homosexual acts but this of course did not pass (thank goodness). So if anyone who happens to be homosexual and was thinking of moving to Kenya, do not do it because it is illegal to "be in love" there. This remark that Odinga made during his speech upset Kuria and many other gay activists across Kenya. After learning about the horrible accounts of discrimination towards homosexuals in Kenya and other parts of Africa, I was utterly disgusted because it shows that times have not yet changed in all parts of the world and that is unfortunate.

ARTICLE:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11864702

New York Museum to Return King Tut Artifacts to Egypt

  Here is an interesting article about a New York museum who is returning all 19 of King Tut's artifacts back to Egypt this coming June. The artifacts were discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter, they were eventually brought over to the United States from Carter's house in Linux,Egypt and from his niece. The artifacts were to have never left Egypt and the first place and were therefore illegally exported. The only right thing to do would be to return the artifacts to its rightful owner which is in fact Egypt.

Article:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11728564

Hospital in South Africa Performs Illegal Kidney Transplants

Heres an article that I read about a medical group known as Netcare who runs 50 hospitals in South Africa, who performed illegal kidney transplants. The medical group would actually fly underprivileged  people out from places like Brazil and pay them money to have their kidneys removed and donate them. The kidneys were then given to people in need who were usually wealthy Israelis. Netcare finally gained a conscious and pleaded guilty to all of the charges made against them and they were fined $1.1 million dollars.

Article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11725536

Adoptions From Ethiopia Rise

In the past four years adoption of children from Ethiopia  have increased by more than 50%. Six years ago, there were only 284 ethiopian children, out of the 22,990 international children who were adopted by American families. For the 2010 fiscal year, there will be 2,500 adoptions from Ethiopia. This is a remarkable increase and Ethiopia is on the verge of overtaking China as the top source country for adoption. This seems to be a great future for the orphaned children of Ethiopia and most likely Africa as a whole. Ethiopia is now helping to set examples on how beneficial it is to allow adoptions of children, instead of keeping them in institutions just to keep the child in their native country.

Website: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39636986/ns/health-kids_and_parenting

Soccer's Lost Boys of Africa

I just finished watching a documentary called "Soccer's Lost Boys" on the "Current Tv" network which is channel 9 on the tv stations in the NDNU dorms. It was about young boys mostly under the age of 17 who were mostly from Cameroon, Senegal, and Ghana who had high hopes of becoming famous football (or soccer as we call it) players for major European football teams. What happens is, a person who claims to be a famous soccer agent comes to the homes of families of young boys who show promise and ask the parents, to pay a fee in order to have their son get a chance at becoming a professional soccer player. These hopeful parents sale their homes, cars, clothes, food, themselves, and all of their possessions to raise money for the agent's fees. The agent then takes the young boy to Europe, "tries" to get an audition in front of major soccer teams and if this does not happen, the agent disappears and leaves the young boy stranded in  Europe. Many families have not seen their sons in more than 7 or 8 years because of this scam; this is because they no longer have the money to pay for their child's trip back home. There have said to be up to 20,000 young men who are all homeless and scattered over Europe and also stranded with no way to get back home. The stranded boys in Europe then turn to prostitution, drug dealing, stealing, and many other crimes to keep money in their pockets to buy food and clothing. There have been a few organizations created in the hopes of ending this trafficking in Africa but unfortunately it has not been enough to end this horrible scam from happening. What is even more sad is that many of these families in Africa here of these horrible stories of the young boys being victims of trafficking but they still use their life's savings to pay agents to do the exact  same thing, in hopes of their child being "different" and actually becoming a professional soccer player.

Zimbabwe Women Weave their Way out of Poverty

In this article (which  a slideshow) there are women of Zimbabwe who weave baskets and sell them to make money. The creative and beautiful designs have caught the eye of many people and this has increased the demand for these gorgeous baskets. Which in turn is bringing more money into the families of these talented women. You will be blown away by the photos of these baskets and amazed at how many different things these artists make baskets out of, like for example lamp shades! 

ARTICLE: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11497446

Fleeing Somali women recount tales of terror

Can you imagine having your life threatened over marriage? Many single women in Somalia have their lives threatened everyday over marriage and rape. Groups of men storm in the homes of single women and hold them at gun point and force them to marry or have sexual relations with them. There have even been stories of women who are beheaded if they refuse to marry their attacker, and then the head is sent to the home of the woman's father. Ironically these attacks also happen on women who are already married! Many, gangs rush into the homes of married women and force them to have sex with them right in front of their husbands. This story disgusts me in so many ways. Even though having a wife is something that defines you as a man with an "ok" amount of money; it has never been that serious to be married.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11437595

Nigeria lead poisoning death toll 'doubles'

 
Here is a post about Nigeria and how the lead poisoning and death toll has doubled since last year. Atleast 400 children have died from lead poisoing this year. The poisoning is called by illegal gold mining in areas contaminated with lead. To extract gold, deadly amounts of lead were released and soil containing lead deposits was dumped in water sources and in places where children played. Locals believe that at least 18,000 people have been affected. Unfortunately, many deaths go unreported and this makes the statistics lower than what they actually are. It seems that something will have to be done very soon about the illegal gold mining, if not, the death toll due to lead poison will do nothing but increase.

GREAT NEWS! Kidnapped Children in Nigeria Freed!

The group of fifteen kidnapped children in Nigeria that I last posted about were officially freed a few days ago! Police say that no ransom has been paid in the return of the wealthy children, but the victims were rescued from a hideout in the forest of Ogwe-Asa in a joint military operation. The Abia state has also deployed more than 5,000 extra soldiers into the towns center to prevent the kidnappers from escaping. Like I said before, the hostages tend to be released harmed after the kidnappers receive their ransom, luckily none of the children on the school bus have been reported being harmed in any type of way. This is the best news that I think many of us (or at least myself) have heard in a while being that many  victims of these harmful crimes in Nigeria end up dead or seriously harmed.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11450818

Nigeian Town Aba shuts down after Kidnapping

A school bus carrying 15 elememtary school children was blocked by a random vehicle and attacked. A gang of men came on to the school bus and kidnapped all 15 children whose ages ranged from three to te years old. The victims on the school bus are chilren of wealthy families in Nigeria's south-eastern town of Aba. Many schools, banks, and markets fear the possibility of another attack so they have shut down mostly all businesses an schools in the town. The gang of men who carried out the attack set out ransom of $130,00 for the children's safe return. There has been a rise in hostage-taking in Abia state, where many middle class Nigerians now travel with armed escorts for protection. Kidnappings in Nigeria's south-east are carried out by criminal gangs seeking ransom, but also by armed groups demanding a fairer distribution of oil revenue in a country flowing with oil but where most people live on less than $1 a day. I hope to see the safe return of these children very soon because many victims of these kidnappings are still returned harmed after the criminals still have recieved their ransom. This is a devastating and mindless crime that can possibly be avoided by simply creating a fairer distribution of oil revenue.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11434483

Boys earn less than 1 cent a goat...

Here is an article written about two young boys who live in Nairobi, Kenya who work by chasing down goats and turning them in to slaughter houses who than pay them for less than one U.S cent for each goat they bring. Eight year old Boku and his five year old brother Mohammed, wake up each morning and chase down stray goats in the urban area known as Kiamaiko, Nairobi in hopes of being payed to buy food for dinner. Unfortunately, their father passed away and their mother's shop burnt down in a fire and she than became ill so at the tender age of eight and five, Boku and his brother have become the automatic bread winners for their family. As someone who works with up to sixty children each day who are the same age as Boku and Mohammed, I can not imagine a child doing hard labor such as that for less than a penny a day. Unfortunately, in Kiamaiko, Nairobi, child labor is all but uncommon and what makes matters worst is that police don't do much to try and stop the problem from occurring because employees of the slaughter houses pay off the police officers as well. When asked what Boku's biggest dreams were, all he asked for was to watch television and go to school to become a teacher, something that children in the United States have access too more than anything.




http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/09/15/kenya.child.labor/index.html

Measles Outbreak Kills 70 children

Measles is a highly contagious viral respiratory infection that causes high fever, skin rash, runny nose, watery eyes and cough. For 70 young children in Harare, Zimbabwe, and counting, measles has been contaminating them and eventually killing them. One main reason why they are dying at such a fast rate in such a short period of time is because their parents are refusing vaccinations due to their religious beliefs.Members of some apostolic sects in the country shun vaccinations and all other forms of Western medicine, saying it contradicts their belief in supernatural powers. Ironically in the United States and other developed countries, when you contract the measles, all you have to do is go to the doctor and get a prescription that will cure you in less than a week. Unfortunately, their decisions to deny these vaccinations is preventing their children from contracting the measles and dying. 


http://news.yahoo.com/world/africa

Abandoned Children in Zimbabwe

Life is getting better for citizens of Zimbabwe, with inflation under control, food back in the shops, and a power-sharing government under control. Unfortunately, these improvements have done nothing for the youth of Zimbabwe who are still being abandoned by their birth mothers due to inability to care for them. A local orphanage in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, now has to turn down children who are brought to their door due to over whelming amounts of homeless children ranging from ages two to eleven years of old. A 2009 census showed that there were more than 700 children living on the streets of Harare. Many mothers get pregnant from sleeping with men on the streets for money to pay for food, and once they give birth to the child they throw them in dumpsters, toilets, they leave them on sidewalks, in alleys, on front doorsteps, and even in bushes. Some mothers feel guilty about their choice so they try to put the baby out of it's misery by throwing stones at it until it is no longer alive. With the government now under control, many would expect for this growing issue to be addressed and taken care of, unfortunately that is not the case in Harare, Zimbabwe. These children are deliberately being left in the streets by their birth mothers with no one to care for them the way they should be. Some mothers are as young as the age of 14 (a baby having a baby) and by the age of 17 they already have had their second child on the streets. This issue is a growing problem and sickening to hear being that their are children involved because it is not the child's fault for being born.

The link to the article is below...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9005000/9005372.stm

Precursor to H.I.V. Was in Monkeys for Millennia

As we all know, AIDS is one the leading killers amongst United States and many other countries for that matter; especially Africa. AIDS has already claimed the lives of more than 20 million people. Something that is unbelievable and hard to wrap your mind around. This article shows that AIDS actually is not as new of a disease as we all thought. The virus has actually been present in apes and monkeys for at least 32,000 years and not just a few hundred years as we all thought. That means that human beings have been exposed to the deadly virus while trying to do hunt and butcher monkeys and apes for food. So everyone asks, "why don't monkeys become ill from the virus but humans do?" Being that the disease is so old, the host, which are the monkeys have become immune to the disease itself because it is so old. Something that is unfortunate because this virus has traveled to the human body and it can kill you in a matter of a couple of years depending on your immune system. AIDS as we all know is 100% preventable however, in rural countries like Nigeria, it's not as simple to prevent your self contracting the virus because of unsanitary conditions and lack of health care. As all of us do, I do hope that a cure for this powerful deadly disease is  found soon. Below is the link to the article, so that you can read the entire article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/health/17aids.html?pagewanted=1&ref=africa