Monthly Archives: June 2009
Could Libraries be a key to poverty reduction and literacy in Africa?
Are libraries the key?
An article on id21 Education asks whether libraries may be an key to poverty reduction and literacy in Africa.
Illiterate people are disadvantaged and disempowered in today’s global information society. They are unable to fulfil their potential and take part fully in society. Libraries are vital to sustain literacy, yet most poor communities in Africa lack access to them, while those that do exist tend to be poorly resourced.
Books
Secondary Textbook and School Library Provision in Sub-Saharan Africa (World Bank Working Papers)
African Cultural Heritage : The Red List
Artifacts which are NOT allowed to be exported
The looting of Africa’s heritage is a serious concern. One site you may be interested to browse is the International Council of Museums pages called The Red List. This list is a very detailed listing of artifacts which are NOT allowed to be exported, traded or sold.
An appeal is therefore being made to museums, auction houses, art dealers and collectors to stop buying them.
Please visit ICOM Red List and explore
The site states that:
The looting of archaeological items and the destruction of archaeological sites in Africa are a cause of irreparable damage to African history and hence to the history of humankind. Whole sections of our history have been wiped out and can never be reconstituted. These objects cannot be understood once they have been removed from their archaeological context and divorced from the whole to which they belong. Only professional archaeological excavations can help recover their identity, their date and their location. But so long as there is demand from the international art market these objects will be looted and offered for sale.
In response of this urgent situation, a list of categories of African archaeological objects particularly at risk from looting was drawn up at the Workshop on the Protection of the African Cultural Heritage held in Amsterdam from 22 to 24 October 1997. Organised by ICOM (International Council of Museums), within the framework of its AFRICOM programme, it brought together professionals from African, European and North American museums to set up a common policy for fighting against the illicit traffic in African cultural property, and to promote regional and international agreements.
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The Struggle for Women’s Rights in Africa
I often follow the news magazine Pambazuka News. There you’ll find comment, essays, review and much more. The following book is a collection of essays that were published on Pambazuka News.
Women are fighting for their rights
Grace, tenacity and eloquence, The struggle for women’s rights in Africa, Edited by Patrick Burnett, Shereen Karmali & Firoze Manji, ISBN: 978-0-9545637-2-1 230pp 2007 Fahamu & Solidarity for African Women’s Rights coalition
The traditional perception of African women is that they face grinding poverty and harsh cultural, traditional and social prejudices. Yet while it is true that African women are not equal to men, this is only one part of the story.
For in Africa, women are fighting for their rights. And they are fighting with grace, tenacity and eloquence. The contributors describe how African women won a cross-continental campaign for a protocol to protect their rights. In a rich variety of articles, they consider topics such as: women and conflict, the impact of current US policies on women’s health in Africa, women’s rights in Islam, and the implications of the Jacob Zuma trial for women in South Africa.
The articles first appeared in the prize-winning weekly electronic newsletter, Pambazuka News. They provide an easy-to-read introduction to the struggle for women’s rights in Africa.
Patrick Burnett, from South Africa, has a background in journalism. He is a contributing editor of Pambazuka News, and runs Fahamu’s Cape Town office.
Firoze Manji is the director of Fahamu and editor of Pambazuka News. Originally from Kenya, he has more than 30 years of experience in international development, health and human rights. He is a member of the editorial board of Development in Practice.
Shereen Karmali is an editor with wide experience in the NGO sector. She is a co-director of Fahamu.
Buy a copy
Grace, Tenacity and Eloquence. The Struggle for Women’s Rights in Africa
Suggested Books
- Africa’s Long Road to Rights: Reflections on the 20th anniversary of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
- Women’s Land Rights and Privatization in Eastern Africa (Eastern African Studies) (Eastern Africa Series)
Free Resource : Paralegal Toolbox for Community Groups
More than 80 free guides for development activists
On the Education and Training Unit website you’ll find links to guides on a wide range of skills that community organisers need and it should be of interest to community groups all over Africa and not just South Africa.
The guides can be found in eleven sections:
Work in the community, Building an organisation, Managing your finances, Administration, IT, Paralegal advice, Local government, HIV and Aids, Government, Government programmes and policies and Understanding development
Go to http://www.etu.org.za/toolbox/ and explore the links there.
The Education and Training Unit runs a free website with over 80 guides for development activists in South Africa. ETU is a non-profit training organisation committed to development and democracy. The guides are simple and practical and written by experienced community organisers. The site is used by more than 100 000 people per month from all over the world.
Books
Changing the world one gift at a time
An alternative way of giving presents
Today, you can choose exactly what you want to do to make the world a better place. Imagine how much we could accomplish if even a small portion of the $250 billion we spend each year buying presents went to donation gifts, instead. ChangingThePresent redirects to nonprofits some of the $250 billion that Americans now spend buying presents each year.
There is a long list of types of causes and appropriate gifts for each cause. For instance, for just a few dollars, you can provide a child with her first book; fund an hour of cancer research; protect an acre of wilderness; or restore a blind person’s sight with a simple surgery. There’s something for virtually every cause, including opportunities listed by your favorite nonprofits.
The full amount of your gift is passed to the non-profits minus a transaction fee of 3% and 30 cents to cover credit card costs (about the same amount a non-profit would pay to process a credit card donation on their own site).
The site lets you choose exactly what you want to do to make the world a better place.
Africa Map : African Resistance to Colonial Rule
The following map is on Exploring Africa website and has links to the various rebellions. You’ll find other teaching tools on the site.
AFRICAN RESISTANCE TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF COLONIAL RULE
1870-1914
Examples of Resistance on the map
- Chimurenga Resistance (Zimbabwe)
- Battle of Isandhlawana
- Maji-Maji Uprising (Tanganyika)
- Battle of Adowa (Ethiopia)
- Asante Resistance (Ghana)
- Samori Ture
- Libyan Resistance
Suggested Books
Nigeria : The Education of Girls
Elimination of the gender gap in education
The problem of how to get girls to go to school has long been a concern of the government in Nigeria. UNICEF said in 2004 that:
The gender gap favoring boys has remained consistently wide in Nigeria over the last ten years. In the Northern part of the country, the number of children out of school is particularly high and the proportion of girls to boys in school ranges from 1 girl to 2 boys and even 1 to 3 in two states. In 2003, UNICEF launched the “25 by 2005†global initiative, in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goal for the elimination of gender disparity in education in 25 countries by 2005. In response, Nigeria adopted the Strategy for Accelerating Girls Education in Nigeria the same year.
The Girls Education Project ,under the auspices of UNGEI , is one of the world’s largest girl’s education projects. It was begun in 2004:
The £26million project, entirely financed by DFID Nigeria, will be implemented by UNICEF and Nigeria partners over the next three years. The project’s goal is to achieve significant progress in Nigeria towards MDG 3: to eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005 and to all levels of education no later than 2015.
The project is one of the first to be developed under DFID Nigeria’s new Country Assistance Plan.
UNICEF said in 2004 that
The direct beneficiaries will be more than 360,000 pupils in 720 schools in 2005. Many more will benefit indirectly and the project will be scaled up over the following two years to include 15 different states in the country.
Suggested Books
Related articles
- Over 4m girls out of school in Nigeria – Minister (vanguardngr.com)
- ‘Nigeria loses N455bn yearly to poor sanitation’ (sanitationupdates.wordpress.com)
Nigeria : Languages and National Policy on Education
Schoolchildren next to window. Nigeria. Photo: World Bank
[Photo credit: World Bank Photo Collection]
Languages and the national policy on education: Implications and prospects
It is common knowledge that Nigeria does not have a well- articulated and explicit national language policy that can be found in one document. But it is also common knowledge that Nigeria does have a national policy for languages in education and, by default and implication, in the polity.
Full article from Fafunwa Foundation
Suggested Books
- Language, Literacy, and Learning in Primary Schools: Implications for Teacher Development Programs in Nigeria (World Bank Working Papers)
- Educational Language Policy in Nigeria: A Critical Analysis (Negative view on the use of Nigerian languages in education)
- Language Planning and Policy in Africa, Vol. 2: Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria and Tunisia
Related articles
- Problem and Prospects of Adult Education in Nigeria. (davidebooks.wordpress.com)
Africa Architecture : Mud Mosques in Mali
Mudbrick gems
You can’t travel far in Mali without seeing a mosque made from mudbrick. Yet, these architectural gems have been hardly documented.
Here’s a picture of  The mosque of Bla, Sikasso Region, Mali, that I took whilst travelling through the village. This is one of the larger mud-brick mosques in Mali. It’s hard to get a sense of the immense nature of the mosque from a photo, but it is BIG. Like most mud-brick mosques it is re-plastered after the rains each year.
Mosque in Bla, Mali
Almost by accident I came across the book Mud Mosques of Mali which gives thumbnail pictures of 2069 mud mosques in the Inner Niger Delta region. The pictures are taken by Sebastian Schutyser who travelled by bicyle, motor bike and piroque to villages all around the delta region.
Please visit Sebastian Schutyser’s website where you’ll find a great slide show of his photos and more information about the author and his travels.
Gallery 51 also has some of Schutyser’s photos displayed.
Mr. Schutyser’s complete photographic work on the adobe mosques of Mali is available in his book, Banco: Adobe Mosques of the Inner Niger Delta (Imago Mundi series), 5 Continents Editions, 2003, ISBN 88-7439-051-3. The Book also contains two essays by leading authors on the matter, Jean Dethier and Dorothee Gruner. French and Italian versions of the publication are also available.
Another book you may be interested in is Butabu: Adobe Architecture of West Africa by Suzanne Preston Blier. This covers the adobe architecture of Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Togo, Benin, Ghana, and Burkina Faso.
Doctoral Theses by Mozambicans and about Mozambique
Information about doctoral theses
The book Doctoral Theses by Mozambicans and about Mozambique contains information about 314 doctoral theses by Mozambicans and 319 doctoral dissertations by foreigners about Mozambique. The theses are presented in chronological order. Alphabetic indices of Mozambican doctorate holders and of foreigners with doctoral theses about Mozambique are included.  Thematic indices by field of research are presented. A list of Mozambican female doctorate holders is presented. Comparative tables summarize the information given in the catalogues.
This resource may help government, academia, the media, and industry locate needed talent for employment or consultation.
Paulus Gerdes, former Dean of the Faculties of Education (1983-1987) and Mathematics (1987-1989) of the Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, and former Rector of the Universidade Pedagógica (1989-1996), compiled the catalogues in his capacity as President of the Commission to set up Mozambique’s third public university, Universidade Lúrio, that has its main campus in Nampula in the North of the country.
How to get a copy
Available from Amazon in English and Portuguese:
Doctoral Theses by Mozambicans and about Mozambique
or from Paul Gerdes Lulu online shopfront:Â http://stores.lulu.com/pgerdes
Suggested Books
- Mozambique (Country Guide) (new edition)
- Mozambique, 4th: The Bradt Travel Guide
- Mozambique Map (Country Map)
Resource for African Archaeology
Stone tools Montague Cave South Africa
[Photo credit: gbaku]
If you are interested in African archaeology take a look at this web site: World Wide Web Library of AFRICAN ARCHAEOLOGY
The African-Archaeology.Net web site has developed from the “Anthropology Resources on the Internet” (ARI) directory specialising in Anthropology. It was started by Allen Lutins in 1995. It has been felt for some time the african archaeology resources listed in ARI would benefit from a specific web resource bringing together the information gathered for the last few years and stored under various topics headings.
Related articles
- The World’s Oldest Bed Is 77,000 Years Old [Archaeology] (gizmodo.com)
- Sibudu, Ancient South African Settlement, Shows Ancestors Used Insect Repellent Plants (huffingtonpost.com)
Facilitating Education in Mali
A study of Douentza in Mali
From Enabling Education Network there is an article about Facilitating Education in Mali by Sue Stubbs
Mali is ranked as one of the poorest countries in the world. Douentza is the poorest district in Mali- 90% of the population live below the poverty line. Over half the population in this country is children. Mali has a rich history and culture. It has produced Islamic scholars, world-renowned musicians, and is home to world-renowned historic cities.
The term ‘poverty’ needs to be carefully and clearly understood; economic and material indicators do not reflect the value and richness of human life, culture and tradition.
This article demonstrates how education, and inclusive education, in a context such as Mali, cannot be understood in isolation from broader issues such as survival, food security, agriculture and the overall condition and future of children’s lives within their community. Some of the issues affecting children in this part of the world were harsh environmental conditions threatening their survival and nutrition; the lack of basic services such as water, health and education, and the impact of the HIV pandemic were identified. Women, children, people with disabilities, those who are HIV positive and nomads/semi-nopmdas were also identified as being particularly vulnerable. Certain castes and ethnic groups are excluded or discriminated against.
According to the International Labour Organisation Mali has the second highest rate of child labour in the world. However, most young children who worked did not think their work as oppressive or abusive. It won them approval and they were given considerable responsibility. It was felt that parents who prevented their children working did not have their children’s best interests at heart. Therefore, programmes in this area should not create unnecessary competition between schooling and work.
